World War I Background

General Background to World War I—European History, 1871 to 1914: A very brief overview

The period from 1815-1914 is often referred to as the “Hundred Years’ Peace,” or “Pax Britannica.” From the end of the Napoleonic Wars at Waterloo in 1815 until the outbreak of war in 1914, Europe found itself relatively at peace. Compared with the long series of wars that had preceded 1815 and the carnage of the 20^th century, it is not an unfair assessment. Beginning around 1870, however, events began to evolve in ways that threatened the long-standing peace, and a long slide toward eventual conflict began, though it was far from apparent at the time. Indeed, following the wars of German unification of the 1860s and the Prussian defeat of France in 1870-71, the rise of the remarkable statesman, Prince Otto von Bismarck of Prussia, seemed to promise a period of, if not permanent, then certainly long-lasting peace. Through wily manipulation of power (what he called Realpolitik) and skillful diplomacy, Bismarck created an alliance system that, although built on a condition of international tension, was nevertheless quite stable.

Through a series of treaties, conferences and diplomatic exchanges, most of which were conducted under varying degrees of secrecy, Bismarck carefully built his structure, knowing all the while that underneath it was fragile and indeed might well be upset someday. (He predicted that if and when it fell apart it would be due to “some damned foolishness in the Balkans,” and in fact he was right, though the “damned foolishness, an assassination,” happened some 20 years after his death.)

Part of the problems for Bismarck and the statesmen who followed him was that industry had begun to revolutionize the World by 1871. Following the American Civil war, with new weapons and techniques, it was clear that railroads, steamships, and other industrial advances were going to reshape not only war but defense policies and preparations for war as well. International economics—manufacturing, agriculture and trade—were becoming more complicated and more centralized, and unified nations brought a new and sharper edge to international competitiveness than had been true in more relaxed times. Competition also existed among rival political philosophies, from communism and socialism on one end of the spectrum to classical capitalism supported by more or less democratic regimes on the other. These competing ideas often co-existed within nations, not always completely peacefully. The world, in short, grew far more complicated as well as more dangerous between 1871 and 1914, as unparalleled industrial, economic and population growth and shifting demographics dominated the international scene. Science was opening new doors, urbanization was changing national landscapes, and huge migrations of peoples were altering the character of nations like the U.S.

Summary of Events: (Note: For History 122 you should be generally familiar with the complicated state of affairs but will not be responsible for the details.)

• 1870-71. The Franco-Prussian War. Germany is victorious, and under Bismarck Germany dominates central European affairs until 1914.
• 1873. The Three Emperors' League—Germany, Austria, Russia—is created by Bismarck.
• 1876. Serbia declares war on Turkey, Montenegro joins. Serbia's poor performance, requests for help leads to Russo-Turkish War.
• 1877. Russo-Turkish War. Russia gets to gates of Constantinople. British threaten intervention if Russia occupies city, etc. French War Law causes “Is War in Sight?” article in Berlin—panic in Paris.
• 1878. The Congress of Berlin. Bismarck plays the “Honest Broker,” trying to offer each nation what it needs to feel secure. The Treaty of San Stefano fixes the Balkan picture for a time. Bulgaria is created. Rumania, Serbia, Montenegro are independent. The “Concert of Europe” is the accepted condition.
• 1879. Alliance system created between Germany and Austria, the foundation of Bismarck's alliance system. Reflects fear of an anti-German coalition involving Russia. Germany is interested in getting Great Britain into an agreement, but the offer is mishandled, and Great Britain remains in “splendid isolation.”
• 1881. Tsar Alexander III comes to power in Russia. The Alliance of Three Emperors is formed on a three-year term, renewed in 1884.
• 1882. Italy joins the German alliance with Austria, forming Triple Alliance. Lasts 5 years, renewed at 5-year intervals through 1915. Rumania joins in 1884. Great Britain remains aloof, France is isolated.
• 1885. War between Serbia and Bulgaria leads to friction between Austria and Russia.
• 1887. Strong nationalist feelings of revenge growing in France. First and second Mediterranean agreements (GB, Italy, Austria) establish status-quo in Near East. Signing of secret Russian-German Reinsurance Treaty to replace Three Emperors' Alliance, which Russia refuses to renew.
• 1888. Death of Prussian Emperor William I and of Frederick III. Kaiser William II, age 29, succeeds to the Hohenzollern throne as Emperor of Germany. Doesn't care for Bismarck or his policies. Bismarck sees the new Emperor as a young whippersnapper.
• 1890. Kaiser Wilhelm dismisses Bismarck. The Reassurance Treaty with Russia is not renewed—the first chink in Bismarck's alliance system. William II begins a policy of naval expansion, Weltpolitik (making Germany a world power.)
• 1894. Conclusion of negotiations between Russia and France, who form a military alliance to remain in effect as long as the Triple Alliance is in effect. Aimed at Germany, it provides for mobilization.
• 1895. Japan has imperial aims in China. China-Japan War ends with Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
• 1897. War between Greece and Turkey.
• 1898. Spanish-American War gets U.S. into imperial game; U.S. annexes Hawaii, gets Guam and the Philippine Islands, putting the U.S. on an eventual collision course with Japan.
• 1899. First Hague Peace Conference inconclusive. Outbreak of Boer War in South Africa.
• 1900. Boxer Rebellion in China. Besieged foreign legations are relieved by international expeditionary force. Russians use the opportunity to move 100,000 troops into Manchuria.
• 1901. Death of Queen Victoria. King Edward VII has a favorable disposition toward France, which irritates his nephew, Kaiser Wilhelm. (Victoria is the grandmother of Kaiser Wilhelm.)
• 1902. Anglo-Japanese Alliance end Britain’s "splendid isolation." Guarantees independent China, etc.
• 1904. Outbreak of Russo-Japanese War. Japanese startle west with smashing naval victory at Tsushima Straits. Theodore Roosevelt leads Portsmouth Peace Conference, wins Nobel Peace Prize. Russia turns toward Balkans.  Anglo-French Entente Cordiale concluded. Germany suspicious. Moroccan troubles begin when German minister von Buelow asserts German claims; Morocco will ultimately be French. France becomes convinced of Germany's bad intentions.
• 1905. First Moroccan crisis occurs when Kaiser Wilhelm II visits Tangier. Revolt in Russia leads to Bloody Sunday, foretells revolution of 1917. Kaiser Wilhelm meets with Tsar Nicholas II (They are cousins) to ease tensions, but it comes to nothing.
• 1907. Franco-Russian Entente becomes Triple Entente: Great Britain, France, Russia. Great Britain makes agreements with Russia on Asia, etc. Germany tries to break this alliance but only strengthens it.
• 1908. Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina, angering Serbia, which hopes to form Slavic Union in the Balkans. Serbian becomes the focus for independence movements by Croatian and Slovenian nationalists. Russia protests, but is too weak to act. A series of wars follows in which Russia becomes a partner of Serbia.
• 1910. Death of Edward VII. The German Kaiser comes to gloat at the death of “The Great Satan.” He saw Edward as the architect of all Germany's woes because of Edward's friendship with France, and thus also with Russia. (See a wonderful description of Edward's funeral in the opening pages of Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August.)
• 1911. Second Moroccan crisis when German Panther visits Agadir. Inflammatory speeches in London. French send in force to maintain order. Outbreak of Tripolitan War between Turkey and Italy.
• 1912. Outbreak of First Balkan War: Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece vs. Turkey. Ends with Treaty of London in 1913.
• 1913. Second Balkan crisis when Serbia attacks Albania. Russia warns Serbia to wait, not take on Austria.
• 1914. General Situation:
  • Huge standing armies;
  • Nations are paralyzed with fear;
  • Competitive and distrustful attitudes exist on all sides.
  • Preparations for mobilization are based upon the expectation of war.
  • Mobilization itself will be seen as an act of war: the movement of millions into uniform heightens the sense of agitation and nervousness.
  • The widespread assumption that war will come becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Recall Bismarck: “Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.”)
• The situation was exacerbated by super-patriotic press institutions and sensationalism. (In America it was called “yellow journalism.”)

1914 Events of that Fateful Year

• July: Assassination of Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo by the Serbian Black Hand, a nationalist group that wants Serbia out from under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Austria believes the Serbians knew of plot but did nothing; the Serbian press is gleeful over the incident.
• In Austria, the assassination pleased authorities, as well as some radicals, as Franz Ferdinand was a known reformer. Thus the hard-liners were happy to see him out of the way.
• Austria had occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina to stop the “pan-Slav” nationalist movement within the Empire; now Austria saw an opportunity to stop Serbia once and for all.
• Russia could not stand by and do nothing without giving up prestige in the Balkans. As an ally and supporter of Serbia, Russia had to get involved, which had implication for Franco-German relations as well.
• Momentum begins building for war, aided by necessities of mobilization—no nation can afford to let potential enemies get a head start. (See Liddell Hart quote above.)
• Germany offers “complete support” to Austria, since the Germany-Austria link is still the mainstay of German foreign policy.
• Austria drafts an ultimatum to Serbia that is supposed to be unacceptable, yet the Serbian answer convinces Germany that “all cause of war drops away.” Germany tells Austria to “Hold.” But the German General Staff tells the Austrian military: “Prepare!”
• Russia gets blank a check from the French, who fear getting into war with Germany alone. France sees war with Russia on her side as an opportunity for revenge for the Franco-Prussian humiliation of 1871.
• Great Britain offer to negotiate on July 26, but it is too late.
• The Austrian Emperor is persuaded to issue Declaration of War because “Serbia has fired on Austria.” Not true. When message is sent out, that portion is deleted, but the message is signed nevertheless.
• War Declarations, 1914-1918 Follow this link to get a sense of the worldwide impact of the conflict.
• See First World War Web Site.

After the Civil War Americans got busy expanding internally, with the frontier to conquer and virtually unlimited resources, they had little reason to look outward.

Americans generally had a high level of disdain for Europe, although wealthy Americans were educated and traveled there and respected European cultural achievements in art, music and literature. They felt secure from external threat because of their geographic isolation, which gave them a sense of invulnerability. (There was little to fear from neighbors in this hemisphere.) Until very late in the 19^th century Americans remained essentially indifferent to foreign policy and world affairs.

What interests America did have overseas were generally focused in the Pacific and the Caribbean, where trade, transportation and communication issues got our attention. To the extent that Americans wanted to extend their influence overseas they had two primary goals: pursue favorable trade agreements and alignments and foster the spread of democratic ideals as they understood them

That isolationism that seemed to work for America began to change late in the century for a variety of reasons. First, the industrial revolution began to create challenges that required a reassessment of economic conduct. The production of greater quantities of goods, the need for additional sources of raw materials and greater markets—in general the expansive nature of capitalism—all called for Americans to begin to look outward. America had always been driven by the idea of "manifest destiny," which was at first the idea that the U.S. was to expand over the whole continent of North America. When Canada and Mexico seemed impervious to further expansion by Americans, at least there was the rest of the mainland to fill up. With the ending of the frontier and the completion of the settlement of the West (for all practical purposes) the impulse to further expansion spilled out over America’s borders.

Shortly after the end of the Civil War the U.S. Purchased Alaska and began to develop interests in the Caribbean and the Pacific in places like Hawaii, Midway, Samoa, the Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic. A great part of the impetus for expansion came from a rather unlikely source: a naval office, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan. Founder of the Naval War College, Captain Mahan began to write books and articles which were widely read and applauded that called for America to develop its strength on the basis of sea power, which he found to have been a decisive force in making nations and empires great and long lasting throughout history. He wrote a number of books based on the theme of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History. Mahan’s basic idea was that to remain great and strong in an ever more competitive world, America needed a powerful maritime force, both naval and commercial, and an overseas infrastructure of bases, coaling stations and the like to support a powerful fleet in the age of iron and steam. Mahan did not confine his thoughts strictly to naval matters, but also brought in idea relating to the expansion of commercial interests and overseas markets for American goods, developed under the aegis of naval might.

Mahan’s ideas, which were compatible with the popularized notions of social Darwinism (maritime nations were among the fittest and therefore could and should survive), were not the only ideas that propelled Americans’ thoughts beyond her borders. The missionary spirit was still strong in America, and many felt that the spreading of Christianity went nicely with the concept of spreading democracy. Inherent in this view was a clearly racist streak of thought which maintained that the European races (and particularly the Anglo-Saxon race) were inherently superior and had the right if not the obligation to spread their beneficial influence all over the world to less fortunate peoples. Furthermore, even if Americans had reservations about these expansionist ideas, as many did, their doubts were often tempered by the fact that everybody seemed to be doing it. This was the age of so-called neo-imperialism, when the European powers seemed bent on gobbling up all the underdeveloped areas of the world and turning them into colonies for military, commercial or political purposes.

A final piece of this newly evolving American foreign policy was a renewed confidence in the essential idea of the Monroe Doctrine—that the United States was the gate keeper and protector of the Western Hemisphere. What would eventually become the Roosevelt Corollary was established by 1900—that we had the final say in controlling all the territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast in North and South America.

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