1. Causes of World War I

2. Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871)
After Napoleonic Wars, 39 Germanic states
Austria/Prussia the largest
Prussia defeats Denmark (1864), Austria (1864) and France (1871)
Use coordinated train movements and well-trained and equipped military
Prussia humiliates France
Pay indemnity of 5 million marks
Occupation
Germany becomes nation in 1871

3. Characteristics of Great European Powers (ca. 1900)
Germany
Authoritarian, Military Power, Industrial Power
Great Britain
Parliamentary Monarchy, Trade, Industry, Sea Power, Empire
Russia
Autocratic Tsardom, Some Industrialization, Foreign Debt, Huge Population
France
Democratic Republic, Slow Economic Growth, Empire
Austria-Hungary
Dual Monarchy, Nationalities Problems
Turkey
Sultanate, Decline of Empire

4. Long-Term Causes of World War I
After FPW, Germany (led by K Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck) pursued alliances to keep France isolated and avoid conflict. These included:
Dreikaiserbund or Three Emperors’ League (1873)
Dual Alliance (1873)
The Three Emperors’ Alliance (1881)
The Triple Alliance (1882)
The Reinsurance Treaty

5. Long Term Causes of World War I
The New Course and Weltpolitik
Followed by KWII and new Chancellor Caprivi
Reinsurance treaty allowed to lapse
Leads to Franco-Russian Alliance (1894)
Weltpolitik created to establish Germany as a colonial power
Called for overseas empire and navy

6. Long-Term Causes of WWI
Imperialism
Germany’s ascendance and desire for empire clashed with both GB and France
Emergence of the Alliance System
Germany passes Naval Law (1900) which calls for creation of 17 ships
In response, Britain ends “Splendid Isolation”
Forms an alliance with Japan (1902), entente with France (entente cordiale )
By 1907, Britain, France and Russia had formed the Triple Entente
The TE and the Triple Alliance split Europe into two camps

8. Long-Term Causes of WWI
The Naval Race
Creation of Dreadnought triggered a naval race between GB and Germany
British public began to view Germans as the enemy

9. Long-Term Causes of WWI
The Situation in the Balkans
An unstable area that created tensions even before 1914; 3 empires had interests there:
The Ottoman Empire
Once controlled all of the Balkans, but had become much weaker
Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia declared independence
Struggling to hold onto the pieces
Austria-Hungary
Losing grip on multi-ethnic empire
Southern Slavs (Serbs, Croat, and Slovenes) want to break away and began to look to Serbia for support
Russia
Saw itself as protector of the Slavs
Needed access to warm water ports on the Black Sea
What would happen in the Balkans if/when the Ottoman Empire collapsed became known as the “Eastern Question”.

10. Short-Term Causes: the crisis years (1905-1913)
The First Moroccan Crisis (1905)
As part of the Entente Cordiale, GB supported a French takeover of Morocco
Germans promised to help Sultan of Morocco maintain independence and demanded international conference to discuss the situation
At Algeciras Conf. (1906), GB backed up France’s claim to Morocco, Germany had little support and had to admit defeat
Huge defeat for Weltpolitik

11. Short-term causes: the crisis years (1905-1913)
The Bosnian Crisis (1908)
After Anglo-Russian Entente (1907), Germans moved much closer to Austria-Hungary
AH annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina in reaction to Ottoman crisis
This outrages Serbia who wanted the countries to be part of greater Serbia
Russia sympathizes with Serbia and threatens war with AH
Germany stands “shoulder to shoulder” with AH, Russians get little support from GB and France and back down
Russians are humiliated and begin massive armament program
Balkans become much more unstable
Serbia becomes much more nationalistic and seeks revenge against AH

12. Short-Term causes: the crisis years (1905-1913)
The Second Moroccan (Agadir) Crisis (1911)
French sent troops to Fez, at the request of sultan, to put down a revolt
Germans see this as beginning of French takeover of Morocco and send a gunboat to Moroccan port of Agadir, to pressure the French into giving them territorial compensation
GB sees this as threat to their shipping lanes and warns Germany off
Germany backs down and accepts minor French territory in the Congo
As a result:
Another failure of Weltpolitik leads German public to view their gov’t. as weak
Anglo-French Entente strengthened

13. Short-term causes: the crisis years (1905-1913)
First Balkan War (1912)
Encouraged by the Russians, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro formed an alliance to expel Turkey from their European possessions
They accomplished their goal in seven weeks
AH is outraged and cannot accept a strengthened Serbia; threaten war
British step in, divide up the territories and create Albania to contain Serbia and appease AH
More resentment created between Serbia and AH

14. Short-term causes: the crisis years (1905-1913)
The Second Balkan War (1913)
Bulgaria went to war against Serbia and Greece, over territory Serbia had occupied after the 1st BW
They thought there were too many Bulgarians living in those areas
AH wanted to get involved on the side of Bulgaria but Germany urged restraint
Serbs, Greeks and Turks defeat Bulgaria
As a result:
Serbia had proved their military might, doubled in size and encouraged their ally, Russia
AH was convinced it needed to crush Serbia

15. Short term causes: the crisis years (1905-1913)
The International Situation by 1913
Crisis years had deteriorated stability
Increased division between the two alliance systems and an increase in armaments
Naval race between Germany and GB
Nationalism was rising throughout Europe
War had been averted, but major resentments lingered

16. Other developments, 1900-1913 The Will to Make War
Citizens throughout Europe were ultra-nationalistic as a result of years of indoctrination
Popular press portrayed impending war as one that would be short and heroic

17. Other developments, 1900-1913 The Arms Race and Militarism
Between , military spending by European powers had increased by 300%
Conscription had been introduced throughout the continent

18. Other developments, 1900-1913 War Plans
All major countries had detailed war plans, which made their response to crises inflexible
The Schlieffen Plan
Called for Germany to defeat France within six weeks and then direct their forces toward Russia
Based around the invasion of neutral countries (Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg)
Depended on slow Russian mobilization