The Road to War – International Rivalry Revision – Session 5 The Road to War – International Rivalry

International Rivalry - an introduction From 1871 Bismarck’s efforts were aimed at preserving alliances He wanted to avoid angering Britain Britain in Splendid Isolation – when it came to European affairs Bismarck understood that Britain was touchy about the Empire and their Royal Navy

International Rivalry – an introduction British Empire covered 25% of the world’s surface British government had adopted the ‘two power standard’ which meant there Navy had to be at least as big as the next two strongest navies combined Bismarck therefore saw no reason to challenge Britain In fact, Bismarck was planning to form an alliance with Britain He felt there was a strong connection – i.e. Wilhelm II was the grandson of Queen Victoria

Weltpolitik In 1890 Bismarck was forced to resign by Wilhelm II Wilhelm was 26 and Bismarck 72! Wilhelm was impulsive and emotional – often caricatured as a bully – he was ambitious. Wilhelm wanted to increase Germany’s prestige at home and abroad Without Bismarck, the new Kaiser was free to pursue policies that increased risk of confrontation

Weltpolitik – Wilhelm II VS Bismarck Wilhelm wanted to expand the German Empire in Africa Bismarck wanted to avoid conflict with Britain and France Wilhelm wanted to expand the navy Bismarck wanted to concentrate on the army so as not to upset Britain Wilhelm wanted to play and important role in foreign affairs and challenge Britain and France Bismarck had wanted to keep as many countries on his side as possible

Weltpolitik In 1890 Wilhelm refused to resign the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia This helped to bring about the Dual Entente In 1896 Wilhelm started to use new terms like Weltpolitik meaning world policy He wanted to take a full part in international affairs He began to talk of Drang Nach Osten – drive to the East and a scheme for a Berlin to Baghdad railway was drawn up This appeared to threaten Britain’s influence in the Middle East and Asia

Weltpolitik Wilhelm also demanded a Place in the Sun This meant he wanted to expand the German Empire in Africa and other parts of the world (Togoland and the Cameroons in West Africa, German South West Africa – now Namibia – and a number of island groups in the South Pacific) The significance of these changes was the threat of what MIGHT happen rather than what actually DID happen The four German colonies in Africa all bordered with British colonies and the British grew suspicious.

Weltpolitik In 1895 The British of Cape Colony in South Africa raided a region occupied by Boers called Transvaal – the raid was unsuccessful and the British were defeated. Wilhelm – sent a letter of Congratulations to President Kruger of the Boers and this was seen as antagonistic by the British…

The German Navy Laws Serious threat came from the German Navy Laws The First Navy Law 1898 announced that they would built a fleet strong enough to combat the largest navy in the world Taken as a direct challenge by the British government The Second Navy Law 1900 – provided for a fleet of 38 battleships to be built over a 20 year period Since number of battleships was how naval power was assessed – this was a challenge to Britain

The German Navy Laws The British government were suspicious – what were all these battleships going to be used for? The obvious answer was – to attack the British fleet Because the British had the two-power standard this meant that the British had to respond by building more ships Situation was made even worse when the Germans announced that they were to link the Baltic and the North Sea with the Kiel Canal In fact it was too shallow for the battleships but the British didn’t know this at the time

The German Navy Laws In1902 the British started building battleships to stop Germany getting the lead In 1906 the British launched the Dreadnought – an new type of battleship - which had more guns and went faster! The German navy responded by building its own dreadnoughts The Naval Arms race began

The Naval Arms Race 1906-1914 the British built 29 Dreadnoughts and the Germans built 17 BY 1914 the Dreadnoughts were massively improved and the first Dreadnought was obsolete The British public became very involved in the race ‘we want eight and we won’t wait’ Navy Leagues were set up to campaign for more ships 1909 budget allowed for the building of 8 battleships The German government failed to build the ships they had planned for because the cost was too great The Naval Arms Race came to nothing in the end It had important effects on the perceived relationship between Germany and Britain They were seen as bitter enemies and natural rivals

The Moroccan Crises Wilhelm II started to interfere in parts of the world which weren’t under his influence… In 1905 he visited Morocco Morocco had been under French influence At Tangier he made a speech in favour of an ‘open door’ policy in Morocco This alarmed the French as they thought Germany was trying to force its way into Morocco In fact, Germany wanted to test the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France

The Moroccan Crises The matter was not finally settled until January 1906. The Great Powers of Europe met at the Algeciras conference and it was decided that France should have the control of Morocco A second crisis developed in 1911 when a German gunboat (The Panther) appeared at Agadir The Germans said they were there to protect Germans and their property In fact, it was there to frighten the French

The Morrocan Crises The situation was made worse by a speech made by David Lloyd George – Chancellor of the Exchequer (was PM 1916-1922) – at Mansion House He accused the Germans of stirring up trouble He threatened retaliation Britain began to prepare for war with Germany

Moroccan Crises BUT in the end it came to nothing After months of negotiating the French and German governments came to an agreement by November 1911 The French would keep Morocco The Germans would get some French land in Central Africa Relations between Britain, France and Germany started to improve –threat of war dies down The public in Britain still see Germany as the enemy

July-August 1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo 28th June 1914 sparked a series of events which led to war… Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia on 23rd July The Serbs rejected this ultimatum The Austrians tried to stop Russian involvement by promising not to take any Serb territory Britain called for an international conference to settle the matter Wilhelm tried to stop the Austrians from attacking Serbia Amidst all this chaos – Russia mobilised its army on 29th July Germany followed suit on 1st August (declaring war on Russia) 2nd August the German Army invaded Luxemburg and demanded the right to pass through Belgium The intention was to quickly crush France through implementation of the Schlieffen Plan The Belgium government refused to let them through and appealed for help to Britain (Belgium was a neutral country and had been since gaining independence from Holland in Treaty of Westminster – its neutrality was guaranteed by Britain and Prussia) On 4th August Britain declared war on Germany Austria declared war on Russia on 6th August On 12th August Britain and France declared war on Austria

Why was it impossible to prevent the outbreak of war? There were a number of attempts to stop the war but they failed The assassination released all the fears and suspicions which had been building up for years: The French desire for revenge (Alsace-Lorraine) British suspicions of Germany’s motives (Navy Laws, Naval Arms Race) Austrian and Russian rivalry in the Balkans

Why was it impossible to prevent the outbreak of war? One reason for the failure to call a halt was the speed at which events took place Russia mobilised its army on 29th July – it later specified that it was mobilised only against Austria But by then the Germans had already mobilised their army against Russia and it was too late

Why was it impossible to prevent the outbreak of war? Another reason is the the Austrians failed to settle their dispute at an international conference – they felt they couldn’t accept that solution and wanted to deal with Serbia There was also a general belief that war would be short and new of war was received with great enthusiasm (all over by Christmas) Bismarck’s system of alliances had ensured that one country after another would be drawn into the war.