CAUSES OF WORLD WAR 1

Militarism -1-

LEARNING AREA: HISTORY

TOPIC: World Wars

SUB-TOPIC: The First World War

OBJECTIVES: 1.Explain the causes of the First World War

INTRODUCTION:
A close examination of the First World War arguably reveals that it was a four year long
devastating war. It was a result of both long term causes. Indeed several of them were put
forward to explain this famous war between Britain, Italy, France, Russia, Belgium, Germany,
Austria-Hungary, and many other countries which shall be explored.
The first word war was caused by several factors such as:
• Arms race
• Naval race
• Alliance system
• Colonial rivalry
• Balkan nationalism
• Sarajevo incident

Militarism
• It refers to the recruitment of soldiers and making of weapons.

Rifles warship
 Dreadnought
Weapons used during the First World War.

ACTIVITY
1. Research on the importance of maintaining a ready army and modesty weapons in the 20 th
century Germany.

• The countries made weapons and sizes of the armies grew to alarming levels.
• The sizes of armies in Europe unsettled other countries
• They seemed to be for mobilisation rather than defence
• Various weapons were manufactured in Europe.
• This created war preparedness
• It increased suspicion and tension among the European powers.

CONCLUSION
It is important to note that arms and naval races cannot fully explain the outbreak of world war
on its own. There is need to interrogate other factors such as alliance system.

ACTIVITY
Explain how militarism led to the outbreak of the First World War.

MAGUTA TAFARA
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ALLIANCE SYSTEM -2-

LEARNING AREA: HISTORY

TOPIC: World Wars

SUB-TOPIC: The First World War

OBJECTIVES: 1. Explain the causes of the First World War.

INTRODUCTION
An alliance is a formal, economic, military or political agreement between two or more nations.
The system of alliances was devised by the German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck in a bid to
isolate France so that France would not have a friend to help her in her future war endeavors.
France had lost Alsace and Lorraine to Germany and there was a possibility that she wanted to
regain her lost pride in the near future.

ACTIVITY
1. Sketch the map of Europe clearly showing association of countries based on their alliances.

▪ Bismarck wanted to prevent France from allying herself with either Austria – Hungary or
Russia to create a coalition of enemies in either east or west. Germany had always wanted
to avoid a war on two fronts in the event of war with France.

▪ Bismarck also wanted to maintain peace in Europe through alliances.

▪ Bismarck was of the opinion that if nations formed themselves into alliances of almost
equal strength, there would be little danger of war because the size and power of the two
alliances would prevent either side from starting a war hence peace would flourish.

▪ Just before First World War, Europe had been divided into two hostile camps culminating
from the alliances

▪ The Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy pitted against the Triple
Entente of France, Britain and Russia in 1914.

▪ Its roots can be traced to the Dreikaiserbund of 1873.

▪ The alliance consisted of the Kaiser William of Germany, the Tsar of Russia, and the
Emperor of Austria-Hungary.

▪ It was also known as the Three Emperors League.

▪ Indeed, the Three Emperors agreed to work together in controlling Eastern Europe,
making sure that restive ethnic groups such as the Poles were kept in control.

▪ By signing this alliance, Bismarck had secured for Germany defense against France by
drawing Russia and Austria-Hungary to the camp of Germany.

▪ Dual Alliance was signed between Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879.

▪ Germany and Austria-Hungary promised each other support in case of attack by Russia
and neutrality in case of aggression by any other power.
▪ The Triple Alliance signed between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1882.
▪ The Triple Alliance provided that Germany and Austria-Hungary were to assist Italy if it
was attacked by France without provocation.
▪ On the other hand Italy needed a friend to help her in the event of a war against France
whom she had clashed with over colonies in Africa.
▪ Italy agreed to help Germany if she were attacked by France who was anticipating a war
of revenge by France.
▪ Germany and Austria-Hungary agreed that they would help each other against a Russian
attack of either of them.
▪ Bismarck entered into the Reinsurance Treaty of 1887.
▪ The Treaty was signed between Germany and Russia after the end of the Dreikaiserbund
in 1887.
 ▪ Germany designed the treaty so that both Germany and Russia would remain neutral if
the other country was attacked.
▪ The treaty ended in 1890 with the dismissal of Bismarck.

▪ The formation of the Triple Entente in 1907 concluded the division of Europe into two
hostile camps and drew the World War nearer. In fact, the system of alliances
contributed to the outbreak of war in 1914 as:

✓ The system of alliances divided Europe into two rival camps namely the Triple
Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy and the Triple Entente of Britain,
France and Russia.
✓ This division caused division, enmity and tension among the European powers.
✓ Each camp increased its strength each year by increasing its armies, navies and other
weapons which made war inevitable.
✓ Wars could not be localized. If one of the countries was attacked that would involve
the whole of Europe in war.
✓ A conflict between small powers would draw in the major powers.

ACTIVITY
• Explain how the alliance system led to outbreak of WW1?

MAGUTA TAFARA
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COLONIAL RIVALRY -3-

LEARNING AREA: HISTORY

TOPIC: World Wars

SUB-TOPIC: The First World War 1914-18

OBJECTIVES: 1. Explain the causes of the First World War.

INTRODUCTION

Colonial rivalry was used to explain the First World War. Tension between France and Germany
increased because of the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905 and the Second Moroccan Crisis of 1911.

ACTIVITY
 1. Research on the German’s foreign policy with regards to protection of its citizens and interests
abroad.

• In 1905 Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany visited Tangier a city in Morocco and declared his
support for the Sultan of Morocco. This angered France and Britain. The issue over
Morocco became an international crisis as it led to a breakdown in trust between the
major powers.

• The international conference held at Algeciras to solve the issue of Morocco resulted in
diplomatic defeat for Germany as the international community supported French interests
in Morocco. This resulted in the Second Moroccan crisis.

The Second Moroccan Crisis of 1911 was characterised with:

• French troops occupied Fez, sparking the second Moroccan crisis in March 1911.

• French authorities claimed that rebel nationalists staged an uprising in Morocco,

endangering one of the country’s capital cities, Fez.

• The Sultan appealed to France for help restoring order which led the French to send their
troops to Fez on May 21.

• Germany denounced the French for help restoring order which led the French occupation
and she sent a gunboat, the Panther, to the Moroccan port of Agadir. She claimed that
she was protecting her citizen there.

• Britain was alarmed by the German action. She sided with France and threatened an all
out war against Germany.

• Germany was not ready for war and she withdrew her gunboat after receiving some
compensation.

Nationalism is a way of thinking that says some groups of humans, such as ethnic groups,
should be free to rule themselves. The events that were triggered by nationalism in the Balkans,
which led to the First World War include:

• The Bosnian Crisis of 1908

• The First Balkan War of 1912
• The Second Balkan War of 1931
• The Sarajevo Incident of 1914

The Sarajevo incident was the immediate event which plunged the world into a war.
ACTIVITY
1. Describe the First and Second Moroccan Crisis [1905; 1911].

MAGUTA TAFARA
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The Sarajevo Incident -4-

LEARNING AREA: HISTORY

TOPIC: World Wars

SUB-TOPIC: First World War 1914-18

OBJECTIVES: 1. Explain the causes of the First World War.

INTRODUCTION

The Sarajevo Incident is taken as the match that lit the born fire. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophie were shot to death by Gavrillo Princip a Bosnian student
affiliated to Serb nationalism during an official visit to the Bosnian Capital of Sarajevo on June
28, 1914.

ACTIVITY
1. Research on the lessons which can be learnt from the Sarajevo incident.
 • The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of the World War in early
August of 1914.
• Austria sent a harsh ultimatum to Serbia demanding:
• Denouncing anti-Austrian movements
• Handing over of the criminals
• Allowing Austrian officials to assist in the investigations of the murder
• When Austria Hungary learned that the assassins of Archduke Franz Ferdinand were
sponsored by Serbia, Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia and declared war against Serbia.
She shelled/bombarded Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia.
• To protect Serbia, Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary.
• Germany supported Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia.
• France mobilized her forces in support of Russia.
• Germany demanded that France demobilize her forces and remain neutral.
• France refused to demobilize and Germany declared war on France.
• Germany invaded neutral Belgium in order to get to France.
• Britain demanded Germany to withdraw from Belgium and when Germany refused,
Britain declared war on.
• Germany, using the violation of the Belgian Neutrality Act as an excuse. There after the
other countries joined the war according to their alliances.

CONCLUSION

The Sarajevo incident plunged the Europeans into a four year long devastating war.

ACTIVITY
• Describe the Sarajevo Assassination of 28 June 1914..

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The Schlieffen Plan -5-

LEARNING AREA: HISTORY

TOPIC: World Wars

SUB-TOPIC: First World War 1914-18

OBJECTIVES: 1. Explain the causes of the First World War.

INTRODUCTION

The Schlieffen plan was the German War Plan for the attack of France. The plan was designed
by Alfred von Schlieffen, the then Chief of the German staff. The plan was drawn in 1893,
revised in 1905 and it was renewed every year until the death of Alfred von Schlieffen in 1913.
The plan was designed to allow Germany to wage a successful war against France in the west
and Russia in the east avoiding two war fronts.

ACTIVITY
Carryout a research on the importance of revising war plans by German Chief of Staff.

The plan aimed:

• To avoid war on two fronts

• To invade France, through Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg
• German forces to march through Belgium in twelve days
• To capture Brussels within 19 days
• To knock out France in 6 weeks
• To attack Paris from the West
• To capture the ports of the English channel before the entry of Britain into the war
• To rely on the speed of the German soldiers
• To use railways to transport soldiers
• To attack Russia after the fall of France
• To knock out Russia in six months

When the war broke out in 1914, Germany moved quickly to implement the Schlieffen plan. Her
troops quickly moved into Belgium. However, the Belgians put up stiff resistance, defending
their country. The Germans were thus delayed in Belgium giving Britain enough time to prepare
her armies to come to the rescue of France and Belgium. Russia also mobilised quickly and the
German plan failed. In response to the failure of the plan:

• Germany sent soldiers to the East to fight Russia who had mobilized her forces earlier
than German had anticipated.
• Germany was forced to attack Paris from the East which was a shorter route, instead of
attacking from the West as had been planned.
• The Germans were checked by the British and the French forces at the river Marne where
they were defeated and the Schlieffen Plan was shattered.
• Instead of surrendering at the river Marne, the German forces retreated some 60km to the
river Aisne where they began to dig trenches to live in and fight from. The allied powers
dug their own trenches and this marked the beginning of the trench, warfare on the
Western continued until the end of the 1st World War in 1918.

ACTIVITY
• Describe the reasons for the failure of the Schlieffen Plan.
 MAGUTA TAFARA
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 The Trench Warfare -6-

LEARNING AREA: HISTORY

TOPIC: World Wars

SUB-TOPIC: First World War (1914-1918)

OBJECTIVES: 1. Describe the events of the First World War.

INTRODUCTION

When the Schlieffen Plan failed to achieve the intended aims, the trench warfare ensued.
Trenches were dug as a result of a stalemate. Initially they acted as reservoirs but later on
defensive purposes. Enemy trenches were parallel to each other and the gap between the trench
lines was called “NO MAN’S LAND” Anyone who dared appear on “No Man’s Land” was
sure to die a cruel death from the attack of the enemy.

✓ The trenches were dug in a zigzag pattern and they were about 3 meters deep.
✓ Mounds of barbed wire were rolled above the trenches for protection.
✓ Sometimes the trenches were covered with land mines.
✓ The lines of trenches stretched from the Belgian border with France to Switzerland (a
distance of about 40km)

ACTIVITY
Draw a sketchy diagram of a trench warfare using the above information.
 Weapons used during the trench warfare include:

▪ Flamethrowers
▪ Mortars
▪ Artillery
▪ Poison gas grenades
▪ Tanks
▪ Aircraft
▪ Rifles
▪ Machine guns
▪ Landmines and others

Life in the Trenches

The soldiers faced serious problems such as:

▪ overcrowding
▪ deaths,
▪ injuries,
▪ shortage of food,
▪ shortage of water,
▪ stench from the decomposing bodies,
▪ cold in winter,
▪ mud,
▪ pests,
▪ rodents,
▪ home sickness
 ▪ , boredom
▪ Influenza,
▪ Trench foot disease to mention but a few.

• The combatants from both camps retreated into the trenches to defend themselves instead of
advancing to attack. The war slowed down into a stalemate or deadlock.
• The stalemate in the trenches was broken when new weapons such as tanks, poisonous gases,
airplanes and others were introduced.
• Besides the trench warfare, air strikes, naval warfare or submarine warfare and many others.

ACTIVITY
• Describe the Trench Warfare.

MAGUTA TAFARA
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