European Studies

The origin of First World War 18901914

Eighth class

Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of

Science and Technology, Karachi

1. Militarism
This

is not just an arms race, but

also a government's attitude of
mind, seeing war as a valid
means of foreign policy. (This
often includes the influence of
government by the generals.)
All the nations of Europe were
militaristic, but the governments
of Germany and Austria-Hungary
were especially so.

Figures of armed strength of

some nations of Europe
All

the countries of Europe built up their armies

and navies. In 1914, their armed forces stood
like this:
Germany: 2,200,000 soldiers, 97 warships
Austria-Hungary: 810,000 soldiers, 28
warships.
Italy: 750,000 soldiers, 36 warships
France: 1,125,000 soldiers, 62 warships
Russia: 1,200,000 soldiers, 30 warships
Great Britain: 711,000 soldiers, 185 warships
As one country increased its armies, so all the
others felt obliged to increase their armed forces
to keep the balance of power.

Standing army
Another

thing that the countries of Europe

did was to train all their young men so that
if there was a war they could call, not only
on the standing army, but on huge numbers
of trained reservists. One historian has
estimated the total number of men
(including reservists) that the countries
could thus call upon as:
Germany: 8.5 million men
Russia: 4.4 million
France: 3.5 million
Austria-Hungary: 3 million

Alliances
As

well as seeking protection in the size of their armies, the

countries of Europe sought protection by forming alliances.

At first, Bismarck had kept Germany friendly with Russia.

Kaiser Wilhelm overturned this, and concentrated instead
on the Dual Alliance of 1879 between Germany and
Austria-Hungary - which became the Triple Alliance (or
Central Powers Alliance) when Italy joined in 1882.
Alarmed by this strong central bloc:
a. France in 1894 made an alliance with Russia, and
b. In 1904 France made an agreement with Britain called
the Entente Cordiale (Friendly Relationship not a formal
alliance, but a promise to work together).
c. In 1907, Britain made an entente with Russia, thus
forming the Triple Entente (France, Russia, Great Britain).

Nationalism

EVERYONE was nationalist in those days, and this helped cause war in
two ways:

a. It made the people of countries like Britain, Germany and France

more bellicose (warlike) the British sang: Rule Britannia and Land
of Hope and Glory, and the Germans sang: Deutschland uber alles.
French politicians like Clemenceau and Poincare (who had been
around in 1870) HATED the Germans. People were enraged when
someone insulted their country.

b. It made the races ruled by Turkey (such as the Romanians and the
Bulgarians) and by Austria-Hungary (such as the Serbs) want to be
free to rule themselves. In the Balkans this was called Panslavism
because the people who wanted to be free were all Slav races. The
most nationalistic of all were the Serbs Serbia had became an
independent country by the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878, but in
1900 many Serbs were still ruled by Turkey and Austria-Hungary, and
Serbia was determined to rule over them all. This led to rebellions
and terrorism which destablised the Balkans.

Slav nationalism among the people who lived there, especially Serbia.

Imperialism
Imperialism

is when a country increases

their power and wealth by bringing
additional territories under their control.
Before World War 1, Africa and parts of
Asia were points of contention amongst
the
European
countries.
This
was
especially true because of the raw
materials these areas could provide. The
increasing competition and desire for
greater empires led to an increase in
confrontation that helped push the world
into World War I.

Different colonial rivalry among big

powers which led to occurrence of WWI
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Japan & China over Korea and

Formosa
US & Britain over Venezuela
Britain & France over Sudan
Spain & United States over Cuba &
Philippines
Britain & Dutch over South Africa
Germany & France over Morocco
Russia & Japan over Manchuria
Austria & Russia over Balkan region

Europe Before 1914: the Main Powers

Member

States of Triple Entente

Name

Head of State Allies Disputes

Britain
King George V (1901-1936)
Constitutional Monarchy France, Russia Naval arms race
economic rivalry with Germany
France

President Raymond Poincare

Parliamentary Democracy Britain, Russia Wanted the return of
the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany

Russia

Tsar Nicholas II (1894-1917)

Monarchy
Britain, France Rivals with Austria for control of the Balkans
Strained relations with Britain.

Member States of Triple Alliance

Germany
Kaiser

William II (1888-1918)
Constitutional Monarchy Italy, Austria- Hungary. Rivals with
France over Alsace, Britain over her navy.

Austria-

Hungary
Kaiser Franz Joseph (1848-1916)
Constitutional Monarchy Italy, Germany Rivalry with Russia
over the Balkans, Territorial disputes with her ally, Italy
Italy
King

Victor Emmanuel III (1900-1946)

Constitutional Monarchy Austria, Germany Disputes with
France in North Africa
large Italian communities lived in the Austrian Empire.