IGCSE History: Causes of the First World War

Outbreak of War: Series of Events

• 28th June - Sarajevo assassination. • 23rd July - Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia. • 28th July - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. • 30th July - Russia mobilised. • 31st July - German ultimatum to Russia. (demanding demobilisation) • 1st August - Germany declares war on Russia. • 3rd August - Germany declares war on France; German troops invade France through Belgium. • 4th August - Britain joined the War.

Outbreak of War: The Sarajevo assassination (1914)

• Archduke Francis Ferdinand (heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary) was assassinated in Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914. • The assassin was Princip, a Bosnian student, who belonged to the Black Hand. • Austria-Hungary accused the Serbian government that they knew about the plot but did nothing to stop it. • Austria-Hungary saw Serbia's attack as a declaration of war.

Plans for War: Russia

• Army was poorly equipped but came in large numbers. • Plan was to overwhelm German and Austrian armies with their large amount of soldiers.

The Bosnian Crisis (1908)

• Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina; Serbia and Russia were unhappy. • Serbia wanted to form a large and independent Slav country. • Russia and Serbia were forced to accept the annexation due to German intervention and fear of war against Germany. • Anti-Austrian feeling increased in Serbia which led to the formation of the Black Hand; a secret terrorist society. • Made Austria-Hungary too confident that Germany would always be there to aid them.

Britain

• Britain and France had reached a number of agreements • Britain's worries about Russia decreased as Russia just lost a war with Japan. • Britain saw Germany's navy as a serious threat to their own.

Plans for War: Britain

• British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was formed consisting thousands of well equipped and trained soldiers who could immediately attend to war at short notice.

Outbreak of War: Allies and Central Powers, and other countries

• Central Powers - The Triple Alliance • Allies - The Triple Entente • Italy entered war in 1915 as part of the Allies. • USA entered war in 1917 as part of the Allies. • Russia withdrew in March 1918 due to internal issues.

Austria-Hungary

• Czechs in the North wanted to rule themselves. • Slavs in the South-West wanted their own state. • Serbs in the South wanted to be joined together with Serbia.

Plans for War: Austria-Hungary

• Depended on the success of the Schlieffen Plan so to defeat the Russians.

Tension in the Balkans

• Different nationalities were mixed together. • The new governments were regularly in dispute with one another. • Both Russia and Austria-Hungary wanted to control the Balkans because it gave them access to the Mediterranean.

Underlying Causes: Extreme Nationalism

• Each of the powers had their own aims to strengthen themselves. • These interests clashed with the aims of the other powers which stirred tension. • Austria-Hungary and Russia both wanted to increase their influence onto the Balkans.

First Moroccan Crisis (1905-06)

• Entente Cordiale (agreement for Britain to support France in controlling Morocco) was signed. • German Kaiser visited Tangier, an important port in Morocco; and declared that Morocco should be independent. • A conference was held in Algeciras, Spain and it was decided that Morocco would be under the French sphere of influence. • Franco-German relations worsened.

Second Moroccan Crisis (1911)

• French tried to take over Morocco again. • French were prepared to compensate Germany if it's trade suffered from their take-over. • German Kaiser sent out a gunboat to Agadir to protect German interests; war between France and Germany seemed likely. • Germany backed down and Morocco became a colony under the French; Germany was given land in central Africa as compensation.

Anglo-German Naval Rivalry

• German Kaiser felt that Germany needed a large navy to protect it's growing trade. • Britain saw Germany's navy as a serious threat. • Britain built it's first Dreadnought and soon enough so did the Germans. Both powers were caught in a race on who had more battleships.

Russia

• Had a close friendship with France. • Had a long history of rivalry with Austria-Hungary. • Got along well with Serbs because they were both Slavs. • Began to build up a large army so to not lose another war.

Plans for War: France

• Had well equipped and well trained soldiers. • Plan 17 was meant to attack deep into Germany and force surrender.

Underlying Causes: Armaments Race

• Increase in arms and military strength created fear and suspicion among the powers. • Although two disarmament conferences were held, none of the powers had any intention to disarm. • Anglo-German rivalry intensified as the naval race occurred.

Germany

• Kaiser Wilhelm felt that Germany should be a world power and should have overseas colonies. • Had the second largest naval fleet in the 1890s. • Were worried about 'encirclement' and possible threat due to the alliance between France and Russia.

Attempts at Making Peace: Conference of Algeciras (1906)

• Most nations supported France, forcing Germany to back down. • Anglo-French and Anglo-Russian relations strengthened through mutual support of France. • The German Kaiser swore to take revenge on France.

Plans for War: In General

• No one had planned out what to do if the war dragged on. • Everyone's plans were designed to achieve a quick victory. • The powers thought that a long war would cause economic collapse, and so the war would be over within weeks.

Attempts at Making Peace: Second Hague Conference (1907)

• None of the powers were willing to disarm or reduce arms due to suspicion and distrust among one another. • International disputes were more like to be settled by war.

The Balance of Power

• People believed that the balance of aid from each power towards their allies would prevent either side from starting a war.

Plans for War: Germany

• Schlieffen Plan was designed to attack France through Belgium first, then come round to fight Russia; as they assumed that they would take long to mobilise.

Outbreak of War: Austria-Hungary's ultimatum

• Serbia had Russian support while Germany gave its unconditional support to Austria-Hungary. (Known as the blank cheque) • Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum (final warning) to Serbia on the 23rd of July. • The three demands of the ultimatum included: - Serbia was to stop all anti-Austrian societies; - Serbia was to dismiss all officials which Austria-Hungary objected to; - Officials of A-H were to enter Serbia to stop anti-Austrian activities; and to carry out an investigation for the assassination. • Serbia accepted the first two demands, but not the last; this led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia.

Attempts at Making Peace: First Hague Conference (1899)

• Some countries - including Germany, refused to attend. • Reduction and limitation of armaments were not achieved. • Articles concerning war being fought humanely were achieved.

Aftermath

• The Allies forced Germany to sign the 'War guilt' clause; claiming that it was responsible for starting the war and for all the damage caused by it.

The Second Balkan War (1913)

• The Balkan League (except Bulgaria) along with Turkey and Rumania against Bulgaria. • A new state, Albania was created. • Austria-Hungary claimed that Albania was to be independent and Serbia was unhappy. • Austro-Serbian relations escalated to a dangerous level.

The First Balkan War (1912)

• The Balkan League against Turkey. • Turkey lost most of her European territory. • The Balkan League shared among themselves the territory that Turkey had lost. • Disputes among the victors over division of land (Balkan League) increased; which led to the second Balkan War.

Underlying Causes: Colonial Rivalries

• The powers believed that more land equaled to more power. • Competition for colonies which provided resources, homes, and markets intensified and led to clashes and crises.

Underlying Causes: Alliance System

• The two alliances were unwilling to settle disputes as they believed that their allies would aid them militarily. • The Triple Alliance against the The Triple Entente.

Attempts at Making Peace: The Treaty of London and The Treaty of Bucharest (1913)

• Treaty of London was signed after the first Balkan War. • Treaty of Bucharest was signed after the second Balkan War to revise the Treaty of London.

France

• Wanted to protect itself against attacks from Germany. • Wanted to take back the rich industrial region of Alsace-Lorraine.

Italy

• Wanted to set up colonies and build an overseas empire. • Was not a strong industrial or military power. • Germany and Austria-Hungary did not entirely trust Italy.