Causes of World War 1

• Long-term
  • Revanchism
    • Alsace-lorraine
    • Franco Prussian War Reparations
    • 2nd Riech proclaimed in Versailles
    • Paris Commune
    • 3rd Republic UMS Elections
    • Bosch
  • Balkans
    • Ottoman weakness
    • Russian Expansion for a warm water port
    • Orthodox Christianity
    • Panslavism
    • Austria- Hungary multinational, weak, large Slavic minority
    • Crimean and Russo-Turkish Wars
    • The congress of Berlin
  • Imperialism
    • field of competition between rival empires
    • In Africa: the tensions between GBR and Germany because of the Boer War and Kruger Telegram
    • Fashoda displays tensions between the French and British
    • In Asia and China everyone are rivals
    • the Trade wars between Germany and GBR. Merchants, marines, and navies fight.
• Short-term
  • Alliance System
    • The Triple Alliance
      • Bismarckian Diplomacy keeps the peace in Europe and keeps France isolated.
      • Bismarck erects the Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy (who flops in 1915)
      • France war further isolated by Bismarck's Secret Reassurance Treaty, which keeps Germany our of Austro-Russian war, and Russia does not ally with France.
      • GBR lives in Splendid Isolation
      • In 1890 Kaiser Wilhelm II "drops the pilot" and drops the Reassurance treaty, and in 1894 the French and Russians ally themselves.
    • Preparing for war
      • Germany now faces a two front war, and increases its military exponentially. This creates a large number of reserves.
        • in 1914 the Germans only have 750,000 men in their army, but they have 4.5 million in trained reserve.
        • a key term for war in Europe is mobilization.
      • Every country in Europe increases the size of militaries
      • The Germans change their entire war strategy. They posit that if the Germans fight a two fronted war, they will loose unless they adopt a first strike and offensive strategy.
      • Count Alfred von Schlieffen creates the Schlieffen Plan: Germany will attack in a pre emptive strike against France 1st since they can mobilize the fastest, and then turn on slow mobilizing Russia with Austria-Hungary keeping them in check.
      • In July 1914, Germany activates the plan and fires the first shots of WW1, which leads to their later War Guilt.
      • The Germans are victims of their own strategy.
    • Cornerstone alliance is between France and Russia
    • Great Britain:
      • why no alliance?
        • they live in splendid isoaltion
        • problems with their colonies such as China and India
        • They think Russia is sucky because they are rivals in China, Asia, E. Mediterranean, the Crimean and Russo-Turkish War
        • France sucks because of Fashoda, Egypt/Suez Canal, and China
      • Why does GBR abandon splendid isolation?
        • By around 1900 everybody hates the British
          • French
          • Russia
          • German because of colonial ambitions (The Kruger Telegram and Trade wars)
          • The US because of Venezuela (two times)
          • Dynastic Rivalries
          • In the Boer War Britain has Vietnam and Dutch killing settlers. They actually have concentration camps
          • In short, the world hates the British.
      • As a result, Germany starts to build a navy from 1898-1909 that threatens GBR's Great White Fleet. Germany's navy is calledThe High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte)
      • The British policy since Trafalgar was that the Navy was the #1 most important thing. It was bigger than #2 and #3 navies in the world. In 1902, Britain will leave Splendid Isolation and sign an allegiance with Japan.
      • Japan has the 5th largest navy in the world. Japan agrees to protect British interests in China, since France, Russians, Germans, and Americans are present there.
      • Britain can then concentrates their fleet, from the Pacific, closer to home. In 1904, the British patch up differences with France in Africa and sign Entente Cordiale.
      • France covers the Mediterranean navally, and the Brits cover the North Sea and English Channel.
      • France mediates between Russia and GBR in 1907. They partition Persia into spheres of influence.
      • in 1907 GB and Russia sign an entente