A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Explain the causes and consequences of World War I.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

KC-6.2.IV.B.i The causes of World War I included imperialist expansion and competition for resources. In addition, territorial and regional conflicts combined with a flawed alliance system and intense nationalism to escalate the tensions into global conflict.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES

Causes of World War I:

§ imperialist expansion

§ competition for resources

§ territorial and regional conflicts

§ flawed alliance system

§ intense nationalism

§ imperialist expansion

• European countries competed with each other all over the world in the 1800s and early 1900s.

• They fought one another at sea and used treaty negotiations to claim colonies and spheres of influence in Africa and Asia.

• The search for raw materials to fuel industry and markets to buy goods in far-flung corners of the world led to increased tension in Europe.

§ competition for resources

Germany's “place in the sun”

• 1871-- became a unified nation and British and French imperialists had already carved up most of the world, but they were able to acquire some territory:

• • • German East Africa

      • • late 1880s-- German military was asked to put down a revolt against the activities of the German East Africa Company

        • would contribute 12,000 soldiers and porters during WWI

        • present day Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and parts of Kenya and Mozambique

    • German Southwest Africa

      • • 1884 -- became a German colony

        • colony had a population of around 2,600 Germans

        • 1904 to 1908 -- Herero and Namaqua genocide (see Unit 7.8)

        • Herero-CCoT

        • present day Namibia and part of Botswana

    • German West Africa

      • • 1884 -- became a German protectorate

        • present day Cameroon and Togo

    • German New Guinea and Micronesia

      • • 1884 -- became a German colony

        • 1899-1914 -- plantations used natives as forced laborers (women until 1910)

          • • tribes to furnish four weeks of labor per person annually and payment of a poll tax in cash

            • 1910 -- Sokeh workers revolted against work conditions, but German government sent 4 warships with 745 troops and quickly crushed the rebellion

    • German Samoa

      • • 1900-- became a German protectorate

        • coconut, cacao and hevea rubber cultivation, copra and cocoa bean processing

        • by 1914 over 2,000 Chinese (coolie laborers) were in the colony, providing an effective labor force for the [German] plantations

§ territorial and regional conflicts

• 1905 -- French-German confrontation over Morocco

• 1911 -- Italian declaration of war on the Ottoman empire that annexed the Tripoli region of northern Africa

• 1912-1913 -- Balkin Crisis

  • • Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, and Romania vs Ottoman Empire

    • Ottomans lost their last territories in Europe except for the western portion of the city of Istanbul.

§ flawed alliance system

Central Powers (The Triple Alliance)

• 1879 -- Germany and Austria-Hungary formed the Dual Alliance

  • • a defensive pact that ensured reciprocal protection from a Russian attack and neutrality in case of an attack from any other power such as France (Germany's fear)

• 1882 -- Italy, fearful of France, joined the Dual Alliance, thereby transforming it into the Triple Alliance

  • • Italy’s rivalry with Austria-Hungary in the Balkans declaration of war on the Ottoman empire in 1911 and the subsequent drive to annex the Tripoli region of northern Africa strained the Triple Alliance

    • German government tried to cultivate friendly relations with the Turks

Allies (Triple Entente)

• 1904 -- began as a series of agreements between Britain and France

  • • England was compelled to protect French interests on the seas

• 1907 -- Britain and Russia

  • • aimed to resolve colonial disputes

• summer of 1914

  • • Reciprocal treaty obligations, which the governments felt compelled to honor lest they face the risk of being alone in a hostile world

§ intense nationalism

• The French Revolution and subsequent Napoleonic conquests spread nationalism throughout most of Europe

• Inherent in nationalism was the idea that peoples with the same ethnic origins, language, and political ideals had the right to form sovereign states

  • • this concept is termed self-determination

• 1800s saw national autonomy to Germans (1871), Italians (1861), and Belgians (1830 from Netherlands)

eastern Europe and the Balkans

• aspirations of subject minorities threatened to tear apart the multinational empires of the Ottoman, Habsburg, and Russian dynasties and with them the regional balance of power

• Ottoman

  • • Greece was the first to gain independence (in 1830), but within a few decades Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria followed suit.

• Hapsburgs (Austria-Hungary)

  • • confronted the nationalist aspirations of Slavic peoples—Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes

    • Serbs -- pressed for unification with the independent kingdom of Serbia

      • • Russia added fuel to this volatile situation by promoting Pan-Slavism, a nineteenth-century movement that stressed the ethnic and cultural kinship of the various Slav peoples of eastern and east central Europe and that sought to unite those peoples politically.

    • Russia’s support of Serbia, which supported Slav nationalism, and Germany’s backing of Austria-Hungary, which tried desperately to counter the threat of national independence, helped set the stage for international conflict.

Activity

1.) Systems Analysis-was the Great War the result of larger patterns in which individuals were unable to stop the inertia of events?

2.) Determine what step was most to blame for the start of WWI (The Great War) and why

3.) Create a blame list of events in descending order of culpability.

3 Factors that made The Great War/WWI Inevitable

1.) Decolonization of Southeast Europe

2.) Nationalism-based on Ethnicity

3.) Industrialization of Germany and England

• Space

• Time

• Mass

• Asymmetrical Balance of Power

Explanation

1.) Decolonization of Southeast Europe

Austria-Hungary & Russia=two weakest states and least capable of “losing face”

• Alliance system meant these weak states would drag other with them into conflict

• Decolonization of Southeast Europe/Balkins

A.) Greek War for Independence (1820’s) was successful

B.) 1875-Slavic peoples in the Ottoman provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina led an uprising against the Ottomans to gain their freedom. Montenegro and Serbia aided the rebellion and within a year, rebellion spread to the Ottoman province of Bulgaria. The rebellion became part of a larger pan-Slavic movement.

C.) Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878 and annexed it in 1908.

D.) Romanian War of Independence (1877-1878)-part of Russo-Turkish war

E.) Bulgarian Independence in 1908(1878 as an autonomous state of the Ottomans)

Analysis

• 19th century-5-6 million muslims in the Balkans die or flee to Anatolian Peninsula

• Ottoman Empire as the “Sick Man of Europe”

  • Ottoman were unable to “modernize” as to enable free elections or free press would result in their own demise.

  • European Intervention (ie. Russia on behalf of Slavs and England/France on behalf of Christians and Jews) resulted in the demise of the decentralized Millet system which had enabled the Ottoman Empire to maintain its diverse religious and ethnic communities for centuries.

2.) Nationalism-based on Ethnicity

Nationalism (National Identity myth-NY Times)

A.) Napoleonic Influence-democratization of politics and changing view of the state

B.) “Fraternity”-demand for governments with whom people in a given area can identify with.

a.) The form is/was irrelevant: Monarchy, democracy, autocracy, etc.

b.) Perceived locusts of political authority ranged from Parliaments to Kings.

C.) People became the legitimacy of International Relations

a.) effects the nature of short term alliances (ie. Bismarck and Cavour)

b.) effects the nature of long term alliances (ie. marriages based on ethnicity, religion, etc)

D.) Nationalism removes the “flexibility” from the system

3.) Industrialization of Germany and England

• Space

  • • Railroads and Steamships resulted in the ability to provision an army far from supplies.

• Time

  • • the Telegraph and Railroads meant troops can be shifted from one front to another swiftly.

• Mass

  • • Industrial factories meant the ability to organize, train, cloth, supply (weapons) and feed larger armies than any other time in history.

a.) French military during 30-Years War (early 1600’s)=60,000-70,000 troops

b.) French military during Louis XIV wars=134,000-377,000 troops

c.) French military during Napoleonic Wars=600,000-700,000 troops

d.) German military during Franco-Prussian War (1870)=1.2 Million

e.) German military in 1914=3.4 Million

• Asymmetrical Balance of Power

• Asymmetrical Balance of Power between Germany and Britain, but Stable

  • • Germany-1900=Greatest Power on the European Continent

      • • German Army-aligned with Austria in 1879 = Resources concentrated

    • Britain-1900=Greatest Power in the World

      • • British Navy: controlled the seas:

          • • ¼ surface of the earth were British colonies

            • ¼ of earths population under British rule

            • ½ tonnage of global merchant shipping

        • Resources not compact, but spread all over globe

        • “Splendid Isolationism” -Britain not committed to continental entanglements.

• What Changed the Asymmetrical Balance of Power?

  • • Turning Point in stability=1898 RISK FLEET

      • • German Industry and Natural Resources gave Germany ability to create

        • Export Economy dependent on the good-will of British Navy

        • GOAL=no sea power could attack a German merchant without sustaining such damage that would make it susceptible to a 3rd party. Designed to be a deterrent

    • Why did this matter to Great Britain?

      • • Comparative Advantage (satirical explanation) (actual explanation) decision:

          • • Transportation Revolution=Railroads/Steam boats brought grain and supplies to international markets

• 1869-USA

• 1885-Canada

• 1890's-Trans-Siberian Railroad (French investment)

• England abandoned agriculture-relied on imports of foreign food (only had a 5-week supply at any time to feed its population)

Result-with Britain dependent on foreign food, Germany’s new navy threatened no only their economy, but their survival. Britain looks for alliances.

Activity

1.) Can the actions of individuals change the directions of events...was the Great War the result of the choices of individuals who were capable of changing events?

2.) Determine who was most to blame for the start of WWI (The Great War) and why

3.) Create a blame list in descending order of culpability.

The case against:

• Germany (Kaiser Wilhelm II) could have prevented the war anytime in July 1914 by withdrawing its "blank cheque" which offered support to Austria for its invasion of Serbia.

• Serbia could have prevented the war by not protecting the Black Hand terrorists.

• Britain might have helped avert hostilities by clarifying its position earlier-German support for Austria-Hungary was based on Britain sitting on the side-lines.

• Austria-Hungary’s ultimatum issued to Serbia on 23 July was composed in such a way that its possibility of being accepted was near impossible.

• France-Paris issued its own "blank cheque" to St. Petersburg

• Russia-Russia, not Germany, mobilised first transforming the conflict from a regional dispute to a wider conflict

Key Takeaways

A.) By 1914, Europeans and their descendants in North America dominated global affairs to an unprecedented extent, exercising political and economic control over peoples and their lands in most of Asia, nearly all of Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific islands.

B.) This global dominance was the outcome of three interconnected historical developments that took place between 1750 and 1914.

• Political revolutions in the Atlantic Ocean basin had encouraged the formation of national states, which could mobilize large-scale popular support.

• Extensive economic transformations paralleled the political reorganization of national communities, as peoples in western Europe and North America initiated processes of industrialization. Industrializing societies wielded enormous political and economic power.

• Their efficient transportation systems, fast communications networks, and powerful military technology supported imperial and colonial expansion

C.) In 1914 a Europe torn by national rivalries, colonial disputes, and nationalist aspirations plunged into war.