The causes and outbreak of WWI
Long-term causes: Ideologies
Three ideological beliefs emerged prior to WWI, all of which contributed to how countries acted and behaved internally and externally, towards other countries.
An ideology is a set of ideas or beliefs that guide the actions of an individual, group or nation.
Three ideological beliefs were prevalent prior to WWI:
- Imperialism
- Nationalism
- Militarism
Imperialism
Imperialism was the policy of asserting one country's power and influence over another country, usually in order to increase their wealth and access to raw materials.
The process of imperialism is also understood as colonialism. More developed and powerful nations asserted their dominance over less developed nations by overthrowing foreign governments and establishing new colonies in their place.The image below shows the state of imperialism and power in 1914.
- What two countries appear to have the largest empires in 1914?
Nationalism
A second major ideology at work prior to 1914 was nationalism.
The Empire needs men!
Nationalism is essentially a devotion or love of one's country. Governments at this time reinforced and encouraged their citizens to adopt a personal pride, devotion and love for their country.
Each individual was encouraged to support the country's interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.
The poster to the left is an example of a government promoting feelings of nationalism in its audiences. Answer the questions below:
- What country do you think is responsible for the publication of this nationalistic poster? Explain how you reached this conclusion.
- Explain the significance of the 'Pride of Lions' metaphor in reinforcing the ideology of nationalism.
- What evidence exists in the poster to suggest that the ideology of promoting nationalism is often also to the detriment of other nations?
Militarism
Although many European countries were connected by royal houses, rivalry still existed among royal families - and nations - for economic growth, colonial expansion and military supremacy.
Militarism is the belief that a nation develops and maintains a strong military capability so that they are able to defend or promote national interests.
Military strength was and is often still needed in order to obtain and protect new interests, income and lands.
Great Britain and Germany were the strongest European forces as Britain had the world's largest navy and Germany was economically powerful and maintained a large army. Although these two nations had large military forces, other European countries also sought to improve their own military strength.
The competitive rivalry for more land, colonies and influence - paired with the need to protect these interests - meant that nations were significantly adding to, and developing, their military strength in the early 1900s.
Alliances and Treaties
In the years leading up to 1914 - and the outbreak of WWI - a number of alliances and treaties were formed between nations.
- Alliance: an agreement between two or more parties stating that each party will act a certain way in order to achieve a common goal
- Treaty: A formal document or contract between two or more parties, usually in regard to a peace or trade agreement where terms are set down and adhered to.
Just prior to the outbreak of WWI in 1914, two major alliances were formed.
The 'Triple Alliance' or 'Central Powers'
The Triple Alliance - also referred to as the 'Central Powers' (geographical location in Europe) - was formed between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
- German Empire: large army, second-most powerful navy
- Austria-Hungary: multinational country, second-largest country after Russia, world industrial heavyweight
- Italy: member of alliance since 1882, but unpopular with many Italians (would later change sides)
The 'Triple Entente'
The Triple Entente consisted of Britain, France and Russia.
- Britain: largest Empire ever known, largest navy, dominant economic power
- France: considered Germany a threat, signed the Entente Cordiale (treaty) with Britain in 1904
- Russia: largest army and air force in the world at time but politically unstable
Explore the map by clicking on the Legend to see what countries were aligned with either the Triple Entente or Triple Alliance. Click and drag with your mouse to reposition the map or scroll to zoom in.
Other than the two major alliances, other nations either declared their neutrality or were colonies of major European powers and thus, sided with that power.
Short-term causes of WWI
Many historians say that the main cause of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.
The Archduke, and his wife Sophie Chotek, were fatally shot by Gavrilo Princep, who was part of a Serbian nationalist group on 28 June, 1914. He took the opportunity to show his feelings about Serbia's imperial rulers.
The city - Sarajevo - that this assassination took place was in a politically unstable region where major imperial powers - Austria-Hungary, Russia and the Ottoman Empire - were involved.
Whilst the assassination did not directly cause WWI, it lit the fuse of imperialistic, nationalistic and militaristic tension that existed in Europe, unleashing a series of events that led to the commencement of World War I.
Declarations of war
One month later, on July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
Over the month of August, 1914 the following declarations of war occurred:
- Germany declares war on Russia, France and Belgium
- Britain declares war on Germany
- Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia
- France and Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary
- Japan declares war on Germany
- Austria-Hungary declares war on Belgium
- The United States declares its neutrality (and would only enter the war several years later).
- Assess the reliability of this video.
Germany's Schlieffen Plan
As Germany had declared war on two fronts (Russia on the East and Belgium and France on the West), they decided to follow the Schlieffen Plan, thought out by Chief of Staff, Alfred von Schlieffen (pictured below).
This plan would theoretically allow Germany to neutralise one front so that they could focus on the second front. It was based on four assumptions:
- Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilise its army for war due to its political instability and huge geographical landscape.
- France could be easily defeated in 6 weeks.
- Belgium would not resist any German attack as it was a small nation and had declared its neutrality in the war.
- Britain would remain neutral.
As observed on the map, the Schlieffen Plan would send multiple German divisions West - through Belgium and Luxembourg - who would sweep through Northern France quickly, delivering a giant 'hammer stroke' to France.
This would allow Germany to knock France out quickly and move its troops to its Eastern borders to face Russia once it had mobilised its large army.
Schlieffen Plan fails
After its invasion into Belgium on 2nd August, 1914, Germany faced unexpected resistance. They had originally thought that as Belgium was a small, neutral nation, no one would care about the invasion.
However, Britain saw Germany's move through Belgium as a direct threat to its ally, France. As a result, Britain declared war on 4 August, 1914 and sent its army - The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) - across the English Channel to assist the Belgium army, who had also resisted Germany's invasion into their nation.
Click and drag the map to change the map extent. Check the Legend for additional information.
In France, the French army was able to halt Germany's sweeping progress through the country at the Marne River at the Battle of Marne on 4 September, 1914.
The Western Front emerges
The reality of the situation was that the Schlieffen Plan, after experiencing initial success, failed. The Germans were held up by the Belgium army, supported by the BEF. Further to this, Russia was able to mobilise in just 10 days - not 6 weeks as thought - forcing Germany to withdraw large numbers of troops to support the Eastern border.
Although some offensives were fought between August and December 1914, both sides were relatively unsuccessful in gaining any more land. The stalemate and years of trench warfare was about to quickly set in.
This theatre of war became known as the Western Front. As seen on the map below, the red line shows the set lines of trench warfare that emerged. One can also see that the majority of battles fought on this front are clustered around the trench lines. For many locations, very little movement occurred for almost four years. However, the battles of the Western Front would claim hundreds and thousands of lives.
The Western Front
- In your own words, summarise why the Schlieffen Plan ultimately failed.
- In a paragraph response, explain how major ideologies contributed to the outbreak of WWI.
