EUROPE IN 1900

Germans and Italians had gained national self-determination, but many “captive peoples”

remained

After 1871 Germany had about 1.5 X the French population

William I hailed as German Kaiser, Versailles, January 18, 1871

The German victory parade down the Champs Elysées,

March 1, 1871

“France Signing the Preliminary Peace Terms” (March 1871):Alsace & Lorraine ripped from the bosom of their mother…

THE OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

1882: Bismarck forges the “Triple Alliance” of Germany, Austria, and Italy. 1894: France and Russia form the “Dual Alliance.” 1898: Germany launches a naval arms race with Great Britain.1904: Great Britain signs the Entente cordiale with France, and the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907.January 1913: diplomacy forges agreement among the Great Powers in response to the First Balkan War.July 1914: diplomacy fails after Austria accuses Serbia of responsibility for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.

“The Triple Alliance” (1883):

France and Russia are left out in the cold

THE DUAL ALLIANCE OF OCT. 1879 (Austria+Germany, see Joll, 54-56)

ART. 1: “Should, contrary to their hope, and against the loyal desire of the two High Contracting Parties, one of the two Empires be attacked by Russia, the High Contracting Parties are bound to come to the assistance one of the other with the whole war strength of their Empires, and accordingly only to conclude peace together and upon mutual agreement.”ART. 2: “Should one of the High Contracting Parties be attacked by another Power, the other High Contracting Party binds itself hereby, not only not to support the aggressor against its high Ally, but to observe at least a benevolent neutral attitude towards its fellow Contracting Party.”ART. 3: This treaty will be kept secret, but if Russia’s armaments prove to be menacing, “the two High Contracting Parties would consider it their loyal obligation to let the Emperor Alexander know, at least confidentially, that they must consider an attack on either of them as directed against both.”

GERMAN-RUSSIAN REINSURANCE TREATY, JUNE 1887: Did its terms conflict with those of the Dual Alliance?

ARTICLE 1: “In case one of the High Contracting Parties should find itself at war with a third Great Power, the other would maintain a benevolent neutrality towards it, and would devote its efforts to the localization of the conflict. This provision would not apply to a war against Austria or France in case this war should result from an attack directed against one of these two latter Powers by one of the High Contracting Parties.”ART. 2: “Germany recognizes the rights historically acquired by Russia in the Balkan Peninsula, and particularly the legitimacy of her preponderant …influence in Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia. The two courts engage to admit no modification of the territorial status quo of the said peninsula without a previous agreement between them.”ART. 3: The Bosporus & Dardanelles must be closed in wartimeART. 5: The existence & contents of this treaty will be secret

Anton von Werner, “The Congress of Berlin, June-July 1878”(Bismarck always sought to mediate between Austria and

Russia, and to maintain good relations with Britain)

Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888-1918) The Pilot Leaves the

Ship,Punch, March 1890

Wilhelm II soon cancelled Germany’s nonaggression pact

with Russia.Tsar Alexander III

found that his diplomats urged friendship with

Germany, but his generals, an alliance

with France

ARCHITECTS OF THE FRANCO-RUSSIAN ALLIANCE

General Nikolai Obruchev,

Army Chief of Staff, 1881-97

(who had a French wife)

General Raoul de Boisdeffre, Deputy Chief

of Staff, 1890-94, then Chief

Franco-Russian Military Convention of August 1892

(Joll, 56-58)

If France is attacked by Germany or by Italy supported by Germany, Russia will employ all its available forces to attack Germany. If Russia is attacked by Germany or by Austria supported by Germany, France will employ all its available forces to combat Germany. In case the forces of the Triple Alliance or of one of its members begin to mobilize, France and Russia will immediately and simultaneously mobilize all of their forces and deploy them as close to their borders as possible, as soon as the enemy mobilization is announced….The forces available for deployment against Germany will amount to 1,300,000 men on the part of France, and 700-800,000 men on the part of Russia. These forces are dedicated to combating Germany simultaneously from the East and West in the most effective manner possible.The military general staffs of the two countries will deliberate together to prepare and execute the measures outlined above….France and Russia will not conclude a separate peace. This convention will have the same duration as the Triple Alliance.

In 1898 Germany announced a plan to build 3 battleships a

year. Wilhelm II: “Germany must wield Neptune’s trident as well as Jupiter’s scepter.”

In response Britain launched the H.M.S.

Dreadnought in 1906:

It carried ten 12-inch guns and 11-inch armor plate, and

cruised at over 20 m.p.h.

The Anglo-French Entente Cordiale

of April 1904 resolved colonial disputes in Africa

and gradually evolved into

something like an alliance(cartoon in PUNCH to

celebrate its 10th anniversary)

Admiral Sir John Fisher (at left),

First Sea Lord (1904-10), modernized the British fleet

Fisher converted the young Liberal,

Sir Winston Churchill, into a

champion of naval spending by 1911

The Anglo-Russian Entente (1907) resolved disputes in Asia

Rival nationalisms in the Balkans: The “Serbo-Croatian”

and “Macedonian” languages puzzled the linguists

The Balkan Wars, 1912/13

Serb machine gun team on maneuvers:Serbia won the most victories in the 1st Balkan

War against Turkey and annexed much of Macedonia

At the London Ambassadors’ Conference (Dec 1912-Jan 1913), the Great Powers agreed to create an

independent Albania and leave “Constantinople” in Turkey

GERMANY’S ONLY RELIABLE ALLY SUFFERED FROM GRAVE

ETHNIC TENSIONS:

Proportion of Germans in

Austria: 33%.

Proportion of Magyars in

Hungary: 54%.

Franz Ferdinand and his wife leave for the hospital to visit their wounded aide, Sarajevo, June 28, 1914

The chauffeur made a

wrong turn on the way to the hospital and stopped

to turn around, next

to Gavrilo Princip

THE ARREST OF GAVRILO PRINCIP

Chancellor Theobold von Bethmann Hollweg (1909-

17)Helmuth von Moltke the Younger (1906-

14)

Kaiser & King Franz Josef I, born in 1830, reigned 1848-

1916

Leopold von Berchtold: Austrian foreign minister,

1912-15

Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918;

ruled 1894-1917)

Sergei Sazonov, Russian foreign

minister, 1910-16

Raymond Poincaré (1860-1934),

leader of the French center-right,

premier in 1912/13, President of France,

1913-1920.

President Poincaré confers

with Foreign Minister Sazonov in St. Petersburg,

July 20-24, 1914(no record of

their talks was made)

British Foreign Secretary

Sir Edward Grey (1905-16),

who had a largely free hand in a Liberal cabinet

preoccupied with domestic issues

The “Schlieffen Plan” vs. the French “Plan XVII”

THE JULY CRISIS OF 1914June 28 Assassination of Archduke Franz

Ferdinand in Sarajevo by Bosnian South Slav nationalists

July 5-7 Hoyos Mission to Berlin; Germany promises to support Austria; Austrian cabinet agrees to issue Serbia an ultimatum (Joll, 14-15)

July 23 Austrian ultimatum to Serbia (Joll, 15-16)

July 24/25

Reactions to the ultimatum in Belgrade, St. Petersburg, & London (Joll, 18-21)

July 29 Austria shells Belgrade (Joll, 24-27)

July 30 Russia orders general mobilization (Joll, 27-8)

July 31 Germany issues 12-hour ultimatum to Russia

Aug 1 Schlieffen Plan implemented (Joll, 29-30)

Aug 2-6 Declarations of War

THE CENTRAL POWERS VS. THE ALLIES IN WORLD WAR I