The First World War (1914 - 1918)

Main Causes of the First World War:

1. Militant Nationalism:
Germany had Kaiser William II as her new Emperor.
He wanted to establish a vast German Empire and gain important position in
the international sphere.
France and Germany were old rivals.
After defeating France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) Germany had
seized the province of Alsace and most parts of Lorraine, which were rich in
minerals and industrial products.
The Italians also look discontented.
Then there was the unsatisfied national spirit of the Balkan States Serbia
and Bugaria, of Poland and of the people of Austria-Hungry.
The political leaders and rulers succeeded in fanning hatred and passion
under the cover of nationalism.

2. An Armament Race:
It was this intense nationalism which turned Europe into an assembly of vast
armed camps.
There was an arms race and the peculiar feature of such a race is that if one
country increases its armaments, other countries are compelled to do the
same.

3. The Split of Europe into Two Armed Camps Triple Alliance and Triple Entente:
In 1879 Germany and Austria-Hungary had signed a Treaty to help each other
in case of enemy attack.
Three years later Italy joined the Pact, which came to be known as the Triple
Alliance.
As opposed to the Triple Alliance emerged the Triple Entente comprising
Britain, France and Russia in 1907 to contain German expansionism.
Thus Europe was divided into two major camps on one side were England,
France and Russia and on the other Germany, Austri-Hungary and Turky.
The rivalry and enmity between the two camps was a major step towards
World War I.





4. Colonial Rivalry Imperialist Ambitions:
There was a mad scramble among the European nations for new territories in
Africa and Asia in the 19
th
Century.
When Germany entered the race for establishing colonies, Britain and France
made a secret agreement in 1904.
According to this agreement Britain was to have political control over Egypt
and France was to take over Morocco.
But the French claim over Morroco was opposed by Germany.
The German Emperor proclaimed that he would uphold the independence of
Morrocco and her Sultan.
Germany tried to force her opinion on France by sending a gun boat,
Panther.

5. Balkan Wars:
In 1912 four Balkan countries Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece
started a war against the Turks.
Turkey lost most of her possessions in Europe.
In the Second Balkan War in 1913 Serbia and Greece, supported by Russia,
defeated Bulgaria, an ally of Austria.
So Austria decided to put an end to the Serbian power.
Kaiser confirmed Germanys willingness to support any action taken against
Serbia.

6. No Effective International Organisation for the Preservation of Peace:
The First Hague Conference met in 1899 at the invitation of Tsar Nicholas II of
Russia.
To this Conference some 26 nation sent their delegates.
An important proposal before the Conference was that the nation should
decide not to increase their armies or their war budget for five years.
Nothing of this sort could be decided there, because Germanys opposition
to the said proposal.
A Second Conference met at Hague in 1907.
This also failed to secure the desired results.






7. Sarajeevo Crisis The Immediate Cause:
On 28 June, 1914, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the Crown Prince of
Austria and his wife were assassinated at Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia.
The assassin, Gavrilo Princep was 19 year old Bosnian, the first student
revolutionary to change the course of the history of Europe.
Serbia was blamed for Archdukes assassination.
Austria presumed that Princep and fellow conspirators had receive their guns
and bombs in the Serbian Capital with the help of Serbian officials.
Austria sent a stiff ultimatum to Serbia for apprehending the criminals and
handing them over to Austrian Government.
The Serbian government refused to accept some of the demands of the
ultimatum on the ground that they involved of its sovereignty, i.e., its
authority to govern itself.

The Treaty of Versailles, 1919:
It refer to the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed on 28
th
June, 1919 in the
Hall of Mirrors at Versailles (France).
The Treaty refers to the agreement made with Germany, who was blamed for
imposing a war on the Allies.
The person who played an active role in framing the Terms of the Treaty
included the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, President Woodrow Wilson of
the United States, M. Clemenceau, the French Premier and V. Orlando of Italy.

Terms (Provisions) of the Treaty:
1. War Indemnity:
The Treaty declared Germany guilty of aggression.
She had to pay a very heavy sum estimated at 33 billion dollars as War
Indemnity to the Allies.
Germany was to evacuate the places she had captured during the war.

2. The Rhine Valley:
The area of the Rhine Valley was to be demilitarized.
Germany could not maintain or construct any fortification either on the left
bank of the Rhine or on the right bank.
To guarantee the execution of the Treaty, the German territory west of
Rhine was to be occupied by the Allied Troops for 15 years.




3. Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar Basin:
France got back Alsace-Lorraine which she had lost in the Franco-Prussian
War (1870-1871).
To compensate France for the deliberate destruction of her coal mines by the
Germans in 1918, she was given full ownership of the rich coal mines in the
Saar basin, a district adjoining Lorraine for a period of 15 years.

4. Schleswig:
The fate of Schleswig, taken away from Denmark in 1864, was determined by
a plebiscite.
The northern zone voted for incorporation in Denmark and the central zone
voted for Germany.

5. Eupen and Malmedy:
Germany surrendered the areas of Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium.
The city of Memel went to Lithuiana.

6. Independence of Poland:
To provide Poland with a port, the German city of Danzing was
internationalized.
It was kept as a Free City and placed under the protection of League of
Nations.
Trading rights through the City of Danzing increased Polands wealth and
resources.

7. Germany lost all her Colonies and Overseas Possessions:
Togoland and the Cameroon (in West Africa) were partitioned between
Britain and France and German East Africa was shared between Britain and
Belgium.
However, the Allied powers (Britain, France and Belgium) held these
territories as Mandatories of the League of Nations.
Palestine and Mesopotamia were also held by Britain under a Mandate from
the League of Nations.







8. Germanys Military Strength was Crippled:
The German Army was restricted to a force of 1,00,000 soldiers, the Navy
was limited to 15,000 men and 36 ships and the Air Force was totally banned.
No submarines were to be allowed.
Germany was neither to make nor to purchase from outside tanks and
armoured cars.

9. Supply of Coal:
Germany had to supply huge quantities of coal to France, Italy and Belgium
for ten years.

10. Several Countries gained Independence:
The complete independence of Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia was
recognized by Germany.

11. The League of Nations:
The Covenant (the Pact) of the League of Nations was added to the Treaty of
Versailles.

Criticism of the Treaty of Versailles:
The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of all its colonial possessions and
imposed enormous compensation in the form of war damages.
Her military strength was completely crushed.
The peace arrangements, therefore, broke down and Germany under Hitler
showed aggression in its political activities.
This became an important cause of World War II.

The Remaining Peace Treaties:
Separate Treaties were signed with Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Turkey.

The Results of the War:
1. The Loss of Life:
It was believed that in the 4 years during which the War raged some 80 lakh
people were wounded.
Many were rendered invalid for the whole of their life.
The air raids, epidemics and famines killed so many civilians.




2. The Cost in Hard Cash:
Nations of the world continued to deal with financial problems for years and
years.
Many countries had series of demonstrations against governments inability
to hold back inflation with a high level of unemployment.

3. Territorial Rearrangements (Changed Political Map of the World):
It ended the autocratic monarchies in Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary.
It led to the birth of new states such as Romania, Czechoslovakia, Finland and
Yugoslavia in Europe.
After the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Czarist dictatorship
in Russia came to an end.

4. National Self-Determination:
An important cause of the War had been a policy of world-domination,
pursued haughtily by the emperors of Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia.
Therefore, great emphasis was laid on the concepts of nationalism and self-
determination at the Peace Conference that met at Paris in the year.

5. Emergence of New Ideologies:
In Russia the Czarist dictatorship was replaced by the dictatorship of the
Communist party.
In Italy, Germany and Spain the failure of democratic governments led to the
rise of dictatorial systems such as Facism and Nazism.

6. Emergence of the United States as a World Power:
The Armistice signed in November 1918 was based on 14 Points which
President Wilson of America had formulated.
The most important points were:
(1) Open agreements arrived at openly
(2) Freedom of the Seas
(3) Reduction of Armaments
(4) Evacuation of Territories occupied by Germany
(5) Autonomy for Peoples of Austria-Hungary and Turkey
(6) Independence for Poland and
(7) Formation of an International Organisation to guarantee the
Independence of all States, large or small.



7. The League of Nations:
Established in 1920.
Headquarters at Geneva in Switzerland.
One of the Wilsons 14-Points related to a General Association of Nations to
guarantee independence and territorial integrity of all nations.
The League of Nations was an association of this kind.

The League of Nations:
Objectives:
The chief aim of the League of Nations was to promote international
cooperation and to achieve international peace and security.
In order to achieve this objective, the members of the League were
required:
(a) not to resort to war
(b) To maintain open, just and honourable relations among them,
(c) to establish International Law as the actual rule of conduct among
governments, and
(d) to respect all treaty obligations in their dealings with one-another.
Other Objectives:
(a) Maintenance of status quo, that is, the situations that existed as a
result of the Peace Conference.
(b) The protection of national minorities.
(c) Proper administration of the territories assigned to a nation under
the Mandate (authority) of the League of Nations.
(d) Dealing with the problems of health, the social and economic
problems and the system of communication and importation.

Its Membership:
The League began with 42 original members.
Admission of new members required not less than a two-thirds vote of
the Assembly.
The United States never became its member, because the American
Senate did not ratify the Leagues Covenant.
Germany and her allies were not eligible for entry for a few years.
With the joining of Germany in 1926, the Leagues position and strength
rose high.




It organs:
Principal Organs: the Assembly , the Council, the Secretariat and the
Permanent Court of International Justice.
The Constitution of the International labour Organisation (ILO) was
prepared by a Commission set up by the Peace Conference.
The ILO became a part of the Treaty of Versailles.

The Leagues Failure:
Between 1925 and 1930 it was able to settle a few international disputes.
However, it failed when it had to deal with disputes in which any of the
major powers was involved.
It failed in its main object of maintaining peace in the world.