WORLD WAR 1(1914-1918)

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World War I was the 1 destructive and catastrophic war fought on a global scale between the two alliances
with more than 20 countries involved. It was fought on land, sea &air. It was as a result of the growing
tension between the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey against the Triple
Entente of Britain, France, Russia and later USA, Serbia, Japan and Italy. The war started in the Balkans
states as Bismarck had prophesized to the friend that “I shall not see the world war but you will. It will start
from the near East‟‟.

The war began after the Sarajevo double murder of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand the heir to the Austrian
throne and his wife Sophie Chotek of 28thJune 1914 at 10:15 am by a Bosnian of the Black Hand
Movement Pricip Gavrilo and fighting began on 23rd July 1914 when Austria attacked Serbia. The Duke
was the expected heir of the Austrian monarchy who was to succeed Emperor Francis Joseph and he was the
nephew to the Emperor.

After the assassination, Austria issued a harsh ultimatum to Serbia with three requisites (conditions) namely:

1. Declare her intention of being a good neighbour through the press and by suppressing anti-Austrian
propaganda.
2. Dismiss anti-Austrian officials in her administration and the army.
3. Allow Austria's officials into Serbia to investigate the inquiry of Franz Ferdinand's assassination and
make sure the first two conditions are fulfilled.

All those had to be fulfilled in 48 hours. Serbia accepted the first two conditions but rejected Austria's
participation in the inquiry of Ferdinand`s death on the ground that it was a violation of her independence
and wisely referred the matter to the international court of justice at The Hague. Thus Austria without fear,
risked to attack Serbia which culminated into a world catastrophe after the involvement of the big powers.

THE APPROACH TO WORLD WAR 1

The year 1898 robbed off Germans and the world one of the greatest statesmen by the time called Bismarck
in reality a man of peace. By 1907, the allied camps had already formed the Triple Entente amidst fear,
suspension, and hatred and mistrust hence this divided Europe into two antagonistic camps. Indeed the truth
about the years before 1914 is demonstrated by antagonism among the hostile allied camps that led to the
building of armies and incidences of clashes among the states in a series of events that kept the international
atmosphere in the state of panic.

The years before 1914 were also years of international diplomacy. The death of Bismarck in 1898 meant
death of European diplomacy as the arms race continued uncontrolled. Attempts were made to disarm the
concerned states but all proved to be futile. According to Germany, Britain‟s willingness to limit the arms
production to the lowest levels was a mean to keep Germany militarily inferior. Therefore, Germany
continued with her campaigns of producing disastrous weapons and so did to other powers.

Germany went ahead and preached war gospel that is Kaiser II insisted that “…there is a need for a war so
as to test the fire arms and military strength of each state”. He preached the gospel of survival for the
fittest nations but unfortunately the day of the conflict was not known. Europe went on blindly because of
secret diplomacy and a lot took place but the public opinion was kept in darkness.

Most people felt that if the war broke out, it was going to be an accident and it was a question to be settled
by the army but Europe was approaching disaster. The conflict was like a timely bomb that was likely to
explode anytime. In 1914, the incident that occurred in Sarajevo Bosnian capital provided a chance for it to
explode.

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

1. The war is attributed to Bismarck’s alliances system since 1871. The system was introduced by
Bismarck in 1871 after the Franco-Prussia war meant to isolate France by making it difficult for her to
wage a successful war of revenge against Germany and maintain European peace and stability. During
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 his lifetime, France was effectively isolated and the Alliance system became an instrument of peace in
Europe. However, after his resignation in 1890, the alliance system and European peace were left in the
hands of young, inexperienced and aggressive men like Kaiser William II which drove Germany and the
world to the First World War. Other powers had to form the Triple Entente in 1907 against the Triple
alliance. The whole Europe and entire world was divided into two rival camps and any issue between
two states had to become an international one. Hence with the divided Europe, the war became
inevitable after the double murder of the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie of 28th June
1914.

THE ROLE OF THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM TO WORLD WAR 1

 The alliance system divided the Europe into two rival camps which led to the failure of diplomacy
hence the war. It grouped the major world powers into two hostile and antagonistic camps that became
fighting camps. These camps were the Triple alliance formed in 1882 of Germany, Austria-Hungary and
Italy and the Triple Entente of 1907 of Britain, France, Russia, and Japan. This led to extreme mistrust,
hatred suspicion, fear, rivalry and jealousy between the two antagonistic camps and this state of affair
led to World War I immediately after the Sarajevo double murder.

 The Dual alliance of 1879 and Triple alliance of 1882 brought strong attachment between
Germany and Austria-Hungary which led to the war. The Dual alliance of 1879 of Germany and
Austria-Hungary and the Triple Alliance of 1882 of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy made Austria-
Hungary and Germany close allies. It‟s not surprising that, after the Sarajevo double murder, Germany
under Kaiser William II supported Austria-Hungary to declare war on little known Serbia sparking off
the bloody war of 1914-18. This can be evidenced in Kaiser`s message he sent to Emperor Francis
Joseph of Austria which stated that rest assured that his majesty will faithfully stand by Austria-
Hungary as requested by the obligation of his alliance and his ancient friendship. It also prompted
Germany to declare war on Russia and France who were members of the Triple Entente. Such
unconditional support (a blank cheque) inspired Austria-Hungary to declare war on little known Serbia
which led to the outbreak of World War I.

 The alliance system intensified the arms race which was yet another cause of World War I. This is
true on grounds that, both camps competed in the arms industry to strengthen their military capacities.
The period 1900-1914 witnessed world war powers from both camps competing in the manufacturing of
sophisticated weapons like the dreadnaughts, submarines, sea cruiser, fire throwers, poisonous gas and
masks, Q-boats, torpedo boats, U-boats, guns among others. These gave them false confidence mainly
Kaiser Williams II of Germany that winning any war was obvious. This dragged the entire world into a
catastrophe after the double murder of the Arch Duke and his wife at Sarajevo on 28th, June, 1914.

 The alliance system also intensified imperialism which also made the war inevitable. It should be
recalled that, alliance system bailed France out of 20 years isolation created by Bismarck after the
Franco -Prussian war of 1870-71. France with the support of her camp members began seriously to
struggle for there, possession of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany. Other different powers of which
the main important ones were Britain, France, Russian and Austria started to realize their world
imaginations and imperialistic ambitions in the Balkans and Africa which later led to clashes among
them like Britain and Germany conflicted for Tanganyika that culminated into World War I.

 The alliance system internationalized and escalated local conflicts which led to the outbreak of
war. Important to note here is that, without alliance system, the Sarajevo double murder incidence
would have remained a local conflict between Serbia and Austria- Hungary. However, due to the
divided Europe, different big powers took different sides in Sarajevo incidence for example Germany,
the flag bearer of the Triple alliance in which Austria-Hungary belonged declared war on Britain, France
and Russia while members of the Triple Entente which were on side of Serbia declared war on Germany
and Austria-Hungary that finally led to the outbreak of first world war.

 It worsened suspicion and mistrust among powers which led to World War I. The signing of the
alliances in secrecy created tension, mistrust, fear and suspicion between the Triple Entente and the
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 Triple Alliance. This forced the two camps to begin spying on one another and manufactured weapons
to prepare themselves in case of an attack from the other. Such a situation really threatened peace and
stability and made World War I inevitable after the Sarajevo double murder incidence of 28th June 1914.

 The alliance system intensified militarism which led to the outbreak of war. With the formation of
different alliances, the two camps encouraged their members to boost their military capacities in
preparation for eventualities. Therefore, different European powers expanded, retrained and re-equipped
their armies with modern fighting weapons. For example, the German army was enlarged to 3.5 million
men and retrained to the highest degree of efficiency, the French and Russian increased the length of
conscription service that is France mobilized 3.5 million men while Russia had 4 million men and
Britain organized a small but efficient force which could readily be mobilized for service. This made
European powers arrogant and led to the decay of diplomacy which led to the outbreak of the war.

 The alliance system gave the necessary courage and strength to the small and otherwise fearful
states to provoke war which led to the war. Assured of support from other camp members, Austria
and Serbia became very reckless and aggressive in dealing with the Balkan affairs. Russia's backing
(support) to Serbia is what made her to sponsor the Sarajevo assassination and defy Austria's ultimatum.
Otherwise, there was no way a 'tiny' state like Serbia could remain defiant to Austria in such a high
profile case. On the other hand, if Austria-Hungary had not been assured of Germany's support, she
would not have issued the high sounding ultimatum and risk war against Serbia because this would
mean fighting Russia as well which climaxed into World War I.

 It led the death of European diplomacy which led to World War I. Because of divided Europe,
solving of international conflicts peacefully became hard for example the 1899 first Hague conference
and the 1907 second Hague over disarmament all ended fruitless since European countries were divided
into different camps and could not listen to each other. History has it that both camps increased the
arrogance of Austria-Hungary and Serbia hence the two states would not settle their conflict amicably.
This led to the destruction of the spirit of international diplomacy which would have resolved the
Sarajevo incidence peacefully which led to the war.

 The Anglo-Franco Entente and Triple Entente certainlyended the French isolation in Europe and
encouraged her to revenge against Germany which led to World War I. The formation of the Triple
Entente in 1907 enabled France to jump out of Bismarck`s isolation and got allies to fight with a war of
revenge against Germany who had taken away Alsace and Lorraine from France during the signing of
the Frankfurt treaty of 1871. This influenced France to attack Germany after the Sarajevo incidence
and the local conflict escalated into an international conflict known as World War I.

 Bismarck's biasness against Russia in the 1878 Berlin congress forced Russia to ally with France
in the Franco-Russian alliance of 1894 which led to the war. It was a diplomatic and defensive
alliance directed against Germany and to some extent Austria-Hungary and Italy. It worsened the
already bad relationship between Germany and Russia. This is what forced Germany to declare war on
both Russia and France. Otherwise, Russia's mobilization after the Sarajevo assassination targeted
Germany more than Austria which ended up escalating the conflict into a world war.

QN: “The alliance system was primarily responsible for the outbreak of 1st world war”. Discuss.
 Introduction about World War I.
 Introduction about alliance system
 A candidate should be aware of the alliances.
 Show a stand point showing the degree of its contribution on world war1.
 Give its contributions.
 Take a stand and show the role of other factors.
 A conclusion is a must.

2. World War I can be attributed by arms race. The period 1900-1914 witnessed manufacturing of fire
arms and each power was involved in the production of fire arms/ weapons in preparation of
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 eventualities. Countries involved in arms industry were particularly Britain and Germany and these
competed in the production of Dreadnaughts, war planes, Destroyers, Sea cruisers, fire throwers,
Submarines, Torpedo boats, Q-boats, U-boats, Euro planes, poisonous gases and mask pulse warships
were all prepared. After the production of fire arms, they looked for an opportunity to test them and
indeed frustrated any peaceful attempt to solve conflicts thus with arms in the store, it was not by
accident that the war broke out after the double murder of the Arch Duke and his wife Sophie.

THE ROLE OF THE ARMS RACE TO THE OUT BREAKS OF THE WAR
 The arms race culminated into the failure of diplomacy which led to the war. Since the states men
of the time wanted to create a war of atmosphere so as to test their newly manufactured fire arms like Q-
boats, U-boats, Submarines, Torpedoes and Dreadnaughts, they frustrated all diplomatic channels of
resolving conflicts between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The deadly weapons were not flowers for
decoration but instruments of war which had to be tested and the need to test these weapons. This made
Europe unable to solve the Sarajevo incidence peacefully since every power wanted an opportunity to
test its weapons which led to the outbreak of the war.

 It worsened the Anglo-Germany relations which put the entire European continent at war risk
thus leading to the war. The competition in the manufacturing of weapons between Germany and
Britain for example the two competed over whom to become the sea monster which created hostility
between the two leaders of the different alliances. By 1913 Germany had 9 dreadnoughts while Britain
had 18. At the apex of 1914 Germany had 13 dreadnoughts compared to 20 for Britain.Britain was ready
to use the available resource to stop the hostile Germany and arrogance of Kaiser William II and that‟s
why Britain declared a war on Germany on 4th August 1914 after the Sarajevo double murder incidence
which led to the outbreak of World War I.

 It intensified imperialism which led to the outbreak of World War I. With their already
manufactured weapons in the store, European countries were in position to protect all their imperial
possessions and even ready to obtain more colonies. This brought about clashes for example between
France and Germany in North Africa over Morocco, Britain and Germany in the Far East. Such clashes
created a war atmosphere which led to the outbreak of World War I after the Sarajevo double murder
incidence.

 It intensified suspension and mistrust among European countries which led to World War I. Due
to competition in production of weapons like U-boats, Q-boats, Submarines, European countries most
especially the two antagonistic camps of the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance stopped trusting each
other since they were not aware or sure of the other`s military strength. This justified the desirability for
the war after the Sarajevo double murder incidence.

 The arms race contributed to the aggressiveness of some leaders mainly Kaiser William II which
led to the war. Arms race was started by Kaiser William II in an attempt to challenge British naval
superiority and make Germany both a land and sea power. He made this clear in 1890 when he said our
future lies on water. After manufacturing strong weapons like Dreadnaughts, Q-boats, U-boats, among
others, Kaiser started preaching the war gospel and the theory of survival of the fittest nations. His
aggressive character became a threat to other European powers which made Britain to declare a war on
Kaiser on 4th August 1914 to stop his aggressiveness which led to the war after the Sarajevo double
murder.

 The arms race strengthened the alliance system and also facilitated the formation of more
alliances which led to the war. The Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1907 was made to enable Britain to
keep her warships (naval forces) in the Far East in case of trouble with Germany. This was followed by
more military alliances like the Triple Entente of 1907 that created more divisions among European
powers which led to the decay of diplomacy. The increasing level of armaments created universal fear,
suspicion and hatred amongst the two antagonistic camps. Indeed it strengthened the alliances and
increased hostility between camps which contributed to the outbreak of the World War I after the
Sarajevo double murder of 28th June 1914.
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 Arms race played a big role in the Sarajevo incident that became the immediate factor in the war.
In the first instance, the sophisticated weapon Serbia had is what was utilized by Princip to murder Franz
Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. The dangerous weapons Austria had in comparison to Serbia is what
made Austria to declare war on Serbia. Even Germany declared war on Russia and France because she
assumed that she had the best army-and Navy. Otherwise, had it not been because of the sophisticated
weapons European powers possessed, Ferdinand could have not lost his life, Austria and Germany
would not have gone on rampage declaring war, Britain would not have entered war and the First World
War would have been avoided.

 It facilitated military imbalance which led to the outbreak of the war. The states which claimed to
be militarily strong most especially Germany under Kaiser William II who had manufactured
sophisticated weapons like the U-boats, Q-boats, submarines, masks were viewed as the real threat for
the international peace. So at whatever cost other European countries like Britain rose up to check on
Germany‟s military strength which opportunity came after the Sarajevo double murder incidence.

 Arms race intensified militarism which led to the outbreak of World War I. Having manufactured a
number of weapons like U-boats, Q-boats, submarines, European countries recruited more soldiers who
were to use these weapons. These were re-trained and re-equipped with the modern manufactured
weapons which gave European countries false confidence that wining any war was obvious for example
Germany and France could raise 3½ million soldiers each while Russia could raise 4 million, Britain
could raise a smaller but more efficient army. This made war inevitable after the Sarajevo incidence
because the well-armed huge standing armies and reserve forces could not be left bored without war.

 Arms race encouraged Germany to oppose disarmament efforts which led to the outbreak of
World War I. In 1899, Tsar Nicholas II called the Hague conference whose priority was to arrest arms
race between the great powers. Germany took the lead in opposing such a noble idea viewing it as
Nicholas II`s trick to save the economically backward Russia from matching the military expenditures of
Germany and Austria. At the second Hague conference of 1907, Germany still took the lead against
British naval proposal, regarding it as a plan to keep her inferior at sea. When in 1913 Sir Winston
Churchill called for a naval holiday, the same Germany refused. However to Britain, a strong navy was a
necessity for her and a luxury for Germany. This kept Europe at a war risk and led to the outbreak of
World War I after Sarajevo double murder of 28th June 1914.

 The deadly weapons created gave confidence of victory in an event of war which led to the war.
This made public opinion in Europe to blindly fall in love with war. For instance, the British public
opinion was in favour of war with Germany to destroy her fleet and protect British naval supremacy.
The Germans on the other hand wanted war in order to prove to mankind their superiority over other
races. Indeed, Germany declared war on Russia and France partly because German public opinion
wanted a swift action.

3. Imperialism from economic point of view was also held responsible for the outbreak of the First
World War. The19th century witnessed a race among the European powers to acquire colonies in
various areas particularly the Far East (Asia) and Africa. European powers went on rampage to acquire
territories in Africa, Europe and the Balkans. By 1906, areas for peaceful expansion were already
exhausted and further conquest could only be made by dispossessing or displacing someone from
somewhere. This laid foundation for tension, mistrust and suspicion that spoilt diplomatic relations
amongst the imperialists leading to the Great War. For instance, France was bitter over Germany's
conquest of Togo and Cameroon. Britain was hurt by Germany's presence in South Africa and her
conquest of Namibia while Germany was irked by Britain's conquest of Uganda. Poor relation between
Germany and Britain was portrayed by Kaiser William II's congratulatory message to Paul Kruger of
Transvaal upon his success in repulsing the Jameson raid of 1895. Germany, France, Britain and Italy
also conflicted over Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Congo.

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Imperialism was an attempt by powerful nations of Europe to colonize a small state in Africa, Asia and
Balkan region. Imperialism had been promoted by the effects of industrial revolution and the big powers
were strongly searching for raw materials, new areas of investment and market for their finished goods in
the second of half of the 19th century. Important to note is that, in the process of searching for colonies, big
powers ended up clashing e.g. there was Austria- Russian rivalry in the Balkans over the creation of big
Bulgaria as it was indicated in the Treaty of San Stefano. There was also the Anglo-Germany rivalry
mainly in East Africa, the Franco-German rivalry in North Africa in what is commonly known as the
Moroccan crisis 1905-07 and 1911-12 all these created the atmosphere for the war.

THE ROLE OF IMPERIALISM TO THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR

 Imperialism escalated the Anglo-Germany rivalry which led to the war. When Germany went to
Africa, she turned out to be a great threat to Britain which caused competition for colonies between the
two big powers for example Britain and Germany conflicted for Tanganyika. Indeed, Britain was not
prepared to give up her colonies, protectorates, spheres of influence and markets to Germany. As
Germany was bent on getting them at any price, Britain had to act faster and declare war on Germany.
So the need to safe guard, economic interest by the two rival parties, is what resulted into tension and
when Arch Duke was murdered at Sarajevo, the two rival parties were more than prepared to go for the
war.

 It also culminated into power imbalances as well as the rise of monopolistic tendencies which led
to the war. Britain had acquired more colonies in the Far East and Africa and she had become more
powerful than other European powers due to large colonial possessions. This provoked Germany to
come up with policies aimed at challenging Britain and reducing her colonial expansion which resulted
into mistrust, suspicion, fear and hatred between Britain and Germany which eventually created
circumstances that led to the war after the Sarajevo double murder incidence of 28th June 1914.

 Imperial ambition intensified suspicion and mistrusts that powers had towards each other which
led to the outbreak of the war. Britain developed mistrusts towards Kaiser Williams II`s attempt to
construct Berlin- Baghdad railway, Germany`s claims in East Africa brought mistrust and suspicion
between her and Britain who had taken over Kenya and Uganda. France developed mistrust towards
Germany over Morocco. The Austrian imperialism in the Balkans brought mistrust and suspicion from
Serbia. Hence without powers trusting each other, the war was bound to break out after the Sarajevo
double murder.

 Imperialism should be held responsible though to a smaller extent for the formation of alliances
which led to World War I. Powers that realized threats in their interests in a certain region had to ally
together against the aggressor. For example during the Moroccan crisis, Britain allied with France
against Germany in North Africa since Germany had become a threat to the interests of both Britain and
France in Africa, the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902 was intended to fight Russian imperialism in the
Far East, Italy joined the Dual alliance of Austria-Hungary and Germany to fight against the French
imperialism in North Africa. Such alliances formed as a result of imperialism kept Europe more divided
and destroyed European diplomacy in continental Europe which led to the outbreak of the war after the
double murder.

 Economic imperialism also amplified the arms race which led to World War I. The powers who
had accumulated a lot of wealth from their colonies immediately began manufacturing weapons to
safeguard their conquered territories which they never wanted to lose because of their economic
benefits. The constant confrontations over colonies in different parts of the world made the imperialists
to resort to the manufacture of sophisticated weapons for conquest and consolidation of their rule. The
possibility of war amongst European powers over colonies also created more need for deadly weapons.
This brought competition in production of weapons like Dreadnaughts, U-boats, Q-boats, among others
that led to decay of diplomacy which led to the war after the double murder at Sarajevo.

 The Austrian imperialism in Bosnia and Herzegovina led to the Sarajevo double murder incidence
which sparked off the war. The Austrian imperialism in Bosnia and Herzegovina which were
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 territories of Serbia produced anti-Austrian feelings that later resulted into the Sarajevo double murder
incidence masterminded by Serbia which made Austria to issue an ultimatum that Serbia failed to fulfill
hence Austria attacked Serbia. Because of divided Europe, the conflict between Serbia and Austria
exploded into a world catastrophe.

 Imperialism led to international crises which led to the outbreak of the war. The struggle for
colonies among big powers led to international crises that created suspicion, mistrust and fear among
European powers for example colonial conflicts between France and Germany led to the Moroccan
crises of 1905-07 in Tangiers and of 1911-12 in Agadir and the Bosnian crisis between Austria-
Hungary and Serbia. Such international crises put the world at tension that culminated into the outbreak
of World War I after the Sarajevo double murder of 28th June 1914.

 The imperial conflicts between Germany and Britain made Kaiser to send a congratulatory
message to Paul Kruger which led to the war. Due to their imperial clashes in East Africa mainly for
Tanganyika, Kaiser was happy when Kruger defeated the British in South Africa in the Jameson raid of
1895 hence he Kaiser sent a telegram congratulating the Boer President Paul Kruger of Transvaal for
defeating Jameson of the British. William`s telegram stated that, “I send you sincere congratulations
that without calling on the help of friendly powers you and your people have succeeded by your
own efforts in restoring peace in face of armed bands.”. The public opinion in Britain strongly
demanded for a war against Germany which led to the outbreak of the war after the double murder.

 Germany's support of Austria Hungary against Serbia and Russia’s backing of Serbia were
imperialistically motivated which led to the war. This is why Lenin argues that; the war of 1914 -
1918 was imperialistic the part of both sides, it was a war for the division of the world, for the partition
and repartition of colonies and spheres of influence. One has to emphasise that it was Austrian
imperialism that clashed with Serbian nationalism to spark off the war in 1914. Had it not been because
of the need to pursue Austrian's imperialistic interest in Bosnia, Franz Ferdinand and his wife would not
have travelled to Sarajevo. The assassination would not have occurred and the First World War would
have not broken off at least in 1914.

 Imperialism made European powers to declare war on each other after the Sarajevo double of 28th
June 1914 which led to the outbreak of the war. It should be noted that Germany declared war on
France partly because of tension created between her and France during the scramble and partition of
Africa and Asia. Britain also declared war on Germany partly due to poor diplomatic relations cultivated
in the era of European conquest in Africa and Asia. Germany's commercial rivalry and strength was a
disturbing factor to Japan, Britain and Russia in the Far East and the pacific. Russian imperialism was a
formidable threat to Germany and Austrian imperialistic interests in the Balkans. This explains why
Russia mobilized in support of Serbia where she had influence against Austria after the Sarajevo
incident. Russian imperialistic designs in Serbia threatened Austrian control and forced her to declare
war on Serbia to crush her nationalism. Equally so, Germany had to declare war on Russia because
Russian imperialism was equally a scaring factor to her influence in the Balkans.

4. Nationalism was partly responsible for the outbreak of the First World War. The 19th century and
20thcentury witnessed an ever increased desire for self-rule among the marginalized states. Italy and
Germany had successfully attained their independence in 1871. In the Balkans, it was the same story
where the Greeks and the Serbs were also somehow free. The Poles and the Fins were also struggling to
get their full independence as the nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted to join Serbia.
Unfortunately, other bigger states like Austria–Hungary, bitterly suppressed such forces of liberalism
and nationalism and this is what resulted into the Sarajevo double murder incident which dragged
Europe into the world catastrophe of 1914-1918.

By 1914, a number of ill-conceived nationalistic movements had sprung up in Europe like the Great Serbian
movement, Pan-Slavism, Revanche Movement and Jingoism and Pan Germanism. The Great Serbian
movement had a divine mission of liberating Serbians including those in Bosnia and Herzegovina who were
under Austrian's control. Pan-Slavinism aimed at making Russia the custodian of all Slav speaking races
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irrespective of where they were living. The Revanche Movement in France was bent on revenging against
Germany because of the 1870 – 1871 humiliating Franco-Prussian war. Jingoism aimed at maintaining
British naval technological advancement above other nations while Pan-Germanism or Pan German League
was created to unite all German speaking nationalities in different countries.

THE ROLE OF NATIONALISM TO THE OUTBREAK OF THE WORLD WAR 1

 Nationalistic feelings should be held responsible for the arms race which was another cause 1 st
world war. The oppressed people kept on demanding for fire arms from big powers so as to use them
against the oppressor and to fight for their independence. To defend national interest and sovereignty,
the big powers hastened the manufacture of deadly weapons leading to arms race and war. Germany was
in a dying need to show off and that's why she declared war on Russia and France. On the other hand,
Britain, Russia and France had to defend their national interest against German aggression. Due to the
increased demand, there emerged the race in production of fire arms which led to the failure of peaceful
attempts in solving international conflicts hence leading to the murder of Arch Duke and his wife Sophie
which sparked off the war.

 Nationalism increased the political arrogance of Kaiser William II which led to the war. Kaiser`s
nationalistic feelings after Germany had become a land master made him to step out of disarmament
conferences at Hague of 1899 and 1907. He strongly believed in war to eliminate the unfit nations. Such
nationalistic feelings could not be stomached by the other powers like Britain. Such extreme nationalism
prepared grounds for the war since Britain used this opportunity to declare a war on Germany and what
would have been a local incidence turned out to be an international one due alliance system.

 It was intense nationalism in Serbia that created hostility between Serbia and Austria-Hungary
which led to the war. The desire by Serbia to liberate all Serbians from Austria's imperialism and the
attempts by Austria to tighten her control on the Serbs (Bosnians and Herzegovinians) led to the
Sarajevo assassination which sparked off the war. Actually, Princip who assassinated Ferdinand was a
member of Pan-Slavinism who conducted the murder just after attending an anti-Austrian meeting. The
fact that the First World War broke out in the Balkans where national interests clashed most portrays the
strength of nationalism in World War I.

 Nationalistic feelings made France to develop the spirit of revenge against Germany which led to
the outbreak of World War I. This forced Bismarck to venture into alliance system to Isolate France
and avoid a French war of revenge. It's on this account that one can argue that had it not been because of
the fear of French nationalism, Bismarck would not have started alliance system and the First World
War would have been avoided. The nationalistic desire by the French to revenge against Germany made
her to join World war after the Sarajevo double murder incidence. France also had the nationalistic
desire to liberate Alsace and Lorraine which Germany had taken after the Franco-Prussian war which
opportunity came after the double murder of 28th June 1914.

 Nationalism intensified suspensions and mistrusts among the big powers which led to the outbreak
of the war. The big powers always conflicted with one another on several occasions due to different
national interests. This intensified suspicion, mistrust and tension for example when Germany started
building a strong naval force, other European powers like Britain and France developed hostility against
her since she had become a threat to their national interests. This later led to the outbreak of World War
I when these powers rose up German nationalism and eventually found themselves in the same camp
against the potential enemy Kaiser William II which led to the war after the double murder.

 Nationalism intensified the alliance system which led to the world catastrophe. Bismarck`s desire to
protect the young Germany Empire forced him to initiate the alliance system purposely to isolate France
in Europe which had become a threat to the young Germany Empire. France was also compelled to enter
an alliance with Britain and finally with Russia which led to the formation of Triple Entente of 1907
because of France`s nationalistic desire to revenge against Germany which had humiliated her in 1871.
This divided Europe into two antagonistic camps which led to the outbreak of World War I after the
Sarajevo incidence.
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 The rise of nationalism in Europe resulted into Pan Slavism and Pan Germanism which led to the
outbreak of World War I. The Pan Slavism Movement which aimed at bringing together all the Slav
people under the leadership of Russia clashed with the Pan Germanism Movement that aimed at
spreading Germany culture and power in Europe under the leadership of Kaiser Williams II. This
magnified tension and conflicts especially in the Balkan Peninsula between Germany and Russia which
ended into the outbreak of the war after the Sarajevo double murder.

 The rise of nationalism in Europe inspired the masses to support their governments to use force in
realizing their national goals and interests which led to World war I. Masses in Britain, France and
Germany supported the use of force by their governments in attaining their national goals and interests
and due to pressure from their masses, leaders in their respective countries became war mongers for
example the Germans supported Kaiser Williams II to use force in realizing Germany interests while the
British supported their government to use force against Kaiser`s aggressive characters which situation
led to the war after the double murder.

 Nationalism intensified militarism which led to World War I. The oppressed people recruited their
masses, gave them military training and equipped them with modern weapons to fight against their
oppressors for example Serbia, Herzegovina and Bosnia formed the Black Hard Movement that trained
their nationals to fight against Austrian imperialism. The nationalistic desire to make Germany a sea
monster made Kaiser to recruit, train and equipped his naval force. Even other European powers like
Britain, France and Russian recruited, trained and equipped their armies due to the nationalistic desire to
keep their countries military strong which led to the failure of diplomacy that led to the war.

 Nationalism intensified imperialism which led to World War I. The need to pursue, defend and
promote national interest created prestige and made European powers to be on rampage for colonies to
expand their colonial Empire made them to clash with one another e.g. the Franco-Germany rivalry over
Morocco of 1905-07 and 1911-12, Anglo-Germany rivalry over Tanganyika, the Austro-Russian rivalry
in the Balkan and German-Russian rivalry in the Balkan. The struggle to promote national interests in
Africa and the Balkans created some economic conflicts. This led to mistrust, suspicion, fear, hatred
among European countries that led to the outbreak of World War I after the double murder.

 Nationalism led to the collapse of international diplomacy which led to World War I. many
countries focused on their national interests rather than European/ international interests for example the
failure of disarmament conferences at Hague in 1899 and 1907, failure of London conference of 1912.
This worsened the relations among the European powers thus causing World War I after the Sarajevo
double murder.

 Nationalism increased tension and hostility among big powers which led to World War I. The
desire to pursue the national interests made the big powers clash with one another which increased
mistrust, suspicion, hatred, fear and hostility among the big powers of Europe for example Germany
begun to build a strong navy, Britain and France interpreted it as a threat to their national interests. This
made them to look for an opportunity to stop Germany which opportunity came after the Sarajevo
double murder incidence of 1914 which led to the war.

5. The aggressive and arrogant character of Kaiser William II partly conditioned the outbreak of 1st
world war. Kaiser Fredrick Victor Albert Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and king of
Prussia born on January, 27, 1859 at Potsdam near Berlin to Emperor Fredrick William and the eldest
son Princess Victoria a daughter of Queen Victoria I of Britain. He reigned from 1888 until his
abdication on 9th November 1918 shortly before German‟s defeat in world war I, he finally died in June
1941 in Netherlands at the age of 82. He was arrogant and mad by character. He was a bellicose (war
like), arrogant and cantankerous leader who could not hide his hangover for war. In his foreign policy,
he tried to intervene in each and every activity of world politics in order to make Germany a world
power. He declared; ''Nothing must go on anywhere in the world in which Germany does not play a

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 part", William was too confident and proud of himself and he proclaimed; "God has called us to civilize
the world".

THE ROLE OF KAISER WILLIAM II TO THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR I

 He facilitated Bismarck resignation in 1890 which led to the outbreak of World War I. Kaiser out
rightly pointed out that Bismarck was already a prisoner of age and he had out lived his usefulness. This
showed that he was not willing at any moment to withstand the influence of Otto Von Bismarck in the
political affairs of Germany Empire. This was followed by numerous disagreements which eventually
led to the dismissal of Bismarck (forced resignation) in 1890 leaving the world with no capable
statesman who could diplomatically settle world conflicts such as the Austro-Serbian conflict. This
meant death of diplomacy which exploded into the First World War.

 Kaiser intensified the arms race and naval race between Britain and Germany which led to the
war. In 1890, Kaiser provoked Britain navy when he widened and deepened Kiel Canal, constructed
dreadnoughts (battleships) to check on Britain`s navy superiority on water for example between 1909
and 1911, Kaiser constructed 9 Dreadnaughts to compete with Britain which had 18 Dreadnaughts.
He also manufactured submarines, sea crusiers and passed a new navy bills which would make Germany
become a sea monster. This forced Britain to strengthen her navy force which called for a competition in
the arms industry. This brought about suspicion and mistrusts which eventually culminated into 1st
world war.

 Kaiser William II threatened Britain`s commercial interests in the Balkans which led to the war.
He embarked on the project of building of Berlin-Bagdad railway and this if it was implemented, would
link Germany to the Far East. His program dragged Germany into the conflicts with the members of
Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia). These powers felt and suspected that, their interests were
being tempered by Kaiser William II`s project. They therefore waged a war against Germany after the
Sarajevo double murder incidence which led to the outbreak of the war.

 Kaiser should be held responsible for the failure of diplomacy in Europe which led to the war. He
used to disagree with his fellow statesmen in the disarmament conferences at Hague in 1899 and 1907.
He considered disarmament as a trick to prevent the development of German naval power. He could
match out arrogantly under protest that these conferences were aimed at keeping Germany. This bled
suspension, mistrusts, fear and tension between the European leaders and Kaiser which led to 1st world
war.

 He is also accused of provoking Britain in the vibrate speech he made in Damascus which led to
the outbreak of World War I. In his speech, Kaiser without fear or favor decided to offer Germany the
leadership of all Muslims worldwide. This left Britain annoyed because a large number of Muslims lived
in the British Empire. Therefore, Britain began looking for an opportune moment to hit Germany which
opportunity came after the double murder of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on 28th
June 1914 that led to the war.

 He should be blamed for issuing a blank cheque to Austria-Hungary after the Sarajevo double
murder which led to World War I. Kaiser pledged his full support to the Emperor of Austria Francis
Joseph through the Austrian Ambassador to Berlin, such unconditional support increased Austria‟s
arrogance and attacked Serbia on 23rd July 1914 before the end of ultimatum although Serbia showed
considerable cooperation towards some demands of the ultimatum. Because of the divided Europe, what
seemed to be a local conflict was escalated into a global crisis known as World War I of 1914-18.

 Kaiser should be blamed for violating the Belgium neutrality of 1839 which led to the war. In his
attempt to wage a war on France, he decided to deploy his troops in Belgium to attack France which was
a violation of the 1839 Belgium neutrality that was signed in the London conference of 1839 in which
Belgium was declared a neutral state in international conflicts. Kaiser described the Belgium neutrality
as a mere scrap of paper that was not worthy to be honored and he refused to withdraw the German
forces from Belgium as demanded by Britain. Thus Britain joined the war so as to protect Belgium
leading to the 1st world war.
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 Kaiser should be blamed for intensifying imperialism that caused the 1 stworld war. It should be
remembered that, it was his imperialistic ambitions that drove him to annex Morocco, which brought
him into a direct conflict with France. This culminated into the Moroccan crisis of 1905-1907 and
1911-1912. All of which created a state of panic, fear, suspicion and hatred between Germany and other
European countries particularly France and Britain which was sorted out in the 1st world war after the
Sarajevo double murder incidence.

 Kaiser William II diluted Anglo- Germany relations which also led to the outbreak of World War
I. He sent a congratulatory message to Paul Kruger of the Dutch who had defeated the British in
Jameson raid of 1895. His massage to the Boer President Paul Kruger stated that, “I send you sincere
congratulations that without calling on the help of friendly powers you and your people have
succeeded by your own efforts in restoring peace in face of armed bands.”. This opened a wrath,
hatred and suspicion towards Germany and all such just intensified the conflict between Germany and
Britain and the question of the day was when the two parties would confront each other. This
opportunity came after the double murder at Sarajevo of 28th June 1914 which led to the outbreak of the
world catastrophe of 1914-18.

 Kaiser`s declaration of war of Russia on 1st August 1914 which led to the outbreak of World War
I. Due to conflicts originating from the Mediterranean agreement and the Berlin-Baghdad railway
project, Russia joined the Triple Entente of Britain and France. When Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia,
Russia the protector of the Slavs (including Serbs) intervened in the conflict which made Kaiser who
had promised support to Austria-Hungary to declare war on Russia on 1st August 1914 which escalated
the war into an international conflict.

 His negative attitude towards the English race led to the outbreak of World War I. It should be
remembered that between 1897 and 1899 the British colonial secretary Joseph Chamberlain tried to
establish an Anglo-Germany relationship but all in vain. This was due to the aggressive navy policy and
bad attitude of Emperor Kaiser II towards Britain and he always rejected the Anglo-German alliance.
This forced Britain to join and Russia and fight against the aggressive Kaiser II who even used to insult
the Queen of Great Britain as “a peasant girl” and “a daughter of a cattle thief” which opportunity
came after the Sarajevo double murder.

 Kaiser`s aggressive policies led to the formation of more alliances which led to the outbreak of
World War I. History has it that, Kaiser enabled France to jump out of isolation and in the 1904,
Anglo-French Dual Entente and the Anglo-Russian agreement led to the formation of the Triple Entente
of 1907 of Britain, France and Russia which enabled France to get allies to fight with a war of revenge
against Germany. The opportunity to revenge came after Germany involving in the Austro-Serbian
conflict that made France to also enter the war which led to the outbreak of World War I after the
Sarajevo double murder.

 Kaiser involved Germany in colonial imperialism which led to the outbreak of World War I. in
search for raw materials and market for finished goods, Germany under Kaiser involved in colonialism
especially in Africa. This brought Germany into conflicts with Britain over the control of the Boer
republics of South Africa, Namibia, Uganda, with France over Cameroon and Togo. These rivalries
created antagonism among the European powers which eventually led to World War I.

 Kaiser William II promoted Pan-Germanism which led to the outbreak of World War I. This was
a movement to spread German culture and power. The movement collided with Pan-Slavism which
aimed at drawing together all peoples of Slav race under the protection of Russia. This intensified
conflicts and hostility between Russia and Germany especially in the Balkans that culminated in the
outbreak of World War I.

 Kaiser`s Schlieffen war plan championed militarism in Europe which led to the war. The plan
created war hysteria in Europe, gave Germany the confidence of victory because of its military
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 preparedness and increased aggressive behavior of Germany such as invasion of Belgium. This made
European countries like France, Russia and Britain to join the war so as to stop such Germany`s
aggressiveness which led to the war.

6. The impact of 1870- 1871 Franco-Prussia war also condition to the 1st world war. In 1815, the
Vienna Settlement gave Prussia the Rhine lands to the annoyance of France. This made Prussia to be a
historical enemy of France, which climaxed into the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 - 1871. France was
defeated and forced to submit to the harshest peace treaty of the 19th century called the Frankfurt
Treaty of 1871. In the treaty, she lost her mineralized provinces of Alsace and Lorraine that had up to 4
million Frenchmen. She also suffered a German army of occupation and was forced to pay a huge
indemnity of 200 million pounds (5 million Francs). This marked the end of the Germany unification
and the independence of the young Germany Empire was announced in the Hall of mirrors in the famous
city Versailles. This made Germany to become a new young master of European continent at the
expense of France.This spoilt diplomatic relations between France and Germany leaving France boiling
for a war of revenge. France therefore got a heaven sent opportunity of redressing the wrongs of
Prussia's victory with the outbreak of the First World War. This is what forced Germany to act faster by
declaring war on France before France could do so.

ROLE OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR TO THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR I

 The Franco-Prussian war changed the balance of power which led to the war. It completed the
unifications of both Germany and Italy at the expense of Denmark, Austria and France. Before the war,
the balance of power was in favour of France and Britain with France as a new land power. But after
defeating France, Germany emerged as new land power and started challenging British naval
supremacy. This forced Britain and France to ally against Germany leading to tension and the First
World War.

 The fear of a French war of revenge forced Bismarck to start the alliance system which led to the
war. Bismarck`s desire to protect and promote Germany's supremacy in European diplomacy while
maintaining peace in Europe forced him to initiate the alliance system which divided Europe into two
antagonistic camps. France went on a shopping spree for alliance since she could not successfully
revenge against Germany single handedly. She found this in the Triple alliance of 1907. It's therefore
safe to argue that if the Franco-Prussian war had not occurred, France would not have been eager for a
war of revenge and consequently Bismarck would have not ventured into the alliance system hence the
Austro-Serbian conflict would have remained a localized affair between Austria and Serbia.

 The war intensified arms race in Europe which led to World War I. The threats of French revenge
forced Bismarck to arm Germany in preparation for war. Other nations followed Germany and started
prioritizing defence expenditures. They were encouraged by Bismarck's' policy of blood and iron
through which Germany was unified from 1864 - 1871. This created arms race and strengthened
militarism especially between Britain and Germany the flag bearers of the two antagonistic camps which
made Europe a walking bomb that exploded in 1914 after the Sarajevo double murder.

 The war contributed to imperialism leading to colonial economic rivalry and the First World War
in 1914. The loss of the mineralized regions of Alsace and Lorraine forced France to look for
compensation elsewhere most especially in Africa. Bismarck tactfully encouraged her since she would
forget of Alsace and Lorraine. Therefore, France ended up clashing with other powers in the scramble
for colonies in Africa. This also encouraged Austria to tighten her control in Serbia, which raised
Serbian nationalism leading to the murder of Prince Archduke and war.

 The triumph of Italian and German nationalism in 1850's through the Franco-Prussian war
inspired the oppressed nations to struggle for freedom which led to the war. The oppressed masses
in Europe were inspired to use Bismarck's policy of blood and iron to fight for their independence from
the oppressors. Nationalistic movements like Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism and the Greater Serbian
movement in the Balkans had a direct Xeroxing (copying) from Italian and German unification struggles
from 1810 - 1871. Serbia was encouraged to challenge Austria since it was the same Austria that was
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 defeated by Italians and Germans leading to their freedom. This made Serbia to act recklessly against
Austria leading to the Sarajevo assassination and consequently the First World War.

 The war made Kaiser arrogant which led to World War I. The success of Germany in the Franco-
Prussian war coupled with the earlier military victories made Kaiser William II to believe that Germany
was the mightiest (strongest) world power. This created in him a political stigma of arrogance and
aggression in his efforts to preserve Germany's supremacy. This is what made him to recklessly send a
blank cheque to Austria, declare war on Russia and France and violate the neutrality of Belgium. These
moves by Germany amplified the Austro-Serbian conflict into the First World War.

NB. The Franco-Prussian war indirectly completed the unification of Italy and made Italy more ambitious to
recover Trientino and Trieste that were inhabited by Italians but were still under Austria-Hungary's control.
This is what made Italy to quit Austria's camp (Triple alliance) and join the triple entente tactfully to recover
Trientino and Trieste, which she got at the Versailles peace settlement of 1919.

7. The role of press also deserves a mention to the outbreak of the 1st world war. What actually
sparked off a great war was that situation in the Balkans, murder of the Arch Duke and his wife, the
arms race, the alliance system. With the major aim to make money, the above were over exaggerated by
the newspapers, radio presenters and journalists which intensified fear, suspicion and mistrusts among
the European masses. The Daily telegram in England made it very clear that Britain was more than
ready for the war, in France the hot news were that, all the members of the Triple alliance were prepared
for the war. The London Times poisoned the British public opinion against the Germans and even
convinced the British Premier that, Germany was on the way to attack them. The rumors of the war
circulated in Europe which made the powers to prepare for the war which atmosphere resulted into the
Great War.

NB. Before the outbreak of World War in 1914, there was already a newspaper war which acted as a
curtain raiser to World War 1. The newspapers of two different countries often took up some point of
dispute, exaggerated it and made attacks and counter attacks until a regular newspaper war was created.
Bismarck had earlier foreseen this when he lamented that; every country is held at some time to
account for the windows broken by its press the bill is presented some day in the shape of hostile
sentiment in the other.

8. Militarism among the great powers also led to the world catastrophe. The period 1900-1914
witnessed the massive recruitment of soldiers, training and equipping them with skills and tactics of
fighting. The Germany army was enlarged to 3.5 million men and trained to the highest degree of
efficiency, the French and Russians increased the length of conscript service. Such militarism gave false
impressions to the Great powers that they were strong enough in case of any war. This made some
statesmen like Kaiser William II of Germany to start preaching the war gospel (survival for the fittest
nation) which forced members of the Triple Entente to fight Germany to stop her arrogance which
graduated into the 1st world war.

9. The decay of the European diplomacy also conditioned the outbreak of the 1st world war. History
has it that, the year 1898 robbed off Germany and the entire Europe a great statesman and a man of
peace „Bismarck‟. His untimely death meant death of diplomacy and Europe lacked a strong honest
blocker with strong and broad shoulders to settle the prevailing conflicts of the time. He was replaced by
Kaiser William II who was politically short sighted and there after messed up the alliance system as he
preferred war to peace. This led to the failure of the Hague conferences of 1899 and 1907 to check on
arms race, failure of the peaceful resolution of conflict between Serbia and Austria and made France to
jump out of the isolation and joined the Triple Entente to fight a war of revenge. Hence the death of
diplomacy should be countable for the outbreak of 1st world war.

10. The Balkan crisis of 1912-13 contributed to the outbreak of the war I. It should be noted that after
Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro had attained their independence in the Ottoman Empire,
conflicts emerged in the Balkans for example in 1912, these states established the Balkans League which
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 declared war on Turkey and finally defeated her in the same year. The victory of the League intensified
Serbia`s military capacity and cemented her friendship with Russia which alarmed Austria an enemy of
Serbia. This intensified enmity, suspicion, mistrust and tension between Austria-Hungary and Serbia
which made Serbia to organize the Sarajevo double murder that sparked off the war.

11. The Moroccan crises led to the outbreak of World War I. There were two crises in Morocco that is
the first Moroccan crisis of 1905-07 at Tangiers and the second Moroccan crisis of 1911-12 at Agadir
(Agadir incidence). The crises were between Germany and France conflicting over the occupation of
Moroccan and these brought intervention from other powers like Britain. The two crises still created
suspicion, hatred and mistrust between the Triple Entente and Triple alliance which created a war
atmosphere that led to the outbreak of the war after the Sarajevo double murder of 28th June 1914.

12. Lack of an international peace keeping body led to the outbreak of the war. Since the collapse of
the congress system in 1830, European countries had not established another international organization
which would have solved conflicts. Every country considered herself free to do anything according to its
will since there was no authoritative organisation to restrain or punish her. The international court of
justice at The Hague was perfectly inefficient and unable to settle major world disputes because It had
neither moral authority nor force to implement its resolutions hence many resolutions of The Hague
conferences of 1899 and 1907 remained on paper. It should be noted that Serbia's attempt for a peaceful
resolution with Austria failed because of the ineffectiveness of the international court of justice. Serbia
accepted Austria`s first two conditions of the ultimatum and referred the third one to the international
court of justice for arbitration which failed to handle the issue. Hence without an international peace
keeping body, arms race increased uncontrollably and the double murder incidence was never settled
amicably (peacefully) which made the war inevitable.

13. The Darwin`s theory of survival of the fittest led to the outbreak of World War I. countries like
Germany believed that the unfit nations should be defeated and eliminated and believed that war was the
highest form of civilization. The Prussian field Marshal Helmuth Von Moltke for example wrote that
perpetual peace is a dream, and not even a beautiful dream. War is part of God`s order. Without war,
the world would stagnate and lose itself in materialism. In it, Man`s most noble virtues are displayed-
courage and self-denial, devotion to duty, willingness to sacrifice oneself, and to risk life itself. These
sentiments were shared by many ordinary citizens all over Europe and contributed to the wide spread
enthusiasm for the onset of war in august 1914.

14. The double murder of the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie von Chotek set fire to
the smoldering smoke. It occurred on 28th June in Sarajevo the capital city of Bosnia at 10:15am
executed by a Bosnian student Princip Gavrilo a member of a Serbian organization fighting for the
independence of Bosnian Serbs called the Black Hard Movement led by Colonel Apis who was the head
of Serbian military intelligence. The Duke was the expected heir of the Austrian throne and therefore,
his death and the would be Empress indeed was touching. It worsened the relations between Austria-
Hungary and Serbia which later had to be extended to their allies. Due to the failure of agreements,
amidst alliance, this instead prepared the concerned parties to confront each other leading to the world
catastrophe.

THE ROLE OF THE DOUBLE MURDER TO THE OUTBREAK OF THE WORLD WAR 1
 The incident worsened the Austro-Serbian relations which led to the war. It should be noted that,
Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of having an upper hand in the June 28, 1914 murder of the crown
prince and his wife. When the Serbs received the news about the death of the Arch Duke, they fell into
each other‟s arms in delight, “it serves him right. We have been expecting this for a long time”. This
was one of the remarks made by the Serbs which created tension between Serbia and Austria-Hungary
that led to the war.

 It increased Austria`s determination to destroy little Serbia once and for all which led to the war.
Berchtold the Austrian-Hungarian foreign minister decided that time was ripe to render little Serbia
harmless once and for all by a display of military might. Conrad the Chief of the General Staff of
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 Austria viewed the assassination as an opportunity to destroy Slav nationalism through a preventive war
when he said that Austria-Hungary must draw the sword against Serbia. This made Austria-Hungary
to attack Serbia after her refusal to fulfill the ultimatum and because of divided Europe, the crisis
became international and climaxed into World War I.

 The incident prompted Germany to issue a blank cheque to Austria which led to the outbreak of
the war. After the double murder, the Germany Emperor William II promised unconditional support to
Austria-Hungary in case of any war against Serbia which strengthened the Dual-alliance. As a result
Austria-Hungary was encouraged to issue a 48 hours` harsh ultimatum to Serbia which Serbia rejected
to fulfill. Because of the “blank cheque”, Austria was encouraged to declare war on Serbia and Russia
thus world war.

 The incident prompted Austria to issue a harsh ultimatum to Serbia on 23th July 1914 which led to
the war. After consultation from Kaiser William II of Germany, Austria-Hungary issued a harsh
ultimatum to Serbia with 3 conditions to be fulfilled in 48 hours. Serbia accepted the first 2 but refused
the third condition and referred it to the international court of arbitration at Hague which resulted into
the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that ended into World War I due to divided Europe.

 The incident strengthened the Russo- Serbian alliance which also led to the war. Due to the
influence of Russia, little known Serbia was encouraged to reject some of the Austrian demands. As a
result, Austria-Hungary was forced to declare war on little known Serbia which attracted Russia to enter
on the side of Serbia to defend their fellow Slavs and other powers started to take sides because of the
alliance system which exploded into an international crisis.

 It widened further the space between the Ententes which also led to the war. For instance Russia
began mobilizing her army on 23rd July 1914 to come in rescue Serbia, Germany reacted by sending to
ultimatums to both Russia and France not to join the war and when they dishonored the ultimatum,
Germany joined the war of the side of Austria-Hungary hence a local conflict between Austria-Hungary
and Serbia resulted into an international conflict of 1914-18.

 The incident enabled European powers to implement their war plans and test their weapons
which led to the war. For example the British and the French begun implementing the Anglo-French
Navy plans, the Germans hatched the Schlieffen plan to fight France and Russia.

 The incident tightened European nationalism in Austria, French, Britain and Russia which led to
the war. After the double murder, Austria-Hungarians demanded their government to do whatever it
takes to revenge for the assassination of their waiting heir Franz Duke and his wife that influenced
Austria-Hungary to wage a war on little known Serbia. Similarly, when Austria attacked Serbia, the
Russian demanded their government to rescue the Slavs in Serbia that influenced Russia to join the war
on Serbia`s side. Even in France and Britain, the general public demanded for the war so as to stop
Kaiser II`s aggressiveness. This influenced various countries to intervene in a local conflict between
Serbia and Austria-Hungary that led to the war.

 It led to press exaggerations of the double murder which led to the outbreak of the war.
Newspapers and journalists plus radio presenters begun speculating about the type of punishment that
Serbia should accept. The middle class in Vienna blew the Sarajevo incident out of proportion and
clamored for a defensive action against Serbia. This prompted Austria-Hungary to declare war on little
known Serbia which led to a global war due to divided Europe.

ROLE OF EUROPEAN POWERS IN THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR I

Each and every power that participated in the war should be held responsible although the degree of
responsibility differs. In other words, the responsibility varies from country to country based on the
magnitude of the blame. It should be noted that much as countries like Italy, Japan, USA, Bulgaria and
Turkey participated in the First World War, they cannot be held responsible for the outbreak of the war.

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This is because they joined the war later when it had already started. Thus, with or without them the First
World War would still have been an important event in the history of Europe and indeed the whole world.

a) GERMANY
By article 231 of the war guilt clause in the Versailles peace treaty, Germany was solely blamed for causing
World War I. It was unanimously agreed that Germany alone was responsible for the outbreak of World
War I and that is why article 232 subjected her to impossible reparation of 6,600m pounds. Although these
were very unrealistic, Germany still shares the greatest responsibility in causing and sustaining World War I
due to the following reasons.

1. She started the alliance system in an attempt to isolate France in European politics. After Bismarck,
Kaiser William II misused the alliance system as a tool to raise Germany above other powers. This
prompted the formation of Triple entente, which became antagonistic with the Triple alliance leading to
World War I.

2. It was again Germany that started the arms and naval race by producing dangerous weapons,
submarines, dreadnoughts which was followed by other powers. This was to prepare for a French war of
revenge, dominate other powers and challenge British naval supremacy. The sophisticated weapons
created more suspicion, hatred, recklessness and courage leading to the First World War.

3. Germany`s imperialism in the Balkans and Africa created hostility and conflicts with other powers and
contributed to the war. She acquired territories adjacent to Britain that was very provocative for
instance, when Britain acquired Uganda and Kenya, Germany moved to Tanganyika. When Britain
declared a protectorate over Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone, Germany annexed Togo and Cameroon.

4. Kaiser William II himself irritated Britain when he congratulated Paul Kruger for his success in the
Jameson raid of 1894. This worsened the already hostile relationship between Britain and Germany and
partly explains why Britain declared war on Germany in 1914.

5. In pursuit of Germany's imperialism in the near east, Germany in 1913 started building the Berlin-
Baghdad railway. She continued to claim exclusive rights to train and command the Turkish army
against the British claim of similar rights over the navy and foreign policy. This created more tension in
the east and made it a storm centre for the explosion of World War I.

6. Germany under Kaiser William II shares a blame for militarism and chauvinism. Kaiser William II
believed in the policy of "world power or downfall". The arrogance and superiority complex of the
Germans increased the hostility between Germany and other races leading to World War I.

7. The unification of Germany in 1871 distorted the balance of power in Europe and stimulated
nationalism throughout Europe. In 1871, Prussia inflicted a humiliating defeat on France and completed
the unification of Germany. France was subjected to a heavy war indemnity of 5 billion Francs, an army
of occupation and was forced out of her two mineral rich provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. The
humiliations and the losses from the Franco-Prussian war created bitter enmity between Germany and
France and led to World War I.

8. Germany stands in the dock of history in relation to World War I for supporting Austria's annexation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 to the annoyance of Serbia and Russia. This strengthened Austria's
imperialism in Serbia and triggered off Serbian nationalism leading to the assassination of Franz
Ferdinand and World War I.

9. Germany shares the guilt of World War I for issuing a blank cheque to Austria, which increased
Austria's recklessness towards Serbia after the Sarajevo incident. This made Austria to issue the
unrealistic ultimatum and declare war on Serbia that became a prelude to World War I.

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10. Germany is blamed for issuing an unnecessary ultimatum to Russia. In the after math of Austria's
declaration of war on Serbia, Russia started a general mobilization and Germany sent an ultimatum
demanding for her demobilization, which prompted Germany to declare war on her. Germany is
therefore blamed for issuing an ultimatum on her own terms rather than seeking the opinion of other
powers in dealing with Russian's mobilization. The ultimatum could have possibly humbled Russia if it
was a joint declaration by the big powers of Europe that is Germany, France, Russia and Austria. That it
failed to humble Russia was because it was a German declaration that posed no serious threat to Russia.

11. It was Germany that magnified the Austro-Serbian conflict into a World War after the Sarajevo
assassination. She declared war on Russia on 1st August and on France on 3rd August 1914.

12. The German attack on Belgium violated the London treaty of 1839, which forced Britain and other
powers to declare war on her which led to the war. After Germany stationing her troops in Belgium in
readiness for attack, France and Britain demanded that the German troops should be withdrawn but the
Germans did not respond, neither they send a reply. This forced Britain to join the war against Germany.

13. Germany`s propaganda, public opinion and press advocated for war as a way of exerting their influence
and challenging the British dominance and this resulted into World War.

14. Germany undermined international diplomacy by refusing to attend the disarmament conferences at
Hague.

15. Germany spread Pan Germanism which collided with Pan Slavism in the Balkans which intensified
conflicts leading to the war.

b) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1. Austria's imperialism and expansionist policies in the Balkans is what sparked off World War I. The
Berlin conference of 1878 gave her the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina merely to administer and
not to annex them. However, Austria annexed the two provinces in 1908. This brought forth bitter
protest from Serbia and Russia leading to the assassination of Ferdinand and World War I. It also
explains why Russia mobilized in support of Serbia against Austria.

2. Austria should be blamed for her recklessness towards Serbia through the unrealistic and hostile
ultimatum after the Sarajevo incident prepared the ground for war. Serbia rejected it and Austria
declared war on her leading to World War. Austria had long-term intention to fight Serbia but lacked an
excuse. She purposely issued the ultimatum with stringent conditions knowing that the terms would be
rejected by Serbia and that would justify war with Serbia. It's even on record that the Austrian cabinet
debated and declared war on Serbia on 14th July 1914, before the ultimatum was dispatched.

3. Austria is also to blame for violating the territorial and political integrity of Serbia. She declared war on
Serbia even after Baron Von Wiesner the then Austria's ambassador to Belgrade (Serbia) reported that
there was no conclusive evidence of Serbia's involvement in the Sarajevo assassination. Had Austria not
declared war on Serbia, possibly other powers like Russia would have no reason to mobilize their troops
and the timing of the war would have been different.

4. Austria also got involved in the arms race and was one of the most militaristic nations by 1914. This
increased her imperialistic ambitions in the Balkans, which clashed with Serbian nationalism to spark
off World War I.

5. Austria-Hungary`s membership in the Triple alliance created conflicts, tension, suspicion and divided
Europe into two hostile camps that caused the war.

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6. Austria-Hungary supported Germany`s aggressive policies in Balkans and in Africa which made
Germany become more militaristic and reckless. She had a very strong solidarity with Germany and was
the closest to Germany than Italy and Russia in the Triple alliance and Dreikaiserband respectively. This
created more confidence in Germany and made her the most aggressive nation prior to 1914. Had
Austria abandoned Germany like Italy and Russia did, Germany would not have been so reckless to
declare war on Russia and the Austro-Serbian conflict would have remained a local affair between
Austria and Serbia.

7. Austria- Hungary is blamed for organizing the imperial visit of Franz- Ferdinand and his wife at a time
when the diplomatic relations between her and Serbia was at its lowest (worst) level. On 28thJune 1914,
Austrian authorities organized the royal visit that boomeranged and caused war when the royal couple
was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist Princip. Austrian authorities are therefore blamed for
provoking Serbia by the visit because they were fully aware of the Serbian hostility towards Austria.
The poor relations between the two nations suggest that the Sarajevo assassination could not be
accidental but an expected event that was ignored by Austria's lack of fore sight.

8. Austria Hungary is held responsible for the outbreak of the First World War for internationalizing her
conflict with Serbia. After the Sarajevo double murder, Austria rejected Serbia's demand to refer the
third ultimatum for arbitration (Settlement) by the international court of Justice at The Hague. Emperor
Joseph II of Austria instead consulted Kaiser William II of Germany, which dragged Germany with all
her aggression into the conflict. Austria is also blamed for accepting Germany's advice to declare war on
Serbia.

9. Austria's poor diplomatic relations with Russia make her accountable for the outbreak of the First World
War. Austria antagonized Russia by opposing her imperialism in the Balkans. In 1877, Russia defeated
Turkey and forced her to sign the Treaty of San Stefano in which the big Bulgaria was created. Austria
allied with Britain and threatened war against Russia for her illegal creation of the big Bulgaria at the
Berlin congress of 1878. Austria stood against the creation of the big Bulgaria and it was dissected into
three i.e. reduced in size. After the Berlin congress of 1878, Austria intensified her imperial designs in
the Balkans that led to further conflicts with Russia. In 1879, Austria formed the dual alliance with
Germany against Russia and France. Austria's activities threatened Russia's interest and dragged her into
an alliance with France i.e. Franco-Russian alliance of 1894. This set the pace for the formation of the
Triple entente in 1907, which caused more antagonism and tension that led to world war l by 1914.

10. Austria-Hungary`s refusal of Serbia`s proposal of using diplomacy to settle their conflicts after the
Sarajevo assassination resulted in the outbreak of World War.

11. Austria-Hungary`s declaration of war on Serbia on 23th July 1914 caused the war. This Austro-Serbian
conflict later attracted other powers like Britain, France, Russia and others that led to the war.

c) SERBIA
1. Serbia shares the guilt of World War l for engineering conflict in an economically, politically and
strategically located Balkan region. In 1912, she mobilized Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece to form
the Balkan league. She used the league to fight Turkey and occupy her territories in Europe. She also
fought and defeated Bulgaria in 1913, which increased her influence in the Balkans to the
disappointment of Austria. Generally, Serbia contributed greatly to the Balkan wars of 1911 – 1913
during which she emerged as a leader of the Slav speaking race. This attracted the hostility of other
powers particularly Germany, Austria and Turkey to defend their political, economic and strategic
interest leading to the First World War.

2. Serbian nationalism was too ambitious to guarantee peace in Europe. Serbian nationalism clashed with
Austria's imperialism leading to the Sarajevo assassination and the First World War. The assassin of
Franz Ferdinand and his wife was a member of the Great Serbian movement, which was against
Austrian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Whether Serbian government was responsible for the murder

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 or not is still a subject of dispute but Serbia's failure to suppress the activities of the greater Serbian
movement made her politically responsible for the assassination.

3. It was Serbia that provided Austria with an excuse to declare war by refusing to comply with the 3rd term
of the July 23rd 1914 ultimatum. She rejected the third term of the ultimatum that demanded for the
intervention of Austrian officials in the investigation of the Sarajevo double murder. This provided
Austria with a convenient pretext to declare war on her. Had Serbia humbled herself to accept all the
terms of the ultimatum and risked her independence, the world would possibly have been spared from
the great war of 1914-1918. She also wanted war because before sending her reply to the ultimatum, she
had ordered for a general mobilization and this was before Austria declared war.

4. Serbia is also blamed for being a close ally of the Triple entente that was antagonistic to the Triple
alliance. She was also overwhelmed with confidence that she recklessly pursued an ambitions of uniting
all the Slavs in the Balkans. It intensified conflict between her on one hand against Austria and Germany
on the other hand. This created more tension in Germany and Austria that made them determined to
fight to destroy Serbia after the Sarajevo assassination as a way of breaking the solidarity of the Triple
entente alliance. It should be argued that Serbia's aggressive and arrogant attitude partly made Germany
to support Austria against her.

5. Serbia's aggressive and arrogant attitude towards Austria and Germany created more tension that led to
the outbreak of the First World War. This partly made Austria to issue the unrealistic ultimatum and
declare war against her in 1914.

6. Serbia is also blamed for promoting anti Austrian activities and terrorist movements like the union,
death and Black Hard society. Serbia started sponsoring these movements to sabotage Austrian rule after
her annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. It was these terrorist movements that masterminded
the assassination of Franz Ferdinand with his wife and sparked off the First World War.

7. Serbia was responsible for the murder of Archduke and his wife which sparked off the war in 1914.

8. Serbia is blamed for magnifying her conflict with Austria by appealing for Russian support. After the
Sarajevo assassination, Serbia called for Russian support against Austria. This scared Austria and
contributed to her declaration of war on Serbia. Serbia's appeal to Russia also explains why Russia
mobilized in support of her in the aftermath of Sarajevo double murder. It was also Russia's mobilization
that prompted Germany to declare war on her. One can therefore argue that if Serbia had not appealed
for Russian support, Russia could possibly not have mobilized her troops and Germany would not have
found a convenient pretext to declare war on her (Russia).

9. Serbia participated in arms race and acquired sophisticated weapons that gave her false confidence and
also used them to murder Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife which sparked off the war.

d) RUSSIA
1. Russia shares the blame for supporting Balkan nationalism and the disintegration of the Ottoman
Empire. Her support of Pan Slavism led to the Balkan wars of 1878 and those of 1912 - 1913. The
success of Slav nationalism in Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece stimulated greater nationalism,
which undermined the existence of the Austrian Empire and even Germany. That Austria declared war
on Serbia was because Serbian nationalism supported by Russia threatened her existence and the same
explains why Germany declared war on Russia.

2. It was Russia's support to Serbian nationalism that intensified Serbia's recklessness leading to the
assassination of Prince Ferdinand and his wife that sparked off war in 1914. Even after the assassination,
it was Russia's support to Serbia that partly made her defiant to Austria's demands. The Russian foreign
minister Sazanov told the Serbian ambassador in Russia that; Russia would in no circumstances permit
Austrian aggression against Serbia. This is what encouraged Serbia to reject Austria's ultimatum in full.
19 @SML 2020
 Otherwise, Serbia in her relatively weaker position compared to Austria would not have dared take such
a bold stand against Austria.

3. Russia's interference in Serbian affairs with a claim to be the rightful protector of Slav population and
orthodox Christians in the Balkans was rejected by other powers. Although this is justifiable to some
extent, it carried more of Russia's hidden imperial, economic and strategic motives than true religious
and ethnic aims. This attracted the attention of other powers particularly Germany, Turkey and Austria
making it impossible to localize any conflict such as the Austro-Serbian conflict.

4. Russia made Germany to declare war on her. She ordered for general mobilization on 23rdJuly 1914 and
refused to accept Germany's ultimatum to demobilize. This forced Germany to declare war on her as the
only alternative.

5. Russia's expansionist policy in the Balkans and the desire to check Germany's advance to the east made
her to get entangled in the arms race and militarism. This was to challenge Germany's military might
amongst others, which forced Germany to declare war on her. Actually, Russia's mobilization was not
just to assist Serbia against Austria but target fully mobilized for Germany.

6. Russia participated in arms race and militarism by producing advanced weapons and creating huge
standing armies that led to World War I.

7. Russia's quitting of the Dreikaiserband in 1878 made it impossible for alliance system to be an
instrument of peace. After leaving Germany's camp, she joined the French camp (Triple entente) yet
France was Germany's number one enemy. This put Germany on tension, incited her to prepare for war
and forced her to declare war on her (Russia) and France as well.

8. Russia`s membership of the Triple Entente with Britain, France contributed to the division of Europe
into two hostile camps that caused World War I.

BRITAIN
 She shares the war guilt for being the most influential member of the Triple entente that was
antagonistic to the triple alliance led by Germany. Britain made separate treaties with Japan, France and
Russia and consolidated them in the triple entente of 1907. This threatened Germany and made her to
prepare for war and that is why she fought France, Britain, Russia and Japan.

 Britain is accused for causing World War I due to her international jealousy and self-seeking ambitions.
She was the champion of colonialism, enjoyed monopoly but never wanted other powers to challenge
her status as the workshop of Europe. This accounts for imperialism and colonial economic conflicts
especially with the new Germany that precipitated war.

 Britain also protested the Berlin-Baghdad railway that aimed at increasing German trade in the east to
the extent of encouraging Russia in the Balkans from 1908, which had not been the case before. She
wanted to use Russia to block Germany's advance, which only brought war.

 By 1914, Britain had built a huge and strong naval force but still resented any other power's attempts to
do so, especially Germany. When Germany tried to challenge her naval superiority, she began
modernizing and speeding up naval and arms manufacture that led to the arms race. This turned
European balance of power into a balance of terror to cause the First World War.

 Britain stands in the dock of history in as far as she fought to defend her self-interest in Belgium. She
had a naval base in Belgium from where she controlled the eastern waters. This is what made her to
champion Belgium independence and neutrality in 1839. Thus, the British declaration of war based on
the violation of London treaty of 1839 was a mere camouflage of protecting her naval base against the
threats from German troops in Belgium.

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 Britain's refusal to settle the eastern question peacefully by partitioning the Ottoman Empire made it to
be a historical centre of European conflicts that developed into World War I. If Britain had accepted the
Russian policy of dividing up Turkey as early as 19th century, the Balkan wars of 1911-1913 would
have been minimized and World War I would have started from elsewhere not from the Balkans.

 The Anti German feelings and propaganda created by the British press makes Britain responsible for the
First World War. The London Times exaggerated war threats by Germany after the Sarajevo
assassination and turned public opinion against Germany. This encouraged Austria to declare war on
Serbia and Russia to mobilize for war at the same time. The British press propaganda also influenced the
government to declare war on Germany on 4th August 1914.

FRANCE
1. France is blamed for her desire to revenge against Germany for the humiliations and losses of the
Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. In 1871, Prussia defeated France and subjected her to a heavy war
indemnity of5billion Francs, an army of occupation and snatched her two mineral rich provinces of
Alsace and Lorraine. After 1871, France had a burning desire not only to recover Alsace and Lorraine
but also to revenge against Germany and restore her national pride and prestige as a great power.

2. French public opinion favoured war and a statue symbolizing revenge was erected at Strasbourg city. A
Revengist movement led by opposition politician General Boulanger advocated for a war of revenge
against Germany. This made Otto Von Bismarck of Germany to take a precautionary measure of starting
alliance system and arms race to isolate France and defend Germany. Declaration of war against France
on 3rd Aug 1914 was influenced by the need to suppress her spirit of revenge.

3. Although France fought a defensive war, there is evidence that she was not willing to be neutral in the
Austro-Serbian war. In the aftermath of Austria's declaration of war against Serbia, Kaiser William 11 of
Germany demanded France to state her position in the war. However, President Point care declined to
guarantee the neutrality of France, which forced Germany to declare war on her. It must be noted that
France's refusal to guarantee her neutrality was partly influenced by her desire to revenge against
Germany and repossess her mineralized provinces of Alsace and Lorraine.

4. France contributed directly and indirectly to alliance system that led to the outbreak of World War 1.
Indirectly, her desire to revenge the losses of the Franco-Prussian war is what primarily made Bismarck
to form the Dreikaiserbund (1873), Dual entente (1879) and Triple alliance (1882) i.e. to isolate her and
frustrate her desire to revenge against Germany. Directly, France initiated alliances against Germany.

5. In 1894, she allied with Russia (Franco-Russian alliance). In 1904, she allied with Britain (Dual Entente)
and in 1907; Russia joined the Dual Entente to form the Triple Entente. These alliances divided Europe
into two hostile and antagonistic camps leading to the collapse of diplomacy and explosion of the First
World War.

6. France was also entangled/ involved in militarism, naval, and arms race. After 1871, France started
rearming herself with sophisticated weapons, embarking on conscription and improving her naval
capacity as a move to launch a successful war of revenge against Germany. She also ventured in colonial
acquisition and adopted the policy of assimilation in her colonies in order to get more manpower to fight
Germany. Radical opposition politicians like General Boulanger became more popular because of their
advocacy for a revenge war against Germany. All these created fear suspicion, Jealousy and panic in
Germany that calumniated into the outbreak of the First World War by 1914.

7. France is also blamed for colonial rivalry and conflict that created tension and war fever by 1914. She
clashed with Germany twice for the control of morocco in 1906 and 1911 i.e. The Tangier incident,
1905 (the 1stMoroccan crisis) and the Agadir crisis, 1911 (the second Moroccan crisis). Although these
crises were settled diplomatically, Germany was left with a spirit of revenge, which she accomplished
by attacking France in 1914.

21 @SML 2020
8. France assured Russia of support in the Austro-Serbian conflict, which made it difficult to localize the
issue. The French President Poincare visited Russia from 20th July to 23rd July 1914 and promised
French support to Russia against Austria. To quote him, Serbia has very warm friends in the Russian
people and Russia has an ally, France. This is what morale boosted Russia to mobilize for war after
Austria declaring war on Serbia.

However, in comparison to other powers, France takes the least responsibility for the outbreak of the First
World War. This is because she fought a defensive war. Although she had the desire to revenge, she perused
it with reasonable patience and never went for war over Alsace and Lorraine as an immediate reason. When
Austria attacked France, Germany gave France a limited time to state her position and when France
declined, Germany declared war on her, marched and stationed her troops in Belgium in readiness to invade
France. France therefore had no other alternative other than to mobilize and defend herself, there by sharing
a lesser blame.

THE IMPACTS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ON EUROPE

The war was very destructive because it was fought by use of deadly weapons and countries that fought had
prepared for it for a long time and therefore had both positive and negative impacts on the world as
unearthed below:

THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS

The war registered great loss of lives. Many people were killed, mutilated and crippled. It was estimated that
about 13million people were killed in the actual fighting, around 10 million widows and orphans while
10million people were crippled by weapon for instance, David Thompson noted that one French man was
killed in every minute between 1914 and 1918. The death rate was accelerated by the economic crisis like
famine, unemployment and poverty which greatly reduced the standards of living.

The war also led the wanton destruction of property. Infrastructure and property such as hospitals,
industries, educational institutions, hotels, administrative centers, residential houses, canals, and shops
livestock were killed, roads, and railways were bombarded and destroyed. This negatively affected the
world since majority suffered from unemployment, poverty and led to malnutrition.

It led to the economic decline in various countries mainly in Europe where the actual war occurred. A lot of
money was used in financing the war and at the same time industries and infrastructure were destroyed.
Agriculture sector was actually neglected leading to the outbreak of famine hence the standard of living was
lowered which resulted into decline in international trade and hence leading to wide spread poverty,
inflation and unemployment.

The war led to the great economic depression of 1929-1935. The divesting effect of the 1st world war is said
to have caused the great world economic slump experienced between1929-1935 and therefore the
economies of European countries shattered. For instance, during the war, countries borrowed loans from
each other mainly USA became the lender and at the end of the war, she demanded for the payment with of
course high interest rate to be paid in form of gold hence creating a situation whereby money flowed in one
direction and was locked up in USA thus causing depression in various countries.

It led to the outbreak of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 in Russia. Following the poor performance in
World War I, the masses in Russia lost trust in the Tsarist regime of Nicholas II, amidst internal problems
like famine unemployment, negative impacts of the industrial revolution in St. Petersburg. Lenin and Stalin
mobilized the rest of the Russians in to the Bolshevik revolution that had climax in the establishment of the
first communist government in Russia.

The war also led to the rise of dictators in Europe between 1919 and 1936. The socio- economic problems
created by the war made many people lose confidence in the existing governments. Such alarming situation
was utilized by ambitious men like Adolf Hitler, Mussolini and General Franco to mobilize the masses that
led to the collapse of the existing governments that led to the rise of fascism in Italy in 1922, in Spain in
1939 and Nazism in Germany in 1934.
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The war ended with the signing of the unfair Versailles treaty of 1919. The treaty was dictated upon
Germany and her allies were forced to sign against their will. It had harsh terms like the war guilty clause,
reparation, disarmament, territorial and mandate clauses ushered in negative impacts on the defeated powers
at the expense of the victor powers.

It laid foundation for the outbreak of the world war 11. The war was concluded by the unfair Versailles
settlement that left Germany, Italy and Japan with a high spirit of revenge. It also led the rise of aggressive
leaders like Adolf Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy who waged a series of aggressions that
climaxed into Germany invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939 which led to the World War II on 3rd
September 1939.

It led to the fall and disintegration of Germany and her allies. After her defeat, Germany was divided into
two with a Polish corridor running to the Port Danzig, Germany lost Schleswig to Denmark, Eupen and
Malmedy to Belgium. Austrian Empire was dismantled from the map of Europe. Austria was also reduced
to a mere land locked country with a population of about 7 million people.

The war led to the massive displacement of people in Europe. There was a large influx of homeless refugees
and internal displaced people. About 21 million people were displaced and became homeless. Many of these
were kept in camps in Western Europe during and after world war where they suffered from poor living
conditions and diseases and many died from these camps.

The war led to the change in population structure in Europe. Due to the massive death of men in the war,
this created a demographic structure dominated by women and children. This created shortage of labor that
made industrialists to employ women and children who were inexperienced and inefficient which resulted
into the production of sub standard commodities that couldn‟t be consumed in the world market.

It also led to the outbreak of epidemics in Europe. Due to the use poisonous gas and other dangerous
weapons, there arose dangerous diseases like influenza, typhoid, malaria, cholera and Ebola in countries like
Germany and Belgium and many people died due to such diseases which were all as a result of World War
1.

The war destroyed and ended the former treaties and alliances in Europe. The Germany invasion of Belgium
on 4th August 1914 violated the London treaty of 1939 that had guaranteed the independence and neutrality
of Belgium. In 1915, Italy signed the treaty of London by which she joined the Triple Entente to fight
against Austria-Hungary and Germany who were her former allies which ended the Triple Alliance of 1882.

THE POSITIVE IMPACT

The war gave rise to new and independence of small states in Europe. The Versailles peacemakers granted
independence to states like Poland, Romania, Iraq, Iran, Serbia, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Latvia,
Hungary, Yugoslavia was created after emerging Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro which
thereafter created conflicts during the inter - war period.

The war led to the rise of new world super powers Japan and USA. After the collapse of the Tsarist regime
in Russia, Japan took advantage of the Eastern market to strengthen her economy. During and after the war
USA gave loans to states for financing the war and post war recovery from which she reaped a lot of interest
after the war. Therefore, the two powers continued dominating the economic, military and political affairs of
Europe at the expense of the former super powers Britain and France who had registered a lot of losses in
the war.

It also led to the formation of the League of Nations on 10thJanuary 1920. According to David Thompson,
the League of Nations was to act as a watch dog of world peace and it was to restore international peace and
stability as its principal aim. This is because the weakness of the international court of justice was partly
responsible for the outbreak of World War I. The League therefore, was to resolve conflicts and protect
territorial integrity and independence of weaker states in Europe.
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It led to the defeat of the central powers and Kaiser William II‟s abdication of the throne on 8th November
1918 to Netherlands. USA eventual entry in the war 1917 boosted the Triple Entente and greatly weakened
the central powers leading to the exile of Kaiser to Holland and surrender of Germany on 11th November
1918 after signing an armistice (peace treaty) which marked the end of World War I which ended his
arrogance and dictatorship in Europe.

The war led to the rise of communism in Russia that spread to the Eastern Europe by 1919. The devastating
effects of the war in Russia created a revolutionary mood against the Tsarist regime. Consequently,
revolutionary leaders like Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky massively mobilized the Russians in a dual revolution
that ended in a communist government on November 1917. Thereafter, communism was spread to Eastern
Europe which greatly threatened the capitalists in Western Europe leading to cold war politics.

The war ended with the signing of the Versailles peace treaty in which France regained her lost provinces of
Alsace and Lorraine, art pieces and her tri-color flag that had been confiscated by Germany in 1871 after the
Franco-Prussian war. The Germany annexation of the above mineralized territories is what majorly drove
France into World War I to revenge for the losses incurred during the Franco- Prussian war 1870-1871.

It also led to the downfall of conservative and dictatorial governments in Europe. The Hohenzollern dynasty
in Germany, the Tzardom regime in Russia, Austrian and Hungarians fixed their eyes on Hapsburg Empire
as the Balkan undoubtly blamed on their conservative leaders for the horrible experience and suffering they
went through and finally were all overthrown and replaced by new ones.

World War I also ended social system in many European states. This was due to the destruction of the
property and the wealthy of the middleclass and landlords in states like Britain and France. The war featured
looting by the poor peasants some of whom became rich and moved the level of middleclass. More still,
during the war, people of different classes shared the same camps, sickbays and hospitals with the poor
peasants and this ended social class conflicts in Europe since there was respect accorded to all mankind
without discrimination.

The war led to the rise constitutional and democratic government in Germany. Democratic powers like
Britain and France were fed up of the autocratic monarchical government and wished a republican
government similar to those in Britain and France which would be a puppet to big powers. Consequently,
elections were held at Weimar won by Fredrick Ebert that led to creation of the Weimar republic that ruled
Germany from 1919-1933 when was overthrown by Adolf Hitler.

The war laid foundation for the growth of women emancipation. The war led to shortage of men since most
of them were killed and many disabled. Many women took over men‟s jobs in factories and industries,
shops, public offices, hospitals and schools. Their dressing code totally changed to tight miniskirts and
trousers as they did their work that was originally preserved for men. This is where the idea of equality was
rooted. As a result in Britain, women above 30 years were given the right to vote. Thus the war changed the
social status of women in Europe.

It also led to the improvement in education, science and technology and further spread of industrial
revolution in Europe. There was an urgent need for educated labour force for economic progress. In Britain
the education act was passed in 1918 which provided education for all children. Science and technology
were also improved. Research and inventions were used to make industries more efficient and organized.

The war resulted into merry making and romanticism in Europe. Due to psychological and physical torture
experienced during the war many younger stars and other survivors of the war resorted to merry making in
an attempt to forget the misery trauma and stress from the war. In London, Paris and other big cities of
Europe, people resorted to dancing, jazz music, parties and other leisure activities. Others drew pictures and
made art pieces depicting the terrible experience they had witnessed hence referring this period as Gay
Twenties.

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 REASONS FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE CENTRAL POWERS/REASONS FOR THE VICTORY
OF THE ALLIED POWERS
World War I was basically fought between two belligerent camps i.e. the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente.
Germany and Austria-Hungary were the core members of the Triple Alliance and were called the Central
Powers. France, Britain and Russia were the dominant members of the Triple Entente and were known as
Allied Powers. Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and USA joined the Allied powers
in 1917 after the withdraw of Russia. Italy though a member of the Triple Alliance changed camp and
fought on the side of the Triple Entente. The central powers begun the war with much vigor and successes
but failed to sustain the war in the long run. They were overpowered with massive losses and by 1918 all
had surrendered. This was due to political, social and economic factors;

1. The military strength of the allied powers can explain the success of the allied. The allied powers
had better military hardware like tanks that were used by the British, sophisticated fighter jets and
airplane for spying on the position of troops of central powers. Whereas the central powers were
militarily inferior which made them to lose several battles which led to their defeat.

2. The navy superiority of the allied camp also explains the defeat of the central powers. The allied
powers were boosted by Britain who had the best dreadnaught and battleships manned by well drilled
and experienced naval commanders. These were effectively used to block Germany and her allies from
accessing most big waters, which limited their combat operations to the main land. Imports and
exports of the central powers were all cut off which worsened economic crisis and weakened them
militarily leading to their defeat.

3. The entry of USA in 1917 on the side of the allied powers boosted the Triple Entente. USA joined
the war against Germany to avenge the death of about 128 Americans citizens in the British ship
Lusitania that was bombarded by Germany U-boat in 1915. USA entrance reinforced allied powers
with financial and fresh military backing at the time when both camps were exhausted and fatigued. It
also helped to fill the gap left by Russia‟s withdraw and that explains why the central powers were
finally overpowered by the allied powers.

4. The numerical advantage of the allied powers also contributed to the defeat of the central
powers. The allied powers had many states which were highly populated like Britain, France, Russia,
Belgium, Japan and USA. They were also boosted by the common wealthy countries and vast colonies
in Asia and Africa. On the other hand the central powers had very few colonies and out of the
Germany allies only Austria was stronger the rest were all militarily weak which hence fourth explains
their eventual defeat.

5. The good leadership of the allied powers led to the defeat of the central powers. George David
Lloyd and George Clemenceau of Britain and France respectively were more experienced and
competent than the leaders of the central powers. They massively mobilized and moral boosted their
nationals to fight and defeat Germany and her allies. On the other hand, central powers were led by
inexperienced and shrewd statesmen like Kaiser Williams II of Germany, Francis Joseph was very
aged 84 years and Sultan Mohammad V of Turkey were all less oriented in European politics and
military organization.

6. The high spirit of nationalism among the allied powers contributed to their success. Allied
nations like Britain, France and Italy were led by democrats who instilled the spirit of patriotism and
nationalism in their subjects. Their leaders used the mass media to mobilize all abled bodied persons to
fight and defeat the central powers. For instance, in 1916 when the Germans attacked the main
military base of French forces at Verdum, Marshall Potein, the French commander issued an inspiring
call to his troops that "they shall not pass". This call became the French patriotic slogan that inspired
confidence and resilience in French troops, which made the Germans to be ejected from France.

7. Count Von Schleinffen poor war plan also led to the defeat of Germany. According to his plan, the
German troops were to march through Belgium into France, after defeat of France then were to rush to
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 the east and crush the inferior Russians in few days. However, the plan was a failure right from the
start, the war started with Russia on 1st August before France later on the 3rd August. Secondly, the
Belgium posed a strong resistance against Germany which backslided his plans and made other
powers well prepared for Germany attack that led their defeat.

8. Germany invasion of Belgium on 4th August 1914 was another military blunder made by
Germany. This was an outright violation of the 1839 London treaty in which the great powers had
respected the neutrality and independence of Belgium. This portrayed Germany‟s open aggression that
didn‟t disrespected international treaties. This state of affair compelled Britain to join the war to
safeguard the 1839 London treaty which guaranteed Belgium independence. Thus Britain used his
naval power to blockade Germany in European waters which conditioned German‟s defeat by 1918.

9. There were disagreements between the central powers which forced Italy and Romania to join
the allied powers. Italy had been a member of the Triple Alliance of 1882 which included Germany,
Italy and Austria-Hungary in which Italy had committed herself to fight alongside the other two
members in case of war. However, Italy remembered that Austria had occupied and exploited her
resources of Lombardy and Venetia since the Vienna settlement of 1815. That Austria had also
frustrated Italian nationalism by Metternich and his system for what reason Italy withdrew from the
triple alliance and joined the allied powers. This strengthened the position of the allied powers while
that of the central powers was weakened and they were defeated.

10. The effects of winter on the armies of Central powers disabled them. The winter season affected
the forces of the central powers. Overland transport in general became very difficult as snow blocked
the roads. This was more to the disadvantage of the armies of the central powers because the allied
powers depended on the superiority of the air strikes and bombardment by the American forces. The
roads and bridges in Germany were seriously damaged and this frustrated the movement of the
soldiers and the allied powers exploited this to the defeat of the central powers.

11. The economic weakness of the central powers also accounts for the defeat of Germany. During
the war, the allied powers imposed economic sanctions on the central powers that banned imports and
exports of food, medicine, arms and ammunitions throughout Europe. Britain enforced naval blockade
where she confiscated cargoes of neutral ships trading with Germany purposely to weaken Germany‟s
economy. This resulted into economic hardships like inflation, financial crisis, unemployment,
poverty, and starvation which led to poor motivation and low morale that submerged Germany and her
allies leading to their defeat.

12. Encirclement of Germany by 1917 greatly contributed to the defeat of central powers. From
1916, the allies launched three simultaneous attacks from the Western, Eastern and Italian fronts.
Americans launched a full scale invasion of Germans near Verdum, British used heavy tanks to shell
German troops at Amiens and Arras and Canadians attacked German troops who had earlier on taken
over press. French and Belgians intensified their attacks in the North of France. This encirclement
overstretched and scattered the German troops and made the defeat of central powers inevitable since
Germany was the only active member by 1918.

13. The Russian propaganda led to the defeat of the central powers. In March 1918, Russia signed the
treaty of Brest -Litovsk. By this treaty among other things, Russia agreed with Germany and Russia
released the German, Austrian and Hungarian soldiers that had been captured by Russia as prisoners of
war. However, while in captivity Russia had indoctrinated (brain washed) the soldiers with anti-war
and revolutionary propaganda. Consequently, these former prisoners of war were re-admitted into the
armies of their countries, they refused to fight against the Allied Powers.

14. The mutinies or riots that were staged by the soldiers of the Central Powers led to their defeat.
The armies of the central powers were tired of war because it had taken many years. They had also
witnessed many of their colleagues dying during the fighting. Consequently, the German and Austro-
Hungarian commanders diverted their attention and energy to crash the mutinies or riots than

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 concentrating on fighting the allied powers. This therefore reduced the morale of the soldiers of the
central powers.

15. Internal opposition against the central powers also led their defeat. By 1918 onwards, trade
unionists, socialists, and communists mobilized protests against the severe economic hardships like
unemployment, famine, starvation, inflation such movements were ruthlessly suppressed. Such
grieved people denied their governments support whereas the allied powers were stable with exception
of Russia.

16. Press propaganda was used to de-campaign the central powers and mobilize mass support that
led to the success of allied powers. The mass media was manipulated to popularize malicious and
ridiculous information about the central powers. The British and French media were used by
opportunistic politicians to depict Germany and her allies as imperialists who were fighting to
dominate and oppress the world. Lord North Cliffe, who was in charge of propaganda in Britain,
dispatched leaflets to Austria-Hungary in which he promised the various nationalities their
independence, if they deserted the Austrian Empire. The Czechs, Poles, Slovenes and Croatians
responded to the offer and joined the allies. They contributed to numerical superiority of allied powers
that overwhelmed the central powers.

17. The reckless German submarine war fare strategy also contributed to the defeat of Germany
and her allies. The Germans used unrestricted U-boat warships that were banned in Europe because
of their destructive nature. From mid 1915, the Germans without any preliminary warning recklessly
used U-boats to sink any ship be it for civilians, merchants, traders, refugees, soldiers or passengers as
long as it was sighted in the war zone. The U-boats even sunk ships of neutral countries like Spain,
Portugal and USA. This led to death of several innocent civilians‟ traders and refugees e.g. in May
1915; the Germans sunk the British ship (Lusitania) in which over 1000 passengers including 128
American citizens perished. This created a public outcry in America to punish Germany for the
wanton massacre that made USA to join the war on the side of allies and defeat Germany. On the other
hand, German's overreliance on U-boats was unsustainable by 1918. The allies countered it with the
"Convoy system" which rendered the U-boat strategy ineffective hence accounting for Germany's
defeat.

18. The death of Emperor Francis Josef of Austria in 1916 led to the defeat of the Central powers.
Emperor Francis Josef died in 1916 and was succeeded by Emperor Charles. Unlike Emperor Francis,
Emperor Charles was prepared to end the war. This was because of the domestic problems in Austria
like food shortages, demonstrations and the nationalistic uprisings. He therefore started private
negotiations with Britain and France to end the war. Germany learnt about this move and accused
Austria-Hungary of betraying her and this resulted into mistrust and suspicion. Consequently, it was
no longer possible to have a well-organized joint command of the central powers against the allied
powers. This was exploited by the allied powers to defeat the central powers.

19. The abdication of Kaiser William II on 8th November to Holland Was the final step in the defeat
of the central powers. By 1918, all German allies had surrendered and Germany was still persisting
with the war amidst severe economic crisis, internal protests and threat of military coup. This forced
top army commanders i.e. Ludendorff and Hidenburg to relinquish their power to the Reichstag.
Kaiser William 11 was also forced by pressure of events to abdicate and flee to Holland, which made
Chancellor Prince Marx to handover government control to Fredrick Ebert, the social-democrat leader.
On 11th Nov 1918, Fredrick Ebert signed an armistice with the victorious powers that marked the end
of the war and the final defeat of the central powers.

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