Week 1 – the causes of world war

Week 1 – The Causes of World War 1

Term 1 – WWI and the Treaty of Versailles

What caused WWI?

• There are 7 main causes of World War I, but some causes are more complex than others

• Today we will look at 3 causes – the rise of Germany, the Alliance System, and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

• A different way to look at the causes of WWI is to ask, “Why did the first World War begin in 1914?”

I. Rise of Germany

• The “rise” of Germany was the growth and development of Germany’s economy

• This was a problem for two reasons – (1) Great Britain and France had ALWAYS controlled most of the money and power in Europe, and now they would have to share with Germany

• (2) but maybe Germany would not want to share with Great Britain and France, and instead take everything for itself.

Kaiser Wilhelm II(born 1859)

• Became the king (Kaiser) of Germany when his Grandfather, Wilhelm I died in 1888

• He was 12 years old when Germany became a country in 1871, by defeating France in the Franco-Prussian War

• The hero of the Franco-Prussian War was Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany

• In 1888, the Kaiser asked Bismarck to help him fight another war, and Bismarck said

Otto von Bismarck

No

Let’s fight!

Why did Bismarck not want to fight?

• In 1871, Germany defeated France, then humiliated France by signing the peace treaty in the Palace of Versailles

• France was angry about this loss for decades, and wanted to get revenge against Germany

• Otto von Bismarck knew this, and decided that the best way to keep France from attacking was for Germany to make lots of allies

Why did Bismarck not want to fight?

• So Bismarck made an alliance with Austria (the Dual Alliance, 1879) to defend each other against Russia if necessary

• Then he made an alliance with Italy and Austria (the Triple Alliance, 1882) to protect each other against France, if necessary

• THEN he signed an agreement with Russia in 1887 (the Reinsurance Treaty) that if war started, Russia and Germany would not attack each other

So no matter what happens, Germany will be safe

War!

War!War! War!

(no war)

…as long as Germany doesn’t attack anyone

So why would Kaiser Wilhelm want to start a war?

Because he was greedy and wanted a grand empire

Maybe he was racist and thought Germans were better than everyone else

Because he was 12 years old when Germany beat France, and he wanted to be a hero, too

Maybe he was not loved by his parents, and wanted to prove himself

Or maybe he was just CRAZY (he was an only child, so he would have become king anyway)

Kaiser Wilhelm II(born 1859)

So Wilhelm decided to start fighting anyway1. He fired Bismarck2. He stopped the agreement

with Russia3. He made many offensive

comments about the French4. And, he started to build the

biggest navy fleet in Europe (over 100 warships)

Otto von Bismarck

No

Let’s fight!

I. Rise of Germany

• So as Germany’s economy increased, Wilhelm planned to dominate Europe

• Wilhelm reversed the policy of peace created by Otto von Bismarck, and prepared for a war with France and Britain

II. The Alliance System

• Two alliances formed from 1898 to 1904 – Britain, France and Russia vs. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

• It is quite surprising that Britain, France and Russia – traditional enemies in Europe – would be allies

II. The Alliance System

Why did Britain and France work together?

British Empire

Why did Britain and France work together?

• Gradually Britain and France decided that they were more afraid of Germany than each other

British and French Empire

Why did Russia and France become allies?

• Kaiser Wilhelm made plans to take over parts of the Middle East that Russia had always wanted (the Ottoman Empire)

• Wilhelm encouraged the King of Austria-Hungary to push Russia out of the land between Austria, Russia and the Ottoman Empire (known as the Balkans)

• France and Russia made an agreement that if Germany attacked one of them, they would both attack Germany (Two-front war).

Balkans

Alliances by 1904

• France and Russia had a formal alliance. • Britain did not agree to a formal alliance, but

agreed to a general “understanding” (Entente)• Germany only had 2 friendly countries left –

Austria-Hungary and Italy – so they became the “Central Powers”

II. The Alliance System

III. The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

• A Serbian nationalist killed the son of the king of Austria (Archduke Ferdinand)

• Serbian nationalists wanted to be independent of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire

• Russia often encouraged any group of people to rebel against Austria, to make Austria weaker

Why were Russia and Austria competing?

• The Ottoman Empire was weak, and soon it would collapse

• The area between Austria, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire was called the Balkans

• Some empire – either Russia or Austria – was going to gain lots of territory, people and money in the moment that the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

• So both countries tried to get an advantage in the regionBalkans

III. The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

• Russia signed a secret agreement to support Serbia if it fought against Austria-Hungary

• Kaiser Wilhelm agreed to support the King of Austria-Hungary if he attacked Serbia for the death of his son

• Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, Russia attacked Austria, Germany attacked Russia, so France declared war on Germany, and Britain and Italy got involved to fight with their allies.

Why did the Serbians want independence?

• What is nationalism?

• What is imperialism?

In review, now it should be easy to see

1. Why a Serbian nationalist would kill the Austrian king’s son

2. Why Russia defended Serbia when it was attacked by Austria

3. Why France, Britain and Russia were allied against Germany and its allies

4. Why the rise of Germany was a problem for everyone in Europe