First World War Essay

Map of the  participants in World War I:  Allied Powers  in green,  Central Powersin orange, and neutral countries in grey In the 19th Century, the major European powers had gone to great lengths to maintain a  balance of power  throughout Europe, resulting by 1900 in a complex network of political and military alliances throughout the continent. These had started in 1815, with the  Holy Alliance  between  Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Then, in October 1873, German Chancellor  Bismarck  negotiated theLeague of the Three Emperors  (German:  Dreikaiserbund) between the monarchs of Austria–Hungary, Russia and Germany. This agreement failed because Austria–Hungary and Russia could not agree over Balkan policy, leaving Germany and Austria–Hungary in an alliance formed in 1879, called the  Dual Alliance. This was seen as a method of countering Russian influence in the  Balkans  as theOttoman Empire  continued to weaken. In 1882, this alliance was expanded to include Italy in what became the  Triple Alliance. After 1870, European conflict was averted largely through a carefully planned network of treaties between the German Empire and the remainder of Europe orchestrated by Chancellor Bismarck. He especially worked to hold Russia at Germany’s side to avoid a two-front war with France and Russia. When  Wilhelm II  ascended to the throne as  German Emperor  (Kaiser), Bismarck’s alliances were gradually de-emphasised. For example, the Kaiser refused to renew the  Reinsurance Treaty  with Russia in 1890. Two years later, the  Franco-Russian Alliance  was signed to counteract the force of the Triple Alliance. In 1904, the United Kingdom sealed an alliance with France, the  Entente cordiale  and in 1907, the United Kingdom and Russia signed the  Anglo-Russian Convention. This system of interlocking bilateral agreements formed the  Triple Entente. HMS Dreadnought. A naval  arms raceexisted between the United Kingdom and Germany. German industrial and economic power had grown greatly after  unification and the foundation of the Empire  in 1870. From the mid-1890s on, the government of Wilhelm II used this base to devote significant economic resources to building up the  Kaiserliche Marine  (Imperial German Navy), established by Admiral  Alfred von Tirpitz, in rivalry with the British  Royal Navy  for world naval supremacy. As a result, both nations strove to out-build each other in terms of  capital ships. With the launch of  HMS  Dreadnought  in 1906, the British Empire expanded on its significant advantage over its German rivals. [21]  The arms race between Britain and Germany eventually extended to the rest of Europe, with all the major powers devoting their industrial base to producing the equipment and weapons necessary for a pan-European conflict. Between 1908 and 1913, the military spending of the European powers increased by 50  percent. Austria-Hungary precipitated the  Bosnian crisis  of 1908–1909 by officially annexing the former Ottoman territory of  Bosnia and Herzegovina, which it had occupied since 1878. This angered theKingdom of Serbia  and its patron, the  Pan-Slavic  and  Orthodox  Russian Empire. Russian political manoeuvring in the region destabilised peace accords that were already fracturing in what was known as â€Å"the  Powder keg of Europe†. Ethno-linguistic map of Austria–Hungary, 1910 In 1912 and 1913, the  First Balkan War  was fought between the  Balkan League  and the fracturing Ottoman Empire. The resulting  Treaty of London  further shrank the Ottoman Empire, creating an independent  Albanian State  while enlarging the territorial holdings of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. When Bulgaria attacked both Serbia and Greece on 16 June 1913, it lost most of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece and  Southern Dobruja  to Romania in the 33-day  Second Balkan War, further destabilising the region. Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb student, was arrested immediately after he assassinated  Archduke Franz Ferdinand of AustriaOn 28 June 1914,  Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb student and member ofYoung Bosnia, assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne,  Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria  in  Sarajevo, Bosnia. This began a period of diplomatic maneuvering among Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, and Britain called the  July Crisis. Wanting to finally end Serbian interference in Bosnia, Austria-Hungary delivered the July Ultimatum to Serbia, a series of ten demands intentionally made unacceptable, intending to provoke a war with Serbia. When Serbia agreed to only eight of the ten demands, Austria-Hungary declared war on 28 July 1914. Strachan  argues, â€Å"Whether an equivocal and early response by Serbia would have made any difference to Austria-Hungary’s behavior must be doubtful. Franz Ferdinand was not the sort of personality who commanded popularity, and his demise did not cast the empire into deepest mourning†. The Russian Empire, unwilling to allow Austria–Hungary to eliminate its influence in the Balkans, and in support of its longtime Serb proteges, ordered a partial mobilization one day later. When the German Empire began to mobilise on 30 July 1914, France, angry about the German conquest of  Alsace-Lorraine  during the  Franco-Prussian War, ordered French mobilisation on 1 August. Germany declared war on Russia on the same day.