Causes of the First World War

1
Causes of the First World War

• J. Mannion

2
The Arms Race

3
Naval Review 1897
And so we went on, till the big guns had fired
their quota and the Maxims ran out in one last
fiends' flurry, and target-practice for the month
was over. The rock that had been grey was white,
and a few shining cartridge-cases lay beside each
gun. Then the horror of the thing began to soak
into me. What I had seen was a slow peddling-out
of the Admiralty allowance for the month, and it
seemed to me more like squirting death through a
hose than any ordinary gun-practice. What will it
be when all the ammunition-hoists are working,
when the Maxims' water-jacket puffs off in steam
when the three-pounder charges come up a dozen at
a time to be spent twenty to the minute when the
sole limit of four-inch fire is the speed with
which the shells and cases can be handled? What
will it be when the Real Thing is upon
us? Rudyard Kipling
4
The Alliance System
5
The Scramble for Africa
6
German Foreign Policy
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Wars and rumours of wars

• Russian War With Japan
• Shock Japanese Victory
• Japanese astonish western powers by destroying
  the entire Russian fleet at the Battle of
  Tsushima (27-28 May 1905) for the loss of two
  torpedo boats - a humiliating Russian defeat.

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Wars and rumours of wars

• The Balkans, 1912 Italy Versus Turkey
• The First Balkan War 1912
• The Second Balkan War 1913

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Franz Ferdinand
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Franz Ferdinand

• Heir to Austro-Hungarian Empire in assassinated
  in Sarajevo, Bosnia
• Serbians implicated
• Austro-Hungary issues ultimatum to Serbia

11
The Blank Cheque

• 1912 110 socialist Reichstag deputies elected
• Germany hopes to avoiding civil unrest via a
  short, sharp war.
• 6 July 1914 - Germany offers Austria-Hungary "a
  blank cheque - an unconditional guarantee of
  support in its dealings with Serbia

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Dominoes

• Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's
  response to her ultimatum (which in the event was
  almost entirely placatory however her jibbing
  over a couple of minor clauses gave
  Austria-Hungary her sought-after cue) declared
  war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.

13
Dominoes

• Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty,
  viewed the Russian mobilisation as an act of war
  against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning
  declared war on Russia on 1 August. 

14
Dominoes

• France, bound by treaty to Russia, responded by
  announcing war against Germany and, by extension,
  on Austria-Hungary on 3 August.  Germany promptly
  responded by invading neutral Belgium so as to
  reach Paris by the shortest possible route. 

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Dominoes

• Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced
  mobilisation of its vast army in her defence, a
  slow process that would take around six weeks to
  complete.

16
Dominoes

• Britain had a only "moral obligation" to defend
  France, but declared war against Germany on 4
  August. 
• The main reason for entering the War was to
  defend Belgium neutrality under the terms of a
  75-year old treaty. 

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Dominoes
Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the
Union of South Africa.With Britain's entry into
the war, her colonies and dominions abroad
variously offered military and financial
assistance.
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Dominoes

• United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a
  U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an official
  stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's
  policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which
  seriously threatened America's commercial
  shipping (which was in any event almost entirely
  directed towards the Allies led by Britain and
  France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the
  war on 6 April 1917.

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Dominoes

• Japan, honouring a military agreement with
  Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August
  1914.  Two days later Austria-Hungary responded
  by declaring war on Japan.

20
Dominoes

• Italy, although allied to both Germany and
  Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the
  fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its
  obligations to both. The following year, in May
  1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding
  with the Allies against her two former allies.