The Origins of World War One

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The Origins of World War One

• Structural Causes
• Immediate Political Causes
• An Inevitable War?

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Scrambling for Africa
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We want eight, we wont waitThe Dreadnought
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Crown Prince Wilhelm, 1913

• Now certainly we must not thanklessly deny that a
  wave of economic prosperity brings with it much
  that is good.  But the shady side of this too
  rapid development often manifests itself in a
  painful and threatening manner.  Already the
  appreciation of wealth has gained in our country
  an importance which we can only observe with
  anxiety.
• The old ideals, even the position and the honour
  of the nation, may be sympathetically affected
  for peace, peace at any price, is necessary for
  the undisturbed acquisition of money.
• But the study of history teaches us that all
  those States which in the decisive hour have been
  guided by purely commercial considerations have
  miserably come to grief.  The sympathies of
  civilized nations are today, as in the battles of
  antiquity, still with the sturdy and the bold
  fighting armies they are with the brave
  combatants who, in the words which Lessing puts
  in the mouth of Tellheim, are soldiers for their
  country, and fight out of the love which they
  bear to the cause.
• Certainly diplomatic dexterity can, and should,
  postpone the conflict for a time, and at times
  disentangle the difficulties.  Certainly all
  those in authority must and will be fully
  conscious of their enormous responsibility in the
  grave hour of decision.  They must make it clear
  to their own minds that the gigantic
  conflagration, once enkindled, cannot be so
  easily or so quickly extinguished.
• As, however, lightning is an adjustment of the
  tension between two differently charged strata of
  the atmosphere, so the sword will always be and
  remain until the end of the world the decisive
  factor.

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Austria-Hungary LeadersFranz Josef Berchtold
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Germanys leadersWilhelm II Von
Bethmann-Hollweg
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Asquith and Grey
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Frances LeadersViviani Poincaré
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A fatal wrong turning
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Sergei Sazonov Nikola PasicModerates faced
with impossible demands
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War Plan
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To War!
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How to treat the Kaiser
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Propaganda
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God and Nation
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Sonnino, Salandra, Vittorio Emmanuele
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Treaty of London, 1915

• Extracts from The Treaty of LondonGreat
  Britain, Parliamentary Papers, London, 1920, LI
  Cmd. 671, Miscellaneous No. 7, 2-7. 
• ARTICLE 1. A military convention shall be
  immediately concluded between the General Staffs
  of France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia. This
  convention shall settle the minimum number of
  military forces to be employed by Russia against
  Austria-Hungary in order to prevent that Power
  from concentrating all its strength against
  Italy, in the event of Russia deciding to direct
  her principal effort against Germany....
• ARTICLE 2. On her part, Italy undertakes to use
  her entire resources for the purpose of waging
  war jointly with France, Great Britain, and
  Russia against all their enemies.
• ARTICLE 3. The French and British fleets shall
  render active and permanent assistance to
  Italy....
• ARTICLE 4. Under the Treaty of Peace, Italy shall
  obtain the Trentino, Cisalpine Tyrol with its
  geographical and natural frontier, as well as
  Trieste, the counties of Gorizia and Gradisca,
  all Istria as far as the Quarnero and including
  Volosca and the Istrian islands of Cherso and
  Lussin, as well as the small islands of Plavnik,
  Unie, Canidole, Palazzuoli, San Pietro di Nembi,
  Asinello, Gruica, and the neighbouring islets....
  
• ARTICLE 5. Italy shall also be given the province
  of Dalmatia within its present administrative
  boundaries....
• ARTICLE 6. Italy shall receive full sovereignty
  over Valona, the island of Saseno and surrounding
  territory....