Events Leading up to World War One.

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Events Leading up to World War One.

• Show how Germany became The Enemy
• Bismarckian friendship w Russia is lost.
• Moroccan Crisis. Traynor pp 48-49.
• Building a strong fleet.
• Colonial ambitions.
• French Hatred.
• Show how the Entente and the Central Powers
  developed.
• France and Russia
• England and France
• England and Russia.
• Italian hesitation.
• Germany and Austria-Hungary.
• Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
• Show how enmities grew between the Central Powers
  and the Entente.
• First and Second Balkan War.
• Why were the Serbs so upset with Austria?
• The Arms Race. Charts from IBO Book.
• Show how everybody expected a war to come and
  nobody feared it, on the contrary welcomed it.

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Germany becomes an enemy a)
Á trois in a Europe of five powers Bismarck
formed his foreign plicy on the assumption that
there were five super powers in Europe (France,
Great Britain, Russia, Austria-Hungary and
Germany). Germany would always have to be allied
with two others in order to manage a future
conflict. The lapse of the Reinsurance Treaty
with Russia 1890. In 1887 Bismarck had signed a
treaty with Russia in order to prevent them from
allying with France. This was already a bad deal
for Russia, not being granted support in an
eventual attack from Austria Bismarck also
instructed the Reichbank to refuse any new loans
to Russia until they allowed Germans to own
companies in Russia. In 1890 it was time to renew
this deal, but by then Bismarck was on very bad
terms with the new Kaiser of Germany Wilhelm II.
The Kaiser wanted to meet the Czar on his own and
as a consequnce Bismarck resigned as Kansler. The
Reinsurance Treaty is never renewed, the Kaiser
wanted to use this event as the reason why
Bismarck had to go. In the years to come Germany
will tighten its bonds with Austria-Hungary and
the Kaiser is convinced that Russia is of no
concern after the Russo-Japanese War
1905. Russian strong support to Serbia makes it
even more impossible for the Germans to try to
ease the relations with Russia. France lends
Russia the money and tightens the realtions
instead.
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Germany becomes the enemy b)
Moroccan Crisis (for events see Traynor pp 48-49
and Morris Murphy p175 176, 178-179) From
Stefans paper (http//www.adjunkten.com/stefan/The
20Causes20of20WW201.htm) The First Moroccan
crises 1905       Germany wanted to break up the
Entente but achieved the opposite.               
The Germans provoked the crisis during the
Russo-Japanese War.                The Germans
wanted Russia to appear unable to support France
               The Kaiser landed in Tangier.
               He publicly supported the Sultan
as an independent Monarch.             Perhaps he
wanted to stress Germanys importance.            
    Make France look weak.         An
international conference in Algeciras
1906                All major powers except
Austria-Hungary supported France            
Germanys fear of encirclement was
strengthened.             Britain, France and
Russia solved their colonial disputes.            
    The Entente was strengthened and Germany
appeared as the bully.
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Germany becomes the enemy b)
From Stefans material The Second Moroccan
Crisis 1911       The French occupied Fez to
suppress a revolt.                This indicated
that they were about to establish a
protectorate.       The Germans sent the gun boat
Panther to Agadir.                The felt left
aside and once again tried to shatter the
Entente.             Germany demanded
compensation in French Congo.            
Lukewarm support from Austria-Hungary.       The
British firmly supported the French.            
France established a protectorate in
Morocco.             Germany got a small
territorial compensation in French Congo.      
The impact of the crises.             France
became more anti-German.             Britains
relation to Germany worsened.                The
expansion of the German fleet was speeded
up.             British-French naval
cooperation.                The Entente was
further strengthened.
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Germany becomes the enemy c) d).
Builiding a strong fleet and the Weltpolitik. In
1906 the first Dreadnaught is built, this makes
all other ships useless for military purposes.
This means that a whole new arms race can start
between Germany and GB. This in combination with
the new course the foreign policy of Germany
takes after the resignition of Bismarck,
Weltpolitik, changes the German international
reputation. GB starts fearing the fact that
Germany with a superiour army and a strong fleet
can pose a serious threat to the British
Empire. It is in this perspective we should try
to understand the consequences of the Moroccan
Crisis.
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Germany becomes the enemy e)
Some charts showing the roots of the French fear.
These fears will influence the French the
ambitions in the Versailles peace
treaty. Population soldiers and market, bigger
is better. Wheat is used to bake bread, bread is
the base food for soldiers. Germany had a much
bigger agricultural production, but less wheat
than France. Pig Iron, in swedish järnmalm is
the fundation of any industrialization, it is the
material used in any production. Coal is used
for military and civil purposes, coal is the fuel
to heat houses and ride the trains. It is also
used in the production of steel. Steel is used
to make weapons.
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Germany becomes the enemy e)
The Franco-Prussian War 1870-71. France had to
pay a huge indemnity of 5 billion gold
francs France lost the ore rich provinces of
Alsace-Lorraine see Traynor pp 58-59. Alsace is
German speaking but mentally French, they wanted
to reamain there German culture but their French
citizenship. Lorraine is as french as Småland is
Swedish. French domestic and foreign policies
are strongly influenced by the idea of
revánchism, the French President 1913 1920
Raymond Poincaré is one the strongest supporter
of this idea. When Germany starts interferring
in French policies in Morocco more fuel is added
to the anti-german sentiments. If these are the
sentiments before the war, imagine in what kind
of mood the French are when it is time to settle
the scores after world war one.
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The Building up of alliances

• Two Alliances
• Entente Cordiale, also known as the Tripple
  Alliance. France, Russia and Great Britain.
• The Central Powers. Germany and Austria-Hungary.
  Supported by Turkey.
• See the handouts from A Banks A Military Atlas
  of the First World War and pp 26-27 in Traynor.
• Questions
• Based on what you have learned today, was the
  road set towrds war in Europe after the Moroccan
  Crisis?
• Did Germany pose an actual threat to France?
• Did France provoke Germany and forced them to be
  hostile against France