(2) Origins of First World War

The Schlieffen Plan
1. Field Marshall Schlieffen as Chief of Gerneral Staff from 1891 - 1905 he leads the formation of a plan that would mean Germany could fight a war on two fronts if necessary
2. Key points of the plan:
  1. Being able to knock France out of a war before Russia moboilised so that Germany can concentrate on one front at a time
  2. Lightning strike of German forces through the Low Countries and Northern France.
  3. Push through France and defeat in six weeks, encircling Paris in victory.
  4. Expect a more defensive stance from the French in the Alsace Lorraine region
  5. Once France fallen - all German forces turn to Eastern Front with Russia
Did German aggression cause WW1?
1. The Fischer thesis:
  1. From the 1890s Germany deliberately pursued a policy of aggression and expansion in Europe and beyond.
    1. Alliances Triple Alliance created between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
    2. Weltpolitik
      1. Kiaochow (Chinese port)
      2. Marshal Islands and Caroline Islands
      3. Boer War German sympathise - Boer
    3. arms race
      1. Naval Bill's increase battleships
    4. Crisis
      1. Moroccan crises - increase German influence in north africa
      2. The Schlieffen Plan
  2. From 1912 they plotted a deliberate policy of precipitating a European conflcit
    1. arms race
      1. Army Bill to increase army by 20%
    2. Crises
      1. The war Council
      2. The blank cheque
  3. Economic expansion was the basis of Germany political world diplomacy which switched between a condeming approach and conforming behaviour.These methods allow Germany to edge closer to it aim of expanding German power
2. If not that, then what did cause the war?
  1. Germany was the victims of the aggression of others
  2. All European nations were caught in inescapable forces
  3. The war was the result of the chaos, confusion and mishap
Chancellor Bismark attitude to European powers
1. Bismark successfully enabled Germany to dominate the Great Powers on the continent. He cleverly used dipolamacy to ensure the isolation of Germany's major continental enemy, France, in the following ways
  1. By creating the Triple alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1882, it was agreed that:
    1. If any if the signtories were attacked by two or more powers, the others promised to lend assistance
    2. If Italy attacked by France, both Germany and Austria agreed to back Italy. Italy made it clear that it would not be drawn into a war with Britain, but there seemed to be no possibility of that at the time.
    3. If France attacked Germany, Italy would support its partner
  2. By maintaining a close relationship with Russia. Although the Three Emperors' Alliance 1881 had lapsed, Bismarck was delighted in 1887 to secure the signing of the three-year Reinsurance Treaty and it agreed that:
    1. If either Russia or Germany were at war, the other would remain neutral, unless France or Austria were the object of attack
  3. By making a conscious effort not to antagonise Britain and to persuade it to play a more important role in European affairs in the Near East. The success of this was shown in 1887 when Britain signed the Mediterranean Agreements with Germany's allies, and even contemplated joining the Triple Alliance in 1889.
2. So, in 1890 Germany was in a secure position: on good terms with Britain, holding a treaty with Russia and allied with Austria and Italy. Yet, by 1914 at the onset of the WW1 three of these would fight against Germany
Kaiser Wilhelms II attitude to European powers
1. Although Bismarck's diplomatic juggling was certainly under severe pressure in his final few years, his fall from power had important consequences for Germany's international position.
2. The Kaiser himself wanted to be his own man and to embark on a "new course" in German foreign policy. Yet, Caprivi, who was sympathetic to this new change of direction, was not really an expert in foreign affairs, while Bismark's protege in the foreign office, Hostein lacked his skills.
3. Caprivi and Holstein believed that the Reinsurance Treaty conflicted with Germany's other commitments, especially with Austria, while the Kaiser's attitude was framed by his own anti-Russian prejudices and his pro-British position.
4. In March 1890, it was decided to allow the Reinsurance Treaty to lapse, which Bismarck himself saw as an act of criminal stupidity. The result was to push Russia into the arms of France
  1. Franco-Russia Alliance - A military alliance signed between Russia and France in 1894
The Jameson Raid
1. The crisis point tensions between the British and the former Dutch (Boer) settlers in South Africa. A British Colonial statesmen, Leander Starr Jameson and his Rhodesian and Bechuanaland policeman carried out a raid on the Transvaal, a Boer republic.
2. Jameson had intended to trigger an uprising by the mostly British workers in the Transvaal but failed to do so. They had been expected to recruit an army and prepare for insurrection, to be triggered by the raid.
3. However, the raid was ineffective and no uprising took place. Jameson was actually sent word by reformers working in the Transvaal that there were difficulties in raising a rebel army and that he should not cross the border.
4. He had 600 men poised for a fight and though that by crossing the border he could spur the reformers to act. Miscommunication meant that he crossed the border to aim for Johannesburg on 29 December 1895 but was tracked by Transvaal forces that moment.
5. Jameson's men were met by Boers on 1st January 1896 and exchanged fire. Jameson's forces withdrew and aimed to flank the Boer force overnight but were tracked and on 2nd January 1896 they were met with a more substantial Boer force and Jameson surrendered, realising his hopeless postion
6. Jameson and some of his men were arrested by the Boers and handed over to the British and returned to London. In early Jan, only a few days after the incident, Kaiser Wilhelm sent a telegram to congratulate the Transvaal President Kruger and his government on their success "without the help of friendly power", in effect support the independent of the Transvaal from the British
7. The Kaiser intended this to show the British that they were dipolmatically isolated and therefore should turn to Germany for support but when it was disclosed in the British Press it raised the first real wave of popular anti-German feeling.
8. Jameson was targeted by the press buoyed by an anti-Boer, anti-German feeling and need blame someone and was sentenced to 15months in jail for leading the raid. The Transvaal Government was also paid almost £1 million in compensation by the British South Africa Company.
9. The raid meant that area lost a lot of troops and this weakness was sized upon meaning that the Second Matabele War was triggered by March 1896. The raid also severely damaged already strained relations between the British and the Dutch (Boer)
Weltpolitik from 1897
1. It was perceived that Germany deserved a place in the sun, achieved by a free hand in foreign policy
2. It was hoped an expansionist, assertive foreign policy would
  1. precipitate a friendly alliance with Britain
    1. Best way to ally with Britain is be strong. As long is G is weak Brti will ignore – he thinks if equals they can be friends. Squares feelings with France. So Brit would then tolerate German aggression.
  2. An economic boost
    1. Wants a good rel with Bri BUT needs economic expansion/power. What is the result? Worst of both worlds – what do they gain – a port in China! Empire is in deficit. No economic benefits but strenght is driving Brit away. Brit weighs up German as more threatening
3. The aims
  1. To build the German navy by the two naval laws of 1898 and 1900
  2. Confusion among the politican of the purpose
    1. "We are supposed to pursue Weltpolitik. If only we knew what it is supposed to mean." Germany army Commander
  3. Bulow in the Reichstag said "We have to put no one in the shade, but we too demand our place in the sun."
  4. Kaiser "Germany has great task to accomplish outside the narrow boundaries of Europe."
  5. It meant the chance to create a larger overseas empire by the acquisition of colonies and to stimulate expansion of the Germany economy
    1. For other it meant Assisting German business to establish areas of economic influence in as many parts of the worlds as possible.
    2. Another view, epitomised by Pan-German League amounted to nothing less than racist Lebensraum which encouraged colonial expansion and the conquest of neighbouring countries - eastern frontiers
  6. Historians
    1. Structuralists Wehler + Berghahn
      1. Weltpolitik was a manoeuvre in domestic politics. They have seen it as essentially a diversionary tactic to distract the masses of the people from social and political reform. It was no more than "social imperialism aimed at rallying public opinion to stabilise the Kaiserreich
    2. Fischer
      1. Maintained that in 1897 Germany "embarked on a couse aiming at nothing less than parity with the British world empire if not more."
4. Objectives
  1. This push for world hegemony was to be achieved by a range of objectives, each of which carried dangers
    1. The expansion of the navy, to threat Britain
    2. The creation of a large colonial empire in central Africa Mittelafria, increasing the perception of German imperial as aggressive
    3. The economic domination of central Europe to Germany's interests Mitteleuropa, eastern and Balkan Europe.
  2. In Fischer's view Weltpolitik was a grand plan involving both continental and overseas expansion in order to attain world power status.
5. Achievements
  1. Between 1897 and 1904 the real achievements of Weltpolitik were very limited. Certainly, Naval construction was started and German economic influence was extended into South America, China, the Near East and the Balkans. Yet, Germany's small and costly empire made only a few gains
    1. The Chinese port of Kiaochow (1897) as a naval base
    2. Some islands in the pacific: the Mariana Islands (1899), the Caroline Islands (1899) and German Samoa (1900)
    3. An attempt to gain access to Angola and Mozambique by expoiting Portugal's indebtedness was thwarted by British diplomacy in 1898
6. The end of British splendid isolation
  1. Bulow and Holstein believed that the policy of maintaining a "free hand" from commitments with other powers, such as Britain and France, was consistent with Weltpolitik.
    1. Essentially this was because they assumed that Britain would remain at loggerheads with France and Russia.
  2. Some British political leaders were concerned with Britian's foreign policy keystone of "splendid isolation" (no need to sign any alliance due to great power statue). It was he who led the British overtures in 1898 - 1901 for an Anglo-German agreement.
    1. Yet nothing came of it because of Britain rivialy with France and Russia would lead to war
    2. Alliance with Britain was not a good deal. British PM did not see how Germany could give practical help to Britain worldwide
  3. Germany had never considered that Britain would reduce her fears of isolation by signing an alliance with Japan (1902) and the Anglo-French Agreement (1904)
    1. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance grew out of mutual fear of expansionist Russia - limited to the pacific area. It enabled Britain to withdraw naval forces from the pacifc to reinforce the North Sea Fleet against the growing German naval presence there.
    2. More significant was the Anglo-French agreement. This was not an alliance, but merely an understanding to settle colonial differences and to encourage future diplomatic co-operation between the two countries. Britain and France were no longer so close, while Germany itself could no longer rely on Anglo-French hostility to strengthen its own hand

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(2) Origins of First World War

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	Created by Marcus Danvers over 10 years ago