Origin and Causes of World War One
Political, Geographical and Diplomatic Reasons for The Great War
German principalities, united with Prussia by Otto Von Bismarck were a fuse in a powder keg that Balkan volatility could light when unwise Kaiser Wilhelm II took control.
The Second Reich
The Iron Chancellor, Otto Von Bismarck spent nearly 30 years unifying the numerous independent German states under the Prussian political system. That unification was made complete with Germany's victory over France in the Franco Prussian War in 1870-71. Germany emerged as a formidable European power that was feared by the western Europe as well as Russia and Austria Hungary in the east and the Italy in the south. In the West, France was put in humble submission through the treaty of Frankfort which provided a 5 billion franc indemnity and gave Germany Alsace and Lorraine. The only other major threat was Great Britain. Von Bismarck immediately set about developing Germany's new power and influence by making several diplomatic unions in order to preserve peace.
Otto Von Bismarck, Geographical Diplomat
His first effort was to create an alliance between Germany Austria-Hungary and Russia called the League of the Three Emperors. This eliminated the threat of a two front war but its weakness was in the competing goals of his two new allies when it came to the Balkans which were destabilized by the decline of the Ottoman Empire. An alliance with England was tentative based on the Hanoverian dynasty. France would not be a threat for several years. Trouble in the Balkans threatened to dissolve the Three Emperor League when several Balkan states rebelled and finally threw off the Ottoman Empire. Russia took advantage of the war to make some large territorial gains that offended the sensibilities of Austria-Hungary and England. Von Bismarck convened the Berlin Congress which mediated those issues and resulted in the independence of Serbia and Montenegro. Great Britain and Russia carved up what was left of the Ottoman Empire. In 1882 another triple alliance was formed by Germany, Austria and Italy. The diplomatic balance was threatened in 1885 when the Balkan embers ignited. Russia and Austria were again pitted against each other but Von Bismarck made separate treaties with each that preserved Germany's safety.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
In 1890, when Kaiser Wilhelm came to power in Germany, he engineered the resignation of Otto Von Bismarck in order to take full control of the German ship of state. He was a foolish man who was enamored with power. He took Germany's political power for granted and began to flaunt it. First he let the Russian Alliance lapse, bringing the threat of a two front war back. Then he began to make overtures to Great Britain who ignored them. The result was that Germany's watch over France began to slip and the French began to strengthen her ties with Russia. Because of his arrogance, the Kaiser also tried to bully Great Britain and France out of some of their colonial holdings. This only had the effect of pushing to traditional enemies into each others corners in a united stand against the overstepping Germans. By 1908, the overall effect was an alignment which made the First World War possible. A strengthened France aligned itself with Russia and Great Britain called the Triple Entente while the Germans held onto their relationship with Austria Hungary and Italy called the Triple Alliance.
German Fuse is Lit by Bosnian Match
In 1914, a Bosnian member of the Serbian backed Black Hand, a Slavic terrorist group, assassinated the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austria throne. Austria then sent an ultimatum to Serbia to submit to Austrian rule or they would declare war. Serbian leaders were inclined to appease Austria but it did not matter. Austria intended to wage war. Now the dominoes set up by the to triple partnerships began to fall. First, Russia came to Serbia’s aid. The Germans were obligated to defend Austria against Russia, this would certainly bring France in to assist Austria. The German plan, if this two front war were to take place was to send a smaller force against Russia and sweep into France, through Belgium, to neutralize that front, then they could concentrate on the Russian threat. As Germany overran Belgium, Great Britain came to the aid of her French allies, the aging Ottoman Empire came to the aid of their rebellious province, Serbia, and The Great War was begun. Germany miscalculated the strength of the French allied defense and the Western Front of World War 1 became a stalemate for three more years until the Sleeping Giant of the United States broke the deadlock.
Sources
The Great War, The West Point Military History Series by William R. Griffeths, 1986, Avery Publishing Group
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