"THE ROLE OF ALLIANCES IN THE ORIGIN AND EXPANSION OF THE WAR IN 1914 HAS BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED"
The role of alliances in the origin and expansion of the war in 1914 was not greatly exaggerated, but instead played a crucial role in how a war between two countries then became a world war. Alliances played two major roles in World War One, these were the origin and how alliances impacted on the origin of the war and the expansion of the war in 1914. Leading up to the war it built tension among countries, as well as providing security. It impacted greatly on the expansion as diplomatic efforts failed, and this could be partially attributed to the German war plan (Schlieffen Plan), which inevitably had them refused a conference which may have
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Alliances are formed to provide a partnership that leads to mutual benefit and provides security, but this in turn created an origin for the war. This was objectively observed by Frank B Kellogg, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who once said “I know that military alliances and armament have been the reliance for peace for centuries, but they do not produce peace; and when war comes, as it inevitably does under such conditions, these armaments and alliances but intensify and broaden the conflict.” As Austria-Hungary seeked reassurance from Germany that they would have their support in the face of war, with this assurance they then declared war, whereas if there was no support then there may have never been a war. Another contribution was Serbia’s role, as when given an ultimatum from Austria-Hungary (which was one both sides new would not be accepted) they turned to their ally Russia for support. Russia’s vast army was estimated to take eight weeks to mobilize, given an expected need to support Serbia in war, they mobilised their army which was taken as a serious threat for Austria-Hungary perspective. These two countries in seeking support from their main ally, sequentially create a significant origin for the
Alliances were a leading cause to WW1 because countries were blaming each other and that created a lot of tension between them, the war
The origins of World War One The Fritz Fisher thesis Fritz Fisher focuses on the Kaiser, Gottlieb von Jagow, Bethmann Hollweg and Helmut von Moltke. These four were the German leading figures at that time; Fischer is convinced that these people were responsible for the outbreak of World War One. Fischer’s three main claims were: 1. Germany was prepared to launch the First World War in order to become a great power. 2. Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to start a war with Serbia, and continued to do so, even when it seemed clear that such a war could not be localized.
Balkan nationalism was a major factor in the outbreak of the WWI .It is one of the long-term causes which caused European powers to declare war to each other. Even if the war between Austria and Serbia was expected to be a short one it culminated into a worldwide conflict that lasted four years. The idea of Pan-Slavism was the result of Serbian’s nationalism and Serbia refused to be oppressed by Austria-Hungary. Serbs demanded for rights of self-governance and unified state. However their neighbor Austria-Hungary wanted to become imperial power and she implied territorial expansion. Historians have different opinions about this subject and because of its complexity it is not possible to say that none of them is completely right. Balkan countries were a big threat for her foreign policy and this led to the culmination of their conflict and the outbreak of the war. Although nationalism is important in understanding the outbreak of WWI, there are many underlying causes that together culminated into a worldwide conflict. It is hard to reach the final answer on the question which relates to the extent of the importance of Balkan nationalism in the outbreak of the war because there are many different perspectives in understanding this question. For example Ruth Henig’s opinion is that Balkan nationalism was extremely important for the war and sees the guilt of Austria-Hungary for its outbreak. On the other hand John Leslie says that the responsible is Germany :“Austria-Hungary can be held responsible for planning a local Austro-Serb conflict, which was linked to its fears about Balkan nationalism, but Germany, which was not interested in this quarrel, quite deliberately used it as an opportunity to launch the European war which Austria-...
Professor Geoff Hayes, “4 August 1914: Slithering Over the Brink, The Origins of the Great War,” Lecture delivered 31 October, 2011, HIST 191, University of Waterloo
The underlying cause of World War I was the build up of Nationalism, Imperialism, and Militarism in the 1800s. The “three isms” caused this great war due to the outcry in which they caused within the countries and their citizens including military build up, severe nationalism, patriotism, and extending a country 's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
Such alliances are the very things that laid the foundation for the conflict of World War I because every country had multiple reasons for joining their respective alliance, mainly for revenge, distrust, or
The underlying cause of World War 1 were the alliances within Europe. An alliance meant that if one country goes to war than the country associated will also fight. All the countries were picking sides before the war started. Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor that led the unification of the German states, did not like the fact that Germany was between Russia and France. “Bismarck formed the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy in the year preceding
This set a belligerent mood in Europe as each nation was prepared to fight a war. A German officer once said "in time of peace, prepare for war," and that is exactly what European nations did, eventually leading to the Great War. Without a doubt, the one underlying cause of the three described above that was most responsible for World War I was the system of alliances.
The Responsibility of the Arms Race or the Alliance System for the Outbreak of War in 1914
World War I was a conflict that claimed over 10 million peoples’ lives, ravaged all of Europe and engineered modern warfare, as it is know today. The Great War has been scrutinized and examined through many complex theories in order to understand how such a conflict escalated to one of the most epic wars in history. This essay, like many works before it, looks to examine WWI and determine its causes through two distinct levels of analysis, individual and systemic. The individual level of analysis locates the cause of conflicts in individual leaders or decision makers within a particular country, focusing on the characteristics of human decision-making. The systemic level of analysis explains the causation of a conflict from a system wide level that includes all states, taking in to account the distribution of power and the interaction of states in the international system.
Alliances played a hefty role in the inevitability of World War One. Countries were constantly at each other’s necks and needed power in order to protect themselves from each other. This is where alliances came in; countries could seek shelter from others by developing truces with close friends. Having a truce was beneficial in most ways because it provided the illusion of being a bigger power, and offered one extra support in case of a crippling event. Then again they did also create tensions between the countries that could only escalate further. For example, in the year 1879 there was a dual alliance created between Germany and Austria-Hungry. This alliance was created to protect them from Russia, who ...
Although the alliance system was a main cause of the First World War, it arose because of several other factors, and did not cause the war single handedly. Nationalism, the love and support of one's country, has always existed. In this era, however, it was to take part in the creation of one of the most famous wars in history. Since so much pride was devoted to countries, it made the possibilities of peace between past rivals less probable. It also meant that most nations, especially the great powers, would rather fight a war than back down from a rival's diplomatic provocation.
The Alliances not only contributed to war breaking out; it made the war last longer and become on a much larger scale; major political disputes would inevitably cause a large conflict. The alliances caused suspicion, fear, and tension among nations. The two camps were the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary). When countries formed alliances with each other it gave them protection, if a country was threatened or under attack then the alliance would come to that country’s aid. Countries made an alliance when they both needed protection from a stronger country. When Austria-Hungary had heard about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand they went to war with Serbia which resulted in a chain reaction of countries going to war with one another, and when countries teamed up to support their attacked friends when war came, it meant that a number of nations would fight, not only the two involved in a dispute. The division of...
...ting power over Austria-Hungary, it assassinated its rival’s arch-duke as a means of disarming them and ridding them of a leader. The “Great War” came to be such, because countries which were significantly more powerful than Serbia and Austria-Hungary joined the war and chose sides to infiltrate and gain superiority over other countries. So the war was initiated by the power seeking of a small nation.
The importance of the alliance system that developed in Europe in the decades before World War I as a cause for it is still an important topic of debate and argument between modern historians. Some argue that the alliance system was a direct cause of the outbreak of war between all major countries in Europe while other historians prefer to state that the alliance configuration we observe before the war started was simply a symptom of the conflicts and disagreements, fears and envies that had been accumulating since the Bismarck system of alliances collapsed, and even before then. This last opinion is becoming more accepted as the one that describes the true importance of the actual alliance system as a cause of the war. In order to determine the importance of the alliance system as a cause for the war we must first explore the origins of these alliances. We will take high-point of the Bismarck system in 1878 as our starting point as the Franco-Prussian war is a key factor for the development of this system.