Events and Outcome of the World War I

Events and Outcome of the World War I

“The First World War was the result of a badly mismanaged Balkan

crisis in the summer of 1914 rather than the product of long standing

rivalries between the great powers” Assess the truth of this opinion

on the causes of the outbreak of World War One.

Previous to the Balkan Crisis in the summer of 1914 there were many

incidents that could have easily lead to war. There is no doubt that

the crisis in the summer of 1914 was a factor but was it completely to

blame for the outbreak of the First World War? In this essay I will

look at events leading up to World War One and the long standing

rivalries between the main powers and decide whether the statement

above has an element of truth in it or not.

The visit of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife was a “catalogue of

errors” in the words of Graham Darby. The day of the visit was

Serbia’s national day, this being significant because it would have

caused immense aggravation and the Balkans were already “a seething

cauldron of discontent” according to Michael Gibson. Also the royal

couple drove around in an open-top car with no armed guards

surrounding them despite there being an early attempt to assassinate

them. The assassin, Gavrilo Principp, was a member of the terrorist

group Black Hand and he could not miss when the driver of the car got

lost and reversed in front of him. Germany issued the “blank cheque”

to Austria on 6th July, telling the Austrian ambassador that he could

count on German support. Austria then sent an ultimatum to Serbia but

broke off relations when it received Serbia’s assertive reply and

declared war. It was now that wa...

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... so-called war guilt clause of the Peace Treaty”.

In conclusion, I think that the immediate cause of the outbreak of war

was definitely the July crisis in the summer of 1914. However the

crucial decisions made by the leading figure were in fact influenced

by the rise in international tension from about 1905 which was partly

generated by the German policy of Weltpolitik. It’s obvious to say

that between 1905 and 1913 no-one is authority actually wanted a war

and Britain in the actual crisis of the summer of 1914 was neither

planning a war nor even sure about what to do in the event of one

whereas the Germans as early as 8th July 1912 had discussions about a

possible war. The outbreak of war was not a result of a badly

mismanaged Balkan crisis in the summer of 1914, it was the final straw

of long-standing rivalries.