New weapons mowing down millions of people, secret contracts, betrayal and trench warfare. This is what we think of when we think of the First World War. The war to end all wars is an important stepping stone in the history of our modern world. To understand the war better we would have to look at the events leading up to the outbreak of war. I believe that imperialism is one of the leading causes of the First World War. Although Imperialism is not the sole cause, it contributes heavily to the tension and distrust between the nations involved. Some of the chief events that led up to the onset of the war were: Industrialisation , the Agadir Crisis, the Berlin-Baghdad Railway and the general need for more resources, colonies, and revenue. The race for power had begun.
The Industrial Revolution had brought about many changes. Products were mass produced, and a working class was created. Countries in Europe were rapidly increasing the size and amount of their factories and their economies prospered. However this was unsustainable without the necessary resources. All of the European countries started competing for colonies and their resources, like rubber. The countries started colonizing Africa, with Britain and France getting the larger chunk of Africa, and incidents like the Fashoda crisis in which France and England split Africa between themselves. This created further tensions between the Brits and the Germans as well as the Italians who had lost territory in Abyssinia, what is modern day Ethiopia. The industrial advancements allowed these countries to take advantage of Africa because of the backwardness in these African countries, and strengthened the naval superiority of Britain and Germany.
The Berlin-Baghdad Railway was a rail way stretching from, as the name implies, Berlin to Baghdad. It traversed the Ottoman Empire and all the riches it contained. The Germans gained control of the land around the railway, including its wealth, after they paid the debts of the Ottoman Empire. They also asked a certain fee of other countries wishing to make use of the railway. The wealth and monopoly that Germany had in this area angered and made Britain jealous, as this railway gave Germany access to oilfields and limited the British control of German trade. It set Germany and Britain further apart and tensions rose. On the other hand the Ottoman empire and Germany became closer and would eventually sign the Ottoman-German Alliance, which meant that the Ottoman Empire would enter the war on the side of the Central Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
In the late 19th Century many countries around Europe had gone through drastic change and development due to the Industrial Revolution, the Age of Imperialism, and the French Revolution. Most of the great countries of the time, Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and even the Netherlands had vast colonies abroad. The countries who were left out, Germany and Russia, felt threatened and jealous, thus demanding more land. Germany wanted to get in on the action the other empires were having, so they tried to conquer a colony in Africa. However Germany was a latecomer and the land left was limited. The envious Germans decided instead to prevent the other countries from occupying any more land. This led to the Agadir crisis in which Germany sent their battle ship SMS Panther, a German gunship, to the Agadir port in Morocco. The excuse the Germans used was that they were protecting German citizens residing in the port town. However this put pressure on the French, who at the time were attempting to create a French protectorate. Furthermore, it tested the Entente Cordiale, a mutual alliance in which both France and Britain would aid the French and vice versa. On the contrary, the Kaiser’s Plan to prevent France from making Marocco a protectorate caused the Agadir Crisis and strengthened the ties between France and Britain. It also emphasized the potency of the Entente Cordiale. After the crisis the English signed a contract with France stating that the Royal British Navy would protect France’s northern coasts from German offensive forces. The Anglo-French relations further isolated Germany and all the remaining ties would culminate at the beginning of World War One.
In my opinion militarism can be categorised within the imperialism category due to the fact that to have imperialistic expansion, one would need a large military force. Thus I believe that militarism was also a cause of the First World War. Industrialisation was also a major factor of militarism, and was essential for the inception of the first world war because it allowed for the advancement in weaponry and equipment, as well as the isolation of backward countries . The advance in weaponry meant that the opposing countries vied with each other to create the best weaponry. An example of this is the “Dreadnaught”, a new range of battleships that were heavily armoured and equipped with larger and stronger guns. It was invented by the British, so the Germans felt threatened. This then led to the Tirpitz Plan, which was a strategy designed by Alfred Tirpitz
Another event that I believe was significant for the start of WWI was the Von Schlieffen Plan. This was a plan of attack put together by Von Schlieffen, a German count who was the chief strategist within the German army. It was a plan in which Germany would prevent a war on two fronts by defeating France first and afterwards put all their forces against Russia, who was known to be slow at mobilising. The arrangement was to go through neutral Belgium and attack France encircling the Maginot line, a line of fortresses and artillery guns meant to foil incoming attacks, hold back the enemy until the main army could muster their forces, as well as serve as a base to go on the offensive, when the chance came to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine, a region in France which had German speaking citizens. I think that the Von Schlieffen plan was the spark which put nearly every country in the world against the Germans because Belgium was both small and neutral. This event led to Britain joining the war on the Allied side.
That alone did not make for the First World War. Nationalism and secret alliances between countries and governments also contributed to the deterioration of European relations into war. Alliances like the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, alliances between Britain, France, in addition to Russia and German, Austria-Hungary, as well as Italy respectively, meant that if any one country was involved in an incident the whole alliance would be involved dragging other countries into the tumult and chaos of war. Furthermore nationalism was roused within the European countries. Not only to increase the number of colonies but also to increase the number of voluntary soldiers, and revolts against governments, such as the Boxer Rebellion, in which a nationalistic terrorist group set about expelling European influences from Asia.
All of the above incidents and happenings contributed in a small or larger way to the magnitude and the complexity of the First World War. But I believe that the real trigger for this war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. When Princip, a member of the Black Hand terrorist group, pulled the trigger he did not just kill the Ruler of Austria-Hungary, he shot the world into chaos and destruction. Into the war to end all wars.
