First World War And its First Causes

First World War(A.D.1914 ·A.D.1918) League of Nations

Back to Topic list of 10th Social Science

The great war known as World War-1 made a mockery of the peace and abundance prophesied by the statesmen and scientists of the 19th century.

It was called as the World War as it engulfed all the countries of the world directly or indirectly.

The war had its impact on the material and non­ material resources of the entire world.

Causes  for the First World War

Ambition of Germany

The  unification  of  Germany  in 1870 made Germany industrially developed.

She needed additional markets and raw materials. Her colonies in Africa were not potentially rich as possessed by England and France.

Kaiser William II of Germany believed that his country alone was competent to rule the whole world.

He could not tolerate the British saying that the sun never sets in the British Empire.

Germany needed colonies not only as a sign of her world importance but also for her growing population.

In order to protect Germany he increased the strength of the army and stationed a fleet at Heligoland in North Sea.

The aggressive policy adopted by the German ruler led to the First World War.

Secret Alliances

The European powers allied themselves into opposing groups and signed several secret military alliances which led suspicion among the countries and finally resulted in the First World War.

The  two opposing groups were:

Triple Alliance-1882-ltaly, Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Triple Entente-1907-France, Britain and Russia.

Lack of International Organization

There was no effective international Organization to reconcile conflicting interests of nations.

There was anarchy in the International relations of the various countries.

The Hague conference of 1882 and 1907 which tried to do some work of reconciliation failed to show any results.

Militarism

Militarism was a strong factor for war. European Statesmen often said “If you wish for peace prepare for war”.

Germany, France and Russia adopted a new programme of arms expansion.

Great Britain increased its, already large, naval expenditure.

Germany, in fear of an anticipated attack from France initiated military expansion.

Colonial and Commercial Rivalry

Since Geographical discovery of the 15th and 16th century there was a race for colonies among the European countries.

The Industrial revolution increased the demand for raw material and market for their manufactured goods.

Germany made a great progress after her unification. Her goods flooded in the international market which made Britain angry.

The Moroccan Problem

When France occupied Morocco it was recognized by Britain. But it was opposed by Kaiser William II of Germany who wanted to declare Morocco an international colony.

He sent two warships-Berlin and Panther to Morocco. When Britain intervened Germany withdrew her ships from Morocco. It wanted to revenge Britain.

The Balkan Problem

The Balkan countries like Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece and Montenegro proclaimed their independence from the Ottoman Empire due to its weakness.

In 1912 the Balkan countries declared war on Turkey. This is known as the First Balkan War. Turkey was defeated.

The war came to an end by the Treaty of London. Dispute arose between Serbia and Bulgaria in sharing the spoils of the war.

In 1913, the other Balkan countries declared war on Bulgaria. This is known as the Second Balkan War.

Turkey and Bulgaria approached Germany to regain their territories.

It resulted in the war.

French interest

France wanted to get back Alsace and  Lorraine  which  she  lost during the Franco – Prussian war to Germany.

France thought that the industrial development of Germany was due to those territories.

So she was waiting for a chance to get back those territories.

Immediate Cause

The Congress of Berlin, 1878 gave the right to Austria – Hungary to govern Bosnia and Herzegovina but not to annex it.

These territories should have gone to Serbia since the inhabitants were Slavs as in Serbia.

But in 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Congress of Berlin.

It created rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.

Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia with humiliating terms. When Serbia ignored the ultimatum, Austria declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.

Russia moved her troops to support the cause of Serbia against Austria.

Germany declared war on Russia. France by her alliance went to help Russia.

So Germany declared war on France. When Britain joined France against Germany the First World War started.

Back to Topic list of 10th Social Science