Summary The Origins of WW1 according to Christopher Clark

HY116 Notes The outbreak of the WW1 – BEST READING Great power rivalry and the World War At the end of the century, Europe dominated the globe. Stability at home required the impulses of 'new imperialism.' 1880s and 1890s - the scramble for Africa, competition to extend empire in Persia, South East Asia and the Pacific. Europe lost its capacity to contain inter state violence, unprecedented capacity to wage total war Great power status: Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia.  Greatest capacity for war. The hard currency of power counted: size of population, territory, finance and industrial output. Formal recognition of Great Power status was not only from statistical reckoning but also from inclusion in the inner circle of diplomacy - especially the drafting of peace treaties and territorial adjustments.  Diplomatic etiquette reflected the pecking order. 1904-5 great powers, other than britain, undermined Japanese potential and power. Post 1905 europeans perception of japanese power is what changed not actual japenese power. All forms of power must be weighed in relation to potential challenges. According to the fortituous theory of the balance of power, the wars of can be explained as two failed bids by germany to impose its mastery over europe. The system (established at the congress of vienna 1815) lasted because it satisfied the interests and identity of only the states with the potential capacity to upset it - the Great Powers. Crucially states did not view their security in the elimination of another great power or the end of the balance of power. By breaching the Public Law in Europe, it could provoke a self-defeating backlash. The relative peace and stability was not only because of mutual deterrance, but also that of adherrance. The common idetntity and shared cultural conception of European civilisation - hedley bull's international society. Downloaded by Ingo Info () lOMoARcPSD| Concert diplomacy became a habit of mind after 1815. pursuit of national interests and short term gains without deliberately jeapordising long - range stability. The long term causes of the first world war 1. Great Power alliances and alignments 2. The arms race 3. Schlieffen plan Modernisation explains the intensity, scale and cost of the fighting but not why war broke out in the first place. Some argue causes of great wars are because of:  Economic and imperial rivalry  Inevitable shifts in the distribution of international politics  Miscalculation/misperception/accident  Lust for conquest Two sets of causes always examined: 1. Long term causes/conditions that made war probable 2. Immediate causes and decisions which triggered a particular war at a particular moment Important condition number 1: the system of Great Power alliances and alignments Overly rigid alliances prevented the proper functioning of the balance of power. Thus what might have been an isolated crisis in the Balkans became a general war. 1900 onwards europe increasingly split into two coalitions: Germany and Austria-Hungary (the central powers) were bound by the Dual Alliance 1879 (conditions to support each other if russia attacked). Italy then joined in 1882 to make it the Triple Alliance. Vs France and Russia to counter this alliance. HOWEVER…easy to exaggerate. These alliances did remain flexible, could still keep order and keep checks and balances.  Britain the least committed.  Italy neutral until 1914 and went to war on the side of the Entente powers in 1915  Until berlin withheld support for Austria in the Balkans and advised caution the alliance system transformed from what the makers intended. Downloaded by Ingo Info () lOMoARcPSD| Bismarck's dual alliance 1879 was intended to stabilise European status quo. Reinsurance Treaty with Russia of 1887 was in order to prevent hostile FrancoRussian combination emerging. Italy also drawn in to prevent such. Turning point. 1904-5. Britain settled overseas quarrels with France and Russia by concluding ententes, while Germany became increasingly isolated. As the great powers increasingly looked to violent solutions to problems, allies became more important. 1905 - Britain offered support for domination of Morocco. Twice. 1905 and 1911 (agadir crisis). German efforts to frustrate french ambitions and dive the british from the french. This pulled the entente tighter. … equally if not more important was the retreat of the Ottoman Empire 1908 onwards. Russia saw this as an opportunity to assert traditional role as protector of the Balkan Slavs to secure more influence on constantinople and Black sea Straits -- Austria-Hungary feared that this decline and Serb expansion would be the dissolution of its multinational emprie -- Austria-Hungarys problem thus became a German problem due to not wanting to lose a principle ally. Whilst an alliance for russia meant France's chance at regaining Alsace-lorraine thus had little choice but to close-ranks with russia. The transformation of the alliances after 1905 is also connected to another important condition leading to war - 2. the arms race. The rise of the military industrial complex and stirring up of popular agitation for more warships. Tirpitz plan to build a 'risk fleet' for germany. By threatening london with this, it meant that germany could gain more leverage in compelling britain into an alliance/favourable deals for overseas issues. German Naval Laws of 1898 and 1900 authorised ship building at a rate over 20 years would reach the required 2:3 ratio.  This thinking flawed. It assumed ceterus parabus on the case of Britain.  The british out-spent and out-built the germans.  1905-6 britain. 1908 Germany. 1909 Britain. (see timeline) Not a direct cause for war, but the naval arms race along with the moroccan crises, helped turn british political opinion against germany and led britain to consider to assist france in the event of war. Developing arms race between Franco-Russian and German-Austrian blocs much more significant.  More political than technological Downloaded by Ingo Info () lOMoARcPSD| St petersburg did not launch these initiatives ( resturtcure of the ary, improved rail netwirjs and arms spending increase) to aggravate Venna and Berlin. But in both capitals the image of a more powerful russia generated unease. 1912-13 Balkan war accelerated the arms race. A complex action-reaction cycle of arms programmes set in.  The Army Law, May 1913 germany increased peacetime strength 544,000 men.  Germans put this forward to make for Austro-Hungarian weakness due to AH focus on serbia. As well as Germany making up for ground lost against Russia.  Observers saw something different. Concluded that this was designed to enhance striking power.  August 1913 France extended compulsory military service from 2 to 3 years, 545,000 to 690,000 men.  France needed Russia to mobilise faster in order to threaten germany. Provided russia with