Causes of War & Reasons for Peace

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Causes of War Reasons for Peace

• K.J. Benoy

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Causes of War

• For a Conflict to happen, there must be causes
  and an occasion
• Chief causes were
• Aggressive Nationalism
• Militarism
• Imperialism
• The Alliance System
• International Anarchy
• Expectation of War
• The occasion (the spark setting off the conflict)
  proved to be the assassination of Austrian
  Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in the summer of 1914.

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Causes of War Aggressive Nationalism

• Aggressive Nationalism
• The desire of nation states to assimilate
  nationals living in neighbouring countries.
• For example, Serbia wished to assimilate Serbs
  beyond its borders.

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Causes of War Aggressive Nationalism
Multi-ethnic Austria-Hungary felt particularly
threatened by nationalism.
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Causes of War Aggressive Nationalism

• Germanys easy victory over France in 1870 fed
  Teutonic confidence.
• France burned with a desire for revanche
  (revenge) to restore French honour after a
  humiliating defeat and to restore the lost
  provinces of Alsace and Lorraine.

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Causes of War - Militarism

• Militarism is the belief in using force of arms
  to resolve disputes.
• Most countries had large standing armies of
  conscripts (of the major powers, only Britain had
  a purely volunteer military).

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Causes of War - Militarism

• Standing armies were huge and conscription meant
  that numbers could increase rapidly.
• Mobilization plans meant that there was little
  room for diplomatic maneuvering in times of
  crisis.

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Causes of War - Militarism

• In a major crisis, men would have to be called up
  quickly, equipped and transported to their units
  and bases prior to hostilities commencing.

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Causes of War - Militarism

• Militarism led to arms races.
• Army sizes grew in response to increased perceive
  threats.
• A naval arms race cause friction between Britain
  and Germany.

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Causes of War - Militarism

• The Anglo-German naval race was largely the
  product of the Kaisers ego.
• Germany was a land power that need not challenge
  Britain at sea.
• Changing technology allowed Germany to begin its
  building programme at a time when Dreadnought
  style warships rendered earlier vessels obsolete.
• Britain would have a hard time maintaining its
  advantage over Germany, but felt that Germany was
  directly challenging her at sea.

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Causes of War - Imperialism

• Imperialism led to disputes between the powers.
• Rivals competed to control new territories.
• Imperial successes bred contempt for rivals.

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Causes for War Alliance System

• An alliance system spanned most of Europe.
• Deterrence kept the peace for a time.
• However, even a minor conflict might erupt into a
  major war.

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Causes of War Alliance System

• Any conflict between two major powers might
  embroil all.
• Because the terms of the treaties were secret,
  none knew how solidly their opponents were
  linked. Were the treaties offensive as well as
  defensive?
• Miscalculation would have grave consequences.

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Causes for War the Alliance System

• All countries had detailed plans for war.
• Germanys Schlieffen Plan was one of them.
• Realizing it would have to fight a two front war,
  the Germans decided to strike France first, using
  its advantage in speed of mobilization.
• After France was quickly defeated, Germany would
  transfer its forces East to crush the Russians.
• The timetable was tight.

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Causes of War International Anarchy

• There was no big organization, like the UN, where
  crises could be dealt with.
• The lack of somewhere to refer disputes meant
  that countries were left to their own devices.

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Causes of War - Expectation

• It had been a long time since a major conflict
  rocked Europe.
• The Franco-Prussian war had been fierce, but
  short.
• A continent-wide conflict had not occurred since
  the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.

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Causes of War - Expectation

• A generation grew up, fed on stories of martial
  glory, but without experience of real war.

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Causes of War - Expectation

• Many novels were written in the pre-war years,
  suggesting that a major war would soon occur.
• However, notions of what the war would be like
  were mistaken. Men thought of the short
  Franco-War as the model they should have
  considered the long and bloody American Civil War.

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Causes of War

• However, these conditions lasted for decades,
  without war erupting.
• Several crises, such as the first and second
  Moroccan crises were successfully resolved.
• War was not inevitable.

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Reasons for Peace

• Indeed there were many reasons for peace. These
  included.
• Internationalism the belief that we should look
  beyond narrow national interests.
• Technological change, allowing easier travel and
  communication.
• Economic interdependence.
• The close relationship between the crowned heads
  of Europe.

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Reasons for Peace - Internationalism

• Socialists in Europe called for workers of all
  countries to unite against international
  capitalists.
• They argued that war was a tool of the capitalist
  oppression. Workers of all countries should stand
  together in their own interests. For instance,
  Jean Jaures actively spoke against the French
  spirit of revanche.

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Reasons for Peace - Internationalism

• Many wrote and spoke of a world community.
• Writers, like Victor Hugo and Leo Tolstoy
  fostered this.
• Philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie and Alfred
  Nobel did not limit their interests to narrow
  national projects.

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Reasons for Peace - Internationalism

• There was strong interest in promoting a new
  world language Esperanto so simple in its
  construction that anyone could learn it in a very
  short time.
• If we could all talk to one another, could we not
  work out our differences?

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Reasons for Peace - Internationalism

• The International Red Cross was founded in the
  mid 19th century and its activities expanded in
  1907.
• The International Postal Union brought agreement
  to allow inexpensive postal communication around
  the world.

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Reasons for Peace - Internationalism

• Even sporting organizations championed
  international cooperation and brotherhood, with
  new international federations formed, and, in
  1896, the recreation of the Olympic Games in
  1896, by Pierre de Coubertin and sponsored by the
  King of Greece.

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Reasons for Peace - Internationalism

• The Hague Peace Conferences of 1898-1899 and 1907
  showed that nations could cooperate to set limits
  to the destructiveness of war.
• Use of asphyxiating gasses was banned.
• as were dumdum bullets.
• as was the discharge of explosives from
  balloons.
• Nations could as easily cooperate as conflict.

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Reasons for Peace Technological Change

• Telegraph lines linked all major cities and
  allowed rapid communication.
• Railways, canals and roads joined even enemies
  together.
• River systems were international waterways.

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Reasons for Peace Economic Interdependence

• Economic Interdependence convinced many that no
  major nation would risk the disruption of war.
  Markets and sources of raw materials meant that
  potential enemies traded extensively with
  each-other.

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Reasons for Peace Family Ties

• Most of the crowned heads of Europe were closely
  related.
• King George V of Britain, Tsar Nicholas II of
  Russia, and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany were all
  cousins.

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The Occasion for War

• A number of crises had been sorted out in the
  late 19th and early 20th centuries, but in 1914
  Europes luck ran out.
• Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian
  throne, against the advise of his security
  people, decided to visit Sarajevo.

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Occasion for War

• Sarajevo was the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina,
  two provinces recently added to the Empire after
  Turkey withdrew from most of Europe.
• Neighbouring Serbia felt it should, more
  rightfully, be theirs.

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Occasion for War

• Austria-Hungary and Serbia were confirmed
  enemies.
• From 1906-1909 Austria Hungary conducted an
  economic blockade of Serbia the so-called Pig
  War.
• In 1913, Austria-Hungary nearly went to war, but
  failed to do so when Triple Alliance partner
  Italy refused to support it.

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Occasion for War

• The Serbian secret service was arming young
  Bosnian Serbs and encouraging them to act against
  Austrian authority.
• The Black Hand, more properly known by the name
  Unification or Death, had long hoped to
  assassinate Franz Ferdinand, who was suggesting
  that Austria-Hungary be made into a Triple
  Monarchy that would include Slavic representation.

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Occasion for War Murder in Serajevo

• The archdukes idea was not popular with the
  Austrian and Hungarian elites.
• It was even less popular with the Serbians.
• On June 28, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were
  murdered by a student, Gavrilo Princip.
• Some feel that Hungarian Premier, Count Tisza,
  might also have been complicit in the plot.

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Occasion for War Murder in Serajevo

• Feeling that the evidence was strong of Serbian
  involvement and that all of Europe would
  sympathize with it, the Austro-Hungarians decided
  to act.
• Germany was consulted and agreed to support
  Austrian actions completely the so called
  blank cheque.

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Occasion for War Murder in Serajevo

• The decision to support Austria-Hungary made, the
  Kaiser went on holiday.
• Austria-Hungary delivered its ultimatum to Serbia
  on July 23, fully expecting it to be refused and
  that a limited war would result.
• Serbia accepted all Austria-Hungarys conditions,
  but one, on July 25, but this was not enough
• On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on
  Serbia.
• Serbia turned to Russia for support and a small
  war had wider implications.

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War By Timetable

• Russia began mobilizing its forces on July 30.
• The German army, fearing that its plans would
  fail if Russia were allowed to mobilize first,
  called on the Kaiser to authorize war or convince
  the Russians to halt mobilization.

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War By Timetable

• Kaiser Wilhelm and Nicholas II engaged in a
  series of telegrams the so-called Willy-Nicky
  exchange.
• However, Nicholas was told by his commanders that
  a partial mobilization on the Austro-Hungarian
  Front alone was not possible.
• Leaders on both sides were trapped by war plans
  with little flexibility.
• If no settlement could be reached, there would be
  general war.

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War By Timetable

• On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia and
  began mobilization.
• On August 3, Germany declared war on France and
  sent troops through Luxembourg and Belgium.

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War By Timetable

• On August 4, Britain declared war on Germany
  using Britains 1839 agreement to defend Belgium
  as its reason for doing so.

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War By Timetable

• In the words of Lord Grey, who tried desperately
  to prevent the conflict The lights have gone
  out in Europe and we shall not see them lit again
  in our time.

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Finis