Outbreak of World War I

Russia had encouraged Serbia not to give in completely to the demands of the ultimatum made by Austria-Hungary and there are suggestions that Russia ignored a plea from Germany to remain neutral. The Russian government was worried about domestic instability (revolutionary activity, worker unrest) and Russia hoped to win public support with a foreign political success, its ultimate goal was to open the Dardanelles to Russian warships. Pan-Slavism and the feeling of an inevitable clash with Germany also played a role in making war acceptable to the Russians.

France was defeated in the Prussian War 1870-1871. After this war, France had to pay a large indemnity (fine), lost key border provinces Alsace-Lorraine and was forced to sign a peace treaty in their royal palace of Versailles. Feeling humiliated by Germany, France sought revenge and I feel this resulted in great tension and dislike between them both. France has also been blamed for creating an alliance with Russia and for backing them during the war.

Like France Britain was not directly responsible for the outbreak of World War One, but some tensions existing at that time contributed to the nature of the conflict. Britain had assets some Germans were envious of and felt Britain did not need, such as, Britain always aiming to control the Two Power Standard- this meant Britain always tried to maintain a navy twice the size of the next two greatest powers put together. Some military officers felt that Britain did not need to acquire such a powerful navy; however I disagree, because Britain is an island and therefore could only be invaded by sea so it is obvious that the military should be focused in that aspect. Also, Britain had the largest empire, which many felt excessive but Britain is a small country and needed more land for industrial purposes. Germany felt that Britain would only allow them large but useless territories, such as desert or jungle and this led to tensions between the two countries.

It is evident from looking at the historical events and political environment preceding World War One that it is difficult to determine blame with any degree of certainty. Numerous historians have debated this question and even the most respected historians’ views are challenged. The initial act, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by the Black Hand provided the impetus for the conflict between the leading powers but so much tension existed prior to this event. There appears to have been fatalism about the outbreak of the war with most of the countries seeking to gain advantage at any opportunity. I believe that Germany was the main -but not the only- antagonist that made the First World War inevitable but that this war would perhaps have been started by another country as soon as they felt they were in the best position to secure a victory. I also believe that if history had served the countries with a better indication of the duration and losses then perhaps more effort would have been made to avert this course.

Adam Leslie