World War I

            France moved quickly once the Russian-German treaty lapsed, signing their own mutual defense pact with Russia in 1892. This guaranteed Germany would face a two-front war. The Kaiser began a rapid buildup of German naval power, once again deviating from Bismarck’s careful diplomatic strategy of friendship to Britain. Britain responded with their own buildup, leading to an arms race. Germany and Britain had been strong, yet friendly, economic rivals and colonial competitors. Since Germany had Europe’s best army, and Britain had Europe’s best navy, neither could dominate the other. Alarmed at the rise of Germany naval power, Britain built up their navy in response, maintaining a comfortable lead over Germany. Germany’s army still dwarfed the size of Britain’s. Britain was very concerned with this, so Germany signed a treaty of friendship and non-aggression with France and Russia. Europe was now divided into two opposing camps. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria, and Italy. The Triple Entente was made up of Britain, France, and Russia. With these alliances in place, the Great Powers were committed to all go to war if any of them went to war. Possibility of war was much more powerful.

            As the power of the Ottoman Empire faded in the Balkans, the Great Powers contended for control over the region. Competition helped form new nations as a compromise to outright war between Britain, Russia, and Austria. These various ethnic groups also struggled among themselves to create more powerful nations. Both Austria and Russia wanted greater influence in the Balkans. Serbian nationalists turned to terrorism to force Austria out of the Balkans and create a “Greater Serbia.” Serbia emerged from this conflict larger and more powerful, worrying Austria and Germany, which saw Serbia as a puppet of Russia. The concern contributed to the quick decision by Austria to go to war with Serbia in 1914. As the decade progressed, militarism ruled political thinking, especially in Germany and Austria, who saw diplomacy as a sign of weakness. This led to view war as a good thing.

            Alliances made everyone feel more confident, making the outbreak of war more likely. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand made a crisis between Austria and Russia, Serbia’s protector and ally. This was the spark to the war. Austria seized on this opportunity to dominate Serbia and demanded that Serbia shut down all nationalist groups and give Austrian police free access to investigate the assassination plot. Serbia agreed to shut down the groups, but wouldn’t let Austria police inside Serbia. Austria then declared war on Serbia, technically starting WWI. Out of all the Great Powers, Russian military was the least modern. It would take Russia at least three weeks to get their troops to front.