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World War I Causes · Acedra
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World War I Causes
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0:00
It was called the war to end all wars. Unfortunately, World War I didn’t deliver on that promise. It was however the first time in the history of planet Earth that nations from around the world fought in a single war. It started with an assassination and a series of questionable decisions. We can point fingers and play the blame game, but really there is no single person or country that holds all of the responsibility. Could the war that killed millions have been prevented? Most definitely.
0:27
Let’s take a look at what caused the Great War, explore how it could have been prevented, and learn how to not repeat the mistakes of the past. World War I lasted from 1914 to 1918 and included countries in Europe, Russia, the United States, and countries in the Middle East. The two main sides of the war were the Central Powers which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria, who fought against the Allied Powers of France, Britain, Russia, Portugal and Japan.
0:57
Later in the war the United States would also join the side of the Allies. But what happened? Why did all of these nations get involved in one of the most disastrous wars in history? Let’s explore the mechanisms and missteps that led to the first World War. Although there were many players in World War 1, the conflict started with Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The Serbian government was eager to claim more territory for the nation.
1:20
Serbia was already in a state of aggression due to the Balkan Wars that ended just a year before the start of World War I. After the Balkan War, Serbian nationalists wanted to liberate the South Slavs of Austria-Hungary, thus unifying the Slavic peoples under one nation. This extreme nationalism led to the assissnation of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was heir to the Astro-Hungarian Empire. At 11:15 AM on June 28, 1914 Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, duchess of Hohenberg,
1:49
were shot to death in Sarajevo, Bosnia by Gavrilo Princip. Princip was a Serbian extremist who had connections to a secret society called the Black Hand. The assaisnation was the match that ignited the first world war, however, there were many other factors that led to the powderkeg that would explode. Should the assassination of Franz Ferdinand have led to an all out War? Probably not. There is more to the story here.
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In the shadows lurked Kaiser Wilhelm II, who may be as much to blame as Gavrilo Princip in starting World War I. Wilhelm II was the leader of Germany and he was diabolical. Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted a strong Germany that dominated Europe both economically and militarily in strength. He did not want Russia or Great Britain to have more influence and power than he did. Therefore, Wilhelm II allied himself, and Germany, with Austria-Hungary.
2:38
He knew that if Austria-Hungary went to war with Serbia, then Russia would come to Serbia’s aid. This would drag Russia's ally France into the conflict. We will examine later why Wilhelm wanted this war to happen so badly. Kaiser Wilhelm II secretly funded Austria-Hungary in their endeavor to suppress Serbia. He allowed Germany to give Austria-Hungary a carte blanche, or “blank check.” Basically Germany would fund the war effort using their wealthy economy to ensure Austria-Hungary
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came out on top. With the assassination of their heir, and the backing of Germany, Austria-Hungary felt empowered to start their war with Serbia. They sent Serbia an ultimatum with such harsh terms that it was impossible to accept. There was only one alternative. War. But there was more to the story. The decisions of Austria-Hungary and Germany were clearly geared towards war. It is undeniable that World War I started because of these aggressive decisions.
3:30
But could the whole conflict have been avoided if other countries had made better decisions? Were there strings being pulled behind the scenes by the countries on both sides of the war? Let’s find out. First let’s take a look at the Triple Entente nations, which consisted of a secret pact between Great Britain, France, and Russia. Could any of these nations have secretly wanted a world war to heighten their power?
3:51
Could there have been a secret plot by the Allies to set up a war they would eventually win? Russia is, and always has been, a large, powerful nation. What could Russia gain from a war against the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy? At first glance Russia’s role in World War I seems to be based around supporting their ally of Serbia. But as we look closer it seems that Russia’s alliance only played a superficial role in their decisions to go to war.
4:18
In fact Russia barely even tried to find a diplomatic solution to prevent this conflict. Instead, they immediately started to deploy troops and ramp up military production once Austria-Hungary showed aggression towards Serbia. It would seem Russia had no intentions on working out the conflict diplomatically. History shows it was Russia, not Germany, that mobilized its military first. Russia may have wanted war to claim more territory and power for the nation.
4:43
But there was another player on the Triple Entente side who may have played a behind the scenes role of starting World War I. France did not make any outwardly aggressive moves in the months that led to the outbreak of war, but they were making secret strategic moves. France may be the only reason that Russia prepared for war in the first place. During talks of what was to be done about the Central Powers, France offered Russia its own blank cheque.
5:07
The stipulation was that Russia would help Europeanise the Austrian-Hungry Empire. France had an idea of what this part of the world should look like, and rather than entering directly into conflict, they funded the Russian military to start a war that they could benefit from. France encouraged Russia’s aggression towards Austria-Hungary and Germany. French leaders seemed not to like the idea of having the powerful nation of Germany right next door.
5:30
If Germany was focused on fighting Russia on the Eastern front, it would provide France with the opportunity to either protect itself, or launch an uncontested invasion into Germany from the western front. It would seem that things did not play out exactly as France predicted because of Germany’s deployment of troops to fight on both the Russian and French fronts simultaneously. If the shady actions of France leading up to the start of World War I surprised you
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then what Great Britain did may shock you even more. Britain was a dominant force in colonization and had control of the seas with their powerful Navy. Would they benefit from an all out war in Europe? Germany was becoming powerful, both economically and militarily. Britain knew that this was a threat to their empire. In the eyes of Great Britain’s leaders the world wasn’t big enough for both a German empire and British empire.
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If Germany continued on the path it was headed, Britain’s global dominance of the seas and financial system would be threatened, and perhaps lost. This was unacceptable to the leaders of Great Britain. These notions of loss of dominance may have driven Great Britain to stay out of diplomatic talks, and instead encourage Russian aggression. It would seem that at the time Great Britain had an inferiority complex when it came to Germany.
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They had failed to meditate during the Balkan Wars and they refused to meditate during the lead up to World War I. The thought process may have been that the more conflicts Germany was a part of, the more likely they were to be weakened. Great Britain had clearly won the naval arm race by 1910, it just seemed that it wasn’t enough. They were still living in fear of Germany’s threats. And it would appear rightfully so as history showed over the next several decades.
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It needs to be said that if Great Britain wanted to prevent war, they should have contributed to the mediation discussions. The fact that they actively avoided the mediations shows Britain may have had other motives. Especially if war meant a weakened Germany. History is written by the victors. Therefore, history textbooks tend to attribute most of, if not all of, the blame for World War I to Austria-Hungary and Germany.
7:27
You have to wonder who would be blamed if the outcome of the war was reversed. We discussed how the nations of the Triple Entente were by no means free of blame for the start of this conflict. But let’s take a closer look at the motives and actions of the Triple Alliance, which was the secret pact between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Let’s find out if they really are to blame like so many textbooks say. Other than retaliation, what was Austria-Hungary after? In a word, territory.
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Austria-Hungary wanted to add more land and people to its already large empire. More land equals more resources, and more men for their military. Austria-Hungary had its sights set on Serbia for a while. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand allowed them the perfect opportunity to make their dreams of taking over Serbian lands a reality. Austria-Hungary’s desires were made clear when they offered an obscene ultimatum to Serbia. The ultimatum itself was delivered on July 23, 1914.
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It required Serbia to accept an Austro-Hungarian inquiry into the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. The inquiry would be conducted solely by Austria-Hungarian investigators. Serbia also needed to suppress all anti-Austrian propaganda and eliminate any terrorist or extremist organizations within its borders. The leaders of Austria-Hungary demanded that an answer to the ultimatum be sent within 48 hours. However, the ambassador to Serbia delivered the ultimatum and immediately left the country
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to return back to Austria-Hungary. He already knew what was going to happen next. There was no way that Serbia would accept the ultimatum. This meant war. The ultimatum served one purpose. Austria-Hungary knew Serbia would never accept their terms, but they also knew if they attacked without warning it would make Serbia look like the victim. By sending the ultimatum it pushed the burden of avoiding war onto the Serbian government.
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This way Austria-Hungary created the illusion of giving Serbia a chance to stop the war. When they didn’t, Serbia would look like the bad guy. But the ridiculous ultimatum did not stand up to the test of history, and Austria-Hungary is still seen as the aggressors. Really what it came down to was that Austria-Hungary wanted to control more territory in the Balkan region. They needed a reason to go to war with Serbia to secure that land and they found it in the assassination of their Archduke.
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Was the assassination a reason to conduct an all out war? Probably not, but it was sufficient enough reason for the Austria-Hungary government at the time. However, none of this would have been possible without one key player. I am sure you can guess what is coming next. Germany. In the eyes of many historians Germany is to blame for the first world war. Why was Germany considered the most responsible in a conflict that they did not directly start?
10:02
It is mostly because they alone had the power to stop the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. All they needed to do was withdraw their blank cheque, and Austria-Hungary would not have had the financial ability to support a war with Serbia. This would have kept Austria-Hungary in check and they would never have issued their ultimatum. Germany also knew that if Austria-Hungary went to war with Serbia, Russia and France would both get pulled in.
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It was almost as if Germany needed to find a way to declare war on their competitors in the region without doing it themselves. Germany could never just outright declare war on the other nations or they would risk unifying the entire continent of Europe against them. But by strategically destabilizing the Balkans they could gode Russia, and therefore France, into a war with their ally, thus allowing Germany to start a war to suit their needs.
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The other reason that Germany wanted war was because it had peaked as a nation. If Germany allowed the rest of Europe to catch up they would lose power and prestige. This upset no one more than Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was an angry militaristic autocrat. He believed that he was predestined by God to lead his country to greatness. He hated diplomats and maintained that the only way to ensure Germany's spot of power was through war.
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He knew it was now or never if Germany was going to become the predominant world power. When a power hungry autocrat is in charge of one of the world’s most wealthy and armed nations there is only one outcome. War. In the end World War I was caused by many different factors and countries. There is not just one person or nation to blame. However, some are more responsible than others. If the leaders of Europe were less hungry for power, and more willing to sit down and
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negotiate, the war could have been avoided. Make no mistake, World War I was not unavoidable. But the leaders in charge saw war as a desirable outcome, or were forced into it by allies. A situation that would repeat itself again 21 years later. If you are interested in more World War I information check out 50 Insane World War 1 Facts That Will Shock You! Or if you want to know how World War I and World War II stack up watch World War 1 VS World War 2 - How Do They Compare?
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