Pre-WWI Europe
A tenuous balance of power
Several underlying causes
lead to WWI…
Domestic Issues of political & social
unrest
Colonial conflicts (new imperialism)
Nationalistic Motives
Power Alignments (alliances)
Armaments (militarism)
International Crises (Morocco and the
Balkans)
Domestic Uncertainty
In general many countries were facing political
divisions between Left Wing socialists and
anarchists vs. an emerging Right that tended
towards nationalism and anti-Semitism
Both opposed the liberalism of the late 19th
century
Encouraged growth of a new Zionist movement
and desire for a native Jewish homeland
The Democratic Countries
GB
• Tensions with Ireland
• Hostilities in House of Lords over social
reform programs like Old Age Pensions
• Women’s suffrage movement becoming
militant
France
• The 3rd Republic facing fight from Left and
Right to take down democracy
• Lacked effective leadership
• The Dreyfuss Affair had the Assembly
divided
• 1905 – Separation of Church and State =
violent uprisings
• Labour problems
Italy
• Though unified in 1860 was still quite divided
• Only 3% of population had suffrage rights
• The 50 years since unification had included
massive population growth and the country
couldn’t manage
• Martial law used to violently repress peasant and
industry uprisings
• June 1914 – a national strike. It took 100,000
soldiers and 10 days to restore order
The Autocratic Countries
-- faced even more uncertainty than the democracies
Ottoman Empire
• Advanced state of dissolution – internal
secession, violent despot, coup by Young
Turks in July 1908 – lead to “Turkification”
• Ongoing unrest created a weak nation; by
1911 Italy occupied Libya; Greece, Bulgaria
and Serbia formed the Balkan League; Albania
was independent; Macedonia was partitioned
… The Ottoman Empire is essentially eliminated
Russia - you know the story
• Tsar is struggling to maintain order
• Challenges of modernity
• Young intellectuals questioning the
autocratic system
• Revolutionary groups mounting
• 1905 – Bloody Sunday
• October Manifesto to Fundamental Laws
• Suspended Dumas
Austria-Hungary
• Intense nationalism fraught with ethnic
tension
• Challenges and lack of unity in combined
Austrian and Hungarian armies
• Hungary wants out of dual monarchy
• Austrian side had 30 ethnically based
political parties → parliament at a
standstill
Germany
• Had a parliament but it was answerable to
the Kaiser
• Prussia, the most reactionary region of
country had a dominant influence
• Even under Bismarck’s reforms, there
was growing dissent and strengthening of
Socialist and Catholic Center parties
• Intense labour militancy
• Increased calls for parliamentary system
Germany cont’d
• When Bismarck was dismissed as
Chancellor by Kaiser Wilhelm II, both
domestic and international deterioration
increased
• Weltpolitik – increase navy, acquire
colonies, gain power amongst the Great
Powers – created international tensions
and impacted alliances
New Imperialism
By mid 18th Century empire building had
slowed but 1880-1905 there was
unprecedented imperialism (European powers
subjugated 50% of the world’s non-European
population)
Massive migration – b/w 1840 and 1914 3035 million Europeans moved overseas
Search was for new wealth and potential
markets in Asia and Africa
Refer to New Imperialism sheet for additional motives
Nationalistic Motives
Empire building (via imperialism) was
largely motivated by nationalist
desires. Prove your power and worth,
and therefore, superiority.
Bitter rivalries formed b/w the Great
Powers.
Power Alignments
Refer to Bismarck summary sheet for
much more detail
• 1882 – Triple Alliance; Ger, A-H, Italy
• 1904 – Br and Fr, Entente
• 1907 – Anglo-Russian Entente
Militarism / Armaments
Hague disarmament conferences of
1899 and 1907 fail
Between 1875 and 1914 Germany
increased arms spending by 230%,
Britain by 189% and France by 109%
GB and Germany in naval race from
1890 (Dreadnoughts)
Nation
# of aircraft in
1914
Size of Army in
1914
# of soldiers
who fought in
war
Austria-Hungary
34
3 million
7.8 million
Britain
110
975 000
8.9 million
France
160
4 million
8.4 million
Germany
246
4.5 million
11 million
Russia
300
6 million
12 million
200 000
4.4 million
United States
International Crises
Moroccan Crises
• 1905 and 1911
Balkan Crises
• 1908 and 1914
Which leads us to Franz Ferdinand …
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