Ask anyone with an elementary knowledge of world history how World War I (WWI) started and nine out of ten will probably say the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Austria-Hungary Empire. This answer is very simplistic. Most people have no idea what was behind the assassination and how Europe fell into a war they had no idea of the whirlwind that it would bring: 65 million men mobilized; 20 million dead, including civilians; 21 million wounded; three empires destroyed, Ottoman, German and Austria-Hungary. The assassination was just the match that lit the fire, but the wood for the fire was there. Since history is one of my passions, I've recently read two great books on WWI, The Lost History of 1914 by Jack Beatty, and The Sleepwalkers, How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark. The information I discuss here is from these two fine books. On this, the 100th anniversary of this most tragic war, we must learn its lessons or be condemned to repeat them. Indeed, we failed to learn these lessons and repeated the slaughter in World War II.
For over 60 years prior to 1914 Europe was in a state of constant turmoil, rising militarism and territorial expansionism. Beginning with the Crimean War, 1853-66, there were multiple wars: The Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, two Boer wars, 1880-81 and again in 1899-1902; two Balkan wars in 1912-13, the Russo-Japanese war of 1904 and the Italo-Turkish war over Libya in 1911-12.
The causes of WWI are very complex. There are many villains and it is extremely hard to pin the blame on one party or country. There are some who are more to blame than others. I will name them later. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 represents a major earthquake in European politics. With the victory over France, the Prussians established the new German Empire. The Germans humiliated the French, not only with their victory over them but by annexing two of their provinces, Alsace and Lorraine. The new German Empire inaugurated a period of high tension and alarm for the remaining European powers. Britain feared any threat to her dominance in the world, France, smarting from her defeat in 1870, remained bitter and bellicose. Russia, smarting from its loss in the Crimean war and then from her loss to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War began a period of active militarism. The German Empire, headed by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm II, wanted to capitalize on their new power.
With the decline of the Ottoman Empire, former Ottoman territories in the Balkans were taken over by Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. In 1878 Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1908 Austria annexed this area, thus alienating neighboring Serbia which became extremely belligerent to Austria-Hungary. Ethnic Serbs were scattered throughout the Balkans, in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania and surrounding areas. It was a Serbian dream to re-unite all Serbs into one Serbia. The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Austria was an event that set off the Serbians and basically put them on a belligerent status with Austria-Hungary.
To make a bad situation even worse, Serbia began to disintegrate politically. On the morning of 11 June 1903, 28 Serbian Army officers approached the main entrance of Serbian King Alexander I's palace, disarmed the guard detail, went in and brutally murdered the king and his wife. Queen Draga. After the murders a group headed by them began to rule Serbia in a form of a dictatorship. From this time to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Serbia was nothing short of a fighter looking for a fight. When the Archduke was assassinated on 28 June 1914, the Serbians were more or less apathetic, some even cheered the event.
World War I was triggered by the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Austrians, knowing that the Serbians had been tormenting them for over 40 years and supporting anti-Austrian terrorists, blamed Serbia for the assassination. The Austrians knew that they had been challenged by this assassination; not reacting would have been a humiliation to them that they could not accept, so they made humiliating demands on Serbia. If Serbia failed to meet their demands, they would declare war on Serbia. Indeed, this is what happened. Once Austria-Hungary declared war, it unleashed all the war horses in all of Europe. The Russians were strong supporters of Serbia, claiming the Serbians as their Slavic brothers. This was not entirely their motive, for they wanted to have the Balkans in their sphere of influence. Indeed, Serbia would not have acted without the backing of the Russians. The Serbians had considered meeting Austria's demands. Had the Russians not spurred the Serbians, there probably would not have been a WWI. Knowing that they had the Russians for their support, the Serbians felt empowered. The Russians, additionally, wanted for many years, to control the Turkish Straits, the passageway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Having influence in the Balkans was a way to get close to the Turkish Straits. Russia was reassured of success due to their earlier treaty with France whereby they pledged mutual assistance. France provided Russia with assurances that, in the event of war France would back Russia militarily.
One of the things that the two earlier mentioned books on WWI make clear is the pathetic leadership weakness in all the European powers. The Ottoman Empire was the sick man of Europe, the Tsar of Russia was very weak, the Austrian emperor was a mere figure-head. Politicians in most countries were self-serving and under-handed, worrying about their own power and not the good of their country. In France, for example, the president and the prime minister often would keep information from each other and at other times sabotage each other for political reasons. In Germany, it was never clear who held the real power; in some cases military leaders had more power and influence than politicians or the emperor. The period also highlighted a certain militarism that was uncanny for the glorification of war to gain influence or power. Many European leaders would show up at international meetings wearing their military uniforms.
Weak leadership, made worse by infighting among each nation's hierarchy was a contributing factor leading to war. If I had to name one country to blame for the war, I'd pick Russia, followed closely by their French cohorts.
Interesting article. I would recommend _The Guns of August_ by Barbara Tuchman. She takes a bit of a different tack. She makes the point that not only was the "Old Regime" system in Europe sick, but that King George V of England was a grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and the first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. In other words, the world of European power politics was in the hands of a bunch of spoiled brats. Wilhelm started building the German military machine as early as 1905 in preparation for some kind of war. So, indeed, the wood was on the fire and the kindling was applied, merely awaiting the striking of a match as you said. The politics were filled with much more intrigue than just the Serbian incident would seem to suggest. I highly recommend Ms. Tuchman's work, it was a Pulitzer Prize winner, and one of my favorite books on modern history. I've read nearly everything she's written and am reading one of hers now as well: _The March of Folly_. She had a very distinctive style in her prose, and was able to make these complex events seem almost personal. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteNot only were the European leaders of this day a bunch of spoiled brats but most of them were so full of themselves that they resembled a gang that could not shoot straight. Twenty million men lost their lives all for the folly of a few men and four empires were destroyed. A testament to man's insanity.
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