The Historians and the Origin of the First World War

**aqalieh95** Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:20 pm

Collective Responsibility
1. David Lloyd George, the British prime minister
  1. “all the nations in Europe slithered over the edge of the boiling cauldron of war in 1914”
2. Erich Brandenburg, German historian
  1. Germany did not plan for war in 1914
  2. Blamed Russia for wanting control over the Balkans
  3. French revenge for the loss of Alsace-Lorraine
3. Sidney Fay, American historian
  1. No European power wanted war in 1914
  2. Germany did not plot the war and was a casualty of its alliance with Austria-Hungary
  3. Austria-Hungary was most responsible, but they were acting in self-defense
  4. Russia encouraged Serbia and mobilized its troops
  5. France supported Russia
  6. Britain did hardly anything to restrain Russia or France
4. Two American political scientists
  1. All major powers felt their rivals were antagonistic; and saw themselves as friendly
  2. The major leaders became obsessed with short-term decisions during the July crisis
  3. All the major powers felt that
Germany and the Origins of War: Fritz Fischer and his Critics
1. Fritz Fischer, a German historian
  1. Griff nach der Weltmacht (Grab for world power) published in 1961
    1. Chief responsibility to Germany for preparing and launching WWI
2. The Fischer Thesis
  1. Germany was prepared to launch the WWI in order to become a great power
  2. Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary with a blank cheque to start a war with Serbia, and continued to do so, even when it seemed clear that such a war could not be localized
  3. Once the war began, Germany developed a clear set of aims, already discussed before the war, to gain large territorial gains, in central and eastern Europe, very similar to Hitler's later craving for Lebensraum (living space) in eastern Europe
3. Four Key German leaders
  1. The Kaiser
  2. Bethmann Hollveg, the Chancellor
  3. Gottlieb von Jagow, the foreign secretary
  4. Helmuth von Moltke, the chief of the army's general staff
4. Follow up Volume in 1969
  1. Krieg der Illusionen (War of illusions)
    1. Concentrated on German foreign policy from 1911-1914
    2. Kaiser's government planned the outbreak of the war
  2. Domestic factors that affected foreign policy rather than external factors
    1. Foreign policy was key means of diverting attention from domestic discontentment
  3. Benthmann Hollweg was prime mover of German policy during July crisis
    1. Realized Austria-Hungary needed Germany's full support during Balkan situation
    2. Break free from diplomatic “encirclement”
  4. WWI was born of fear and desperation
    1. Planned and launched by Germany with aggressive aim of dominating Europe
  5. Fischer sees clear continuity in German foreign policy from the Kaiserreich to Nazi Germany
Criticism of Fischer – Fischer's new ideas challenged the old idea (All European powers were responsible for WW1)
1. Majority of German Historians
  1. Able to ignore other non-German historians' arguments that German is nation most responsible for WWI
  2. Fischer was criticized for “reading history backward”
  3. “Germanocentric”
    1. Failed to place German policy within the context of broader European and international development
2. Gerhard Ritter, German Historian
  1. National disloyalty
  2. Unfair to blame Germany exclusively for the outbreak of WWI
  3. Ritter's Thesis on German policy
    1. There is no evidence of a unified German plan for war or world domination
    2. Germany acted defensively throughout the July Crisis to preserve its position in existing status quo
    3. The main German aim was to support Austria-Hungary, Germany's only firm ally
    4. The German government realized too late that the conflict could not be localized
    5. The German government put too much reliance on military planners who devised war plans which were bound to lead to an escalation of the crisis
    6. Benthmann Hollweg tried to disentangle his country from being drawn into war at the end of the crisis, and became a victim of military planners
Supporters of Fischer
1. Immanuel Geiss
  1. German desire for Weltpolitik
  2. German “blank-cheque” to Austria-Hungary provoked Russia, France, and Britain
2. John Röhl
  1. German government was pursuing preexisting plan during July Crisis
    1. Split Triple Entente
    2. Provoke a European war
A defensive German War? (Critics of Fischer)
1. Egmont Zechlin & Karl Erdmann (German historian)
  1. German support for a preventative war grew after the Balkan wars had produced vast gains for Serbia
  2. Benthmann Hollweg lacked the patience to settle matters by negotiation, believed that the Entente powers were paralyzing Germany, and realized that Russia was growing stronger in the Balkans, and Austria-Hungary weaker
  3. When he gave Austria-Hungary the “blank cheque”, Bethmann Hollweg realized that the crisis might escalate into a European war
2. Germany should take the major responsibility but rejects
  1. the view of German policy being determined by domestic difficulties
  2. the view that Germany was planning an aggressive war of expansion
3. German leaders were gambling on localized war
German Domestic Politics and the Roar to War
1. Fischer
  1. Aristocrats supported aggressive foreign policy in fear of spread of democracy
  2. Weltpolitik was used as distraction problems
  3. German government hoped for great diplomatic and military victories to consolidate the monarchy (prevent revolution)
  4. Used foreign policy and imperialism to rally the middle class to support the ruling elite
2. Geoffery Eley & David Backbourn
  1. Germany did have a bourgeois revolution in the 19^th Century, and its society was “modern”
  2. The German army was not monolithic, but was gradually incorporating members of the middle class into the officer rank
  3. The idea of German government using nationalism to divert attention from the growth of social democracy have been greatly exaggerated
  4. The German government did not regard war as the best way to resolving Germany's domestic difficulties
  5. A close examination of military, nationalistic, and radical groups has shown that not all of them favored an expansionist foreign policy
The Nature of the International System: alliances and diplomacy
1. Bernadotte Schmitt
  1. “the alliances which had originally served the cause of peace, when put to the final test, almost mechanically operated to convert a local quarrel into a general war”
2. Alliance system was not a crucial cause of war
  1. Fragile system
  2. Countries worked for their own aim
War by Timetable? Militarism, armaments and War Plans
1. Arms race
  1. Crucial part of creating mutual fear and suspicion against one another by 1914
2. However, many European powers spent small amount of overall GDP in military expenditure
3. Balance of Military power, planning and strategy
  1. AJP Taylor
    1. WWI was caused “almost entirely by rival plans for mobilization by European powers”
Nationalism
1. Clash between Slav nationalism and multi-ethnic Austro Empire
  1. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
    1. Chance for Austria-Hungary to settle Balkans
2. John Leslie
  1. Austria-Hungary used assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as an excuse to settle accounts with Serbia, and asked Germany to prevent Russian intervention
  2. Germany saw war with Serbia as secondary to the struggle with Russia
  3. In the July Crisis, the Kaiser virtually commanded Austria-Hungary to set aside its anger against Serbia and to deploy the major portion of its troops against Russia
An imperialist war? Marxist and Economic explanations
1. War was caused by imperial rivalry
2. VI Lenin
  1. War was inherent in the nature of capitalism
  2. Search of territory and markets
3. Economy was important, but not major cause of war
Modern economic consideration