The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive German foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900. How far do you agree with this opinion? It has been a matter of controversy within Germany on whether or not they went to war with aggressive or defensive intentions. Source V seems to be of the opinion that Germany went to war solely for defensive reasons due to the extensive array of alliances that encircled the country as well as diplomatic tension in Europe. Source W seems to take the opposite approach deeming how Germany’s aggressive actions since the turn of the century resulted in war.
All countries have the entitlement of attempting to win, but unlike war, just war cannot for everything or anything that is or seems to be a necessary way in achieving the one goal: victory. A war cannot be just, due to the act of mass violence and destruction is evident from the very beginning to the absolute end. From the Latin “Bellum Justum”, just war is a war that is deemed to be either morally or theologically justifiable. In other words, a just war is a war that can be justified. For example, if a country was to attack another country for no real profound reason, and then the attacked country decides to fight back it is then considered a just war because of reasonable justification.
This caused competition between countries. France and UK had conquered the most countries after which came Germany And Russia, although a big chunk of the land had Germany conquered was the Sahara desert. This was basically Imperialism. Imperialism is when a country increases their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control. Before World War 1, Africa and parts of Asia were points of contention amongst the European countries.
Source V says the German military were “trying to shift the balance of power in their favour” by rearming “as strenuously as they might”. This would suggest that the German military were trying to rearm to enable them to wage a war that would give them greater power worldwide. This view is also supported in Source X which refers to “the German plan to unleash continental war.” Both of these sources seem to agree that Germany were trying to bring about a war through aggressive means. Source W also implies that German aggression was responsible for the war as Source W says “German actions…had done much to create international tensions.” By the time of the outbreak of war Germany had been desperately trying
Historians such as Fischer have the view that Germany was actively seeking a war and this is shown by his theory in Source 1. Another theory is the shared guilt idea which both Source 2 and 3 have evidence to support. Source 2 also points towards the Fischer theory but also that events spiralled out of control, a ‘War by Timetable’ as A.J.P. Taylor said. It is fair to say however that Germany, in any of these scenarios, was very much responsible which is why their aggression points towards the outbreak of a general European war.
According to Ferro in his book 'The Great War' he suggests that England felt threatened by Germany due to the unprecedented economic strides the country made between 1880 and 1914, although Germany did not have a financial base on the same scale as Britain's economic power. In addition Germany's rising industrial base had overtaken Britain's, although Germany did have trading routes and links around the world as Britain had. Ferro goes on and talks about the rising force of the German naval force with the building of their version of the super-ship the Dreadnoughts. Furthermore Anglo-German rivalry became a public matter, orchestrated and fomented by press and cinema (Ferro, 1969). Critics agree that an arms race especially between Britain and Germany was created with the cost affecting both countries, the buildings of their naval fleet between the two countries is an example of
To what extent did Nationalism effect great power relations in the period 1789-1900 From 1789 to the early years of the 20th century , Nationalism was a hugely significant factor in the evolution of European society. It all began as a simple ideology of pride in ones national identity and ended up shaping itself into one of the most significant driving forces behind the outbreak of one of the world's most bloody, destructive and devastating wars the world has ever came to witness. During this essay I will be analysing the extent to which Nationalism affected the relations between the great powers in the years 1789-1900. From the French Revolution right up until world war one nationalism was ever-growing and expanding internationally and it eventually ended up shaping Europe as we know it. The 'force' of nationalism was so unbelievably powerful that it managed single handily to alter ideologies, nations and leaders, it managed to form new nations and pit those nations off against each other in various wars and battles resulting in bloodshed and casualties to the extent that this world had never seen before.
Sadeed Bari WHY DID EUROPE GO TO WAR IN 1914 CHC2D1-01 2010-09-20 World war one also known as “The Great War” and the war to end all wars started in 1914. There were four main reasons which started the war; Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism. One cause of tension was Militarism. This means that the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain strong military capabilities and be prepared to use it to defend or promote country’s interests. An example for this is the dreadnaughts between Germany and Britain.
When the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand happen, Russia who is part of the Triple Entente who steps in and helps out Serbia, and Germany who helped Austria-Hungary who is part of the Triple Alliance. That why it is the Second cause that might have caused the Great War . The Last cause that might have caused the Great War is the Arms Race and Naval (militarism). The two nations Britain and Germany were in an Arms Race to build the most and the best weapons. Britain had the largest navy in the world at that time, while Germany was building Dreadnoughts to fight with Britain.
In conclusion, M.A.I.N. caused the start of World War One especially imperialism. Imperialism is where a stronger nation bring a weaker nation under their control through politically, socially, or economically. People were greedy to get what they wanted such as the land. Since only few colonies are left, nations fought other nations through war.