Background Causes of World War 1

Background Causes of World War 1

• Europe in 1914 was anticipating war, with its causes dating back to the 19th century.

Defining a Superpower

• Factors influencing a nation's status as a superpower at the start of the 20th century included:
  • Political stability and strong leadership
  • Population and territory size
  • Raw material resources from colonies
  • Economic strength and industrialization
  • Military strength (army and navy size, weaponry)

Congress of Vienna (1815)

• Five major powers (Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Russia, England, and France) met to re-establish a balance of power among superpowers to prevent future wars.
• Redrew the map of Europe, adjusting territories to create relatively fair borders.
• Reinstated old monarchies and aristocrats, opposing revolutionary ideas.
• Aiming for 100 years of peace, but nationalism's rise ultimately undermined this.

State vs Nation

• A state (country) is an organized political community with a government controlling a defined territory.
• A nation is a group of people united by shared culture, values, religion, or language.
• Nations can exist within a state (e.g., Quebec in Canada), be stateless and exist across multiple countries (e.g., Kurds), or be a nation-state (a state consistently of one main nation; example: Japan).
  • Examples of nations without a state include the Kurds.

The Kurds

• The Kurds are an indigenous people spread across the Mesopotamian plains and highlands of modern-day Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq, north-western Iran, and south-western Armenia.
• They share a common ethnicity, culture, and language.
• No standard dialect, but adherent to many religions and creeds. A majority are Sunni Muslims.

Nationalism

• Originally, nationalism was the idea of communities with a shared culture, language, faith, and customs forming a state and governing themselves independently.
• Today, nationalism often implies a belief that one's nation is superior to others.

Unification of Italy and Germany

• Nationalism was the driving force behind the unification of nations like Italy (1858–1870) and Germany (1865–1871), altering Europe's geopolitical map.

Europe in 1911 (Implied)

• Europe saw huge empires at the beginning of the 20th century, with many states/nations existing inside those empires.
• European countries had many colonies, especially in Africa.

Age of Imperialism (1492 onwards)

• Imperialism refers to the policy of extending a country's power and influence, often through acquiring colonies.

Imperialism - Africa

• Africa, undergoing the collapse of the slave trade in the 1860s, became an easy target for new European imperialism.
• Technological advancements and industrialization fueled the need for new territories, labor, and resources such as gold, diamonds, natural resources, and cheap labor.

Scramble for Africa

• European powers aggressively competed for African territories, leading to the Berlin Conference in the 1880s.

The Berlin Conference (1884)

• A meeting of European powers to establish rules for dividing Africa among themselves.
• Primarily to justify and authorize imperialism for colonization.

Why a 'World Power'?

• Germany sought to acquire colonies as a nation to gain influence and resources, enhancing their global standing.

Wilhelm II and Weltpolitik

• Kaiser Wilhelm II replaced Bismarck's realpolitik (realistic policies) with Weltpolitik, a global policy driven by imperialism, wanting Germany to be as strong as Great Britain.

The 'Hammer or Anvil' Speech

• This speech by German Foreign Secretary Bernhard von Bülow articulated the German position in terms of the need for power and resources, emphasizing competition and national strength, and implied choosing either dominance or subservience in world affairs.

Summary Questions

• What factors led Europe to be on the brink of war in 1914?
• How did the 19th century events fuel the background causes of World War 1?