Pearson Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) History The Origins and Course of World War 1, 1905-18 PDF

## The Alliance System and International Rivalry, 1905-14 ### Learning Objectives - Understand the reasons why the Triple Entente was formed. - Understand the significance of imperial and economic rivalry in creating tension between Britain and Germany. - Understand the ways in which an arms race i...

## The Alliance System and International Rivalry, 1905-14 ### Learning Objectives - Understand the reasons why the Triple Entente was formed. - Understand the significance of imperial and economic rivalry in creating tension between Britain and Germany. - Understand the ways in which an arms race increased tension between the two alliance systems. In the years after 1905, a mixture of suspicion and fear, ambition and rivalry created enormous tension in Europe. The largest and strongest countries had made alliances with each other so that Europe was divided into two powerful groups. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy were in one group; Britain, France and Russia in the other. Rivalry between Britain and Germany over acquiring colonies, and ambitions to become economically the more powerful, increased this division. Nationalism, too, contributed to each group's desire to control international matters. Britain and Germany began strengthening their armies and developing their navies. By 1914, Europe was a dangerous place. ### 1.1 The Alliance System ### Learning objectives - Understand why there was tension in Europe in 1905. - Understand the reasons why the Triple Entente was formed. - Understand how the alliance system could be seen by some as a system that kept the peace and by others as making war more likely. At the beginning of the 20th century there were six "Great Powers" in Europe. These were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, France, Russia and Great Britain. Although these countries had different aims and ambitions, they had a number of things in common. For example, they all wanted to make sure they were safe from attack and that they had the best opportunity to increase their prosperity by trading in as many overseas markets as possible. #### Safety in Numbers In trying to achieve security from attack and increase their opportunities for trade, the Great Powers often found themselves in competition with each other, which had sometimes led to war. By the end of the 19th century they had begun to protect themselves from their rivals by joining together in a system of alliances. By 1905, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy had formed the Triple Alliance. Russia and France were allied in the Franco-Russian Alliance and Britain and France had a friendly agreement called the Entente Cordiale. These alliances reflected which countries considered themselves to have similar aims and who they considered to be their greatest rivals. The tensions between the rival powers that existed in 1905 gradually deepened, until war broke out in 1914. #### Why was there tension in Europe in 1905? This topic begins in 1905 and you won't be expected to answer questions in the exam on events before then. But there are a few things you do need to know about to help you understand the tensions existing in 1905. One of those is the reasons why some countries were rivals with others. #### Germany Germany was a new country, formed following unification of the German states in 1871, after the Germans had defeated France in the Franco-Prussian war. As part of the peace treaty after the war, Germany took Alsace-Lorraine from France. This was an important industrial area. German politicians were afraid that the French might attack Germany to get Alsace-Lorraine back. So Germany and France were rivals. #### Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary was a large empire in central Europe. It contained people of many different nationalities, some of whom wanted independence. Serbia was already an independent country and there were Serbs living in Austria-Hungary who wanted to join with Serbia. The main concern of the Austrian emperor was to keep the empire together, but Russia supported the Serbs and so Austria-Hungary and Russia were rivals. The map of Europe in 1905 is shown. #### Italy Italy was another new country, which had been formed in 1861. It was not a strong industrial or military power, and so it wanted to ally with other countries to make itself more powerful. When Italy joined Germany and Austria-Hungary in the Triple Alliance in 1882, it became part of an anti-France, anti-Russia alliance. #### France France's main concern in 1905 was to make sure that it would never again be attacked by Germany and to get Alsace-Lorraine back. France allied with Russia in 1892 because it wanted support against Germany. #### Russia Russia was the largest of the six powers, but the least developed. Russia's main concerns were that Germany would expand into Russian territory in central Europe and that Austria-Hungary would take measures against Slavs in Austria-Hungary (Russians and Serbians were both Slav peoples.) #### Great Britain During the 19th century, Britain had tried not to get involved in European politics. This policy was known as "splendid isolation". British had a powerful navy and overseas empire and didn't see a need to form alliances with European countries. But by the beginning of the 20th century, the German Kaiser had shown that he wanted Germany to have an empire and a strong navy, which was a direct threat to the British Empire and its naval dominance. So in 1904 Britain joined with France in the Entente Cordiale. A French cartoon published in 1913 is shown. The caption reads, "AUX PATRIE", which means "To the Fatherland". The cartoon shows a French boy looking down on the lost regions of Alsace-Lorraine. Above him in the skies gallop the ghosts of French cavalrymen killed in the Franco-Prussian war, 1870-71. ### Extend Your Knowledge - **Cousins Become Enemies** King George V of Great Britain and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany were cousins. They had the same grandmother, the British Queen Victoria. The King's father, Edward, and the Kaiser's mother, Victoria, were brother and sister. - **Kaiser Wilhelm II** Despite being born with a withered left arm, Wilhelm became an excellent horseman. He could swim, hunt, shoot and fence. He loved the army and enjoyed dressing up in military uniforms.. - **Activity** Draw a table with three columns. Head the columns, starting from the left, “Great Powers”, “Fear” and “Ambition”. In the “Great Powers” column, list the six Great Powers. In the other two columns, write what each power was afraid of, and what each power wanted. Keep the table and add to it as you work through this chapter. By the end of the chapter, you will have a very good idea why war broke out in 1914. Look at Source A. What is the message of the cartoon? Look at Sources A and C. Work with a partner. - One of you should make a list of the points each artist is making. The other should look at the cartoons from the German point of view. - List the points that a German person could find threatening. - Share your ideas with the rest of your class. The section on the Great Powers is concluded with an article from *The Times* newspaper in April 1914. The division of the Great Powers into two well-balanced groups is a two-fold check upon unreasonable ambitions or a sudden outbreak of race hatred. All monarchs and statesmen and all nations know that a war of group against group would be an enormous disaster. They are no longer answerable only to themselves. A cartoon is shown. The caption reads "He won't be happy till he gets it" and shows a caricature of Kaiser Wilhelm II reaching into a bathtub, grabbing a bar of soap shaped like Europe.