Fear+and+War

No country enters a war entirely due to fear, and the Great War is no exception. Although many countries seemed to enter the war as much from fear as out of motives of gain, each country had something to gain from entrance into the war. However, these gains were not strictly territorial. As British historian J.A.S. Grenville stated, "the war was a gigantic contest between them to determine their power in Europe and the wider world" (Grenville 98). It was the the arrangement of alliances among the allies and the  that set the war into motion, and fear as well as the desire for national growth established these alliances. Although the  and the  were seen as precautionary steps taken by the allies to anticipate the looming threat of the German question, the allied nations also improved relations amongst each other for means of expanding imperial interests. History tends to shy away from this fact, often blaming Germany and Austria-Hungary for provoking the Great War because of Germany's policy of //weltpolitik//  and Austria-Hungary's attempt to re-consolidate their dying grasp over the Balkans, but as Jean-Luc Picard once said, “The victors invariably write the history to their own advantage.” Germany strove to assert herself in an attempt to become a 'world power' or decline and to address the threat of the growing relationship between Great Britain and France. Austria-Hungary too feared that the old Hapsburg Empire would soon disintegrate, a fear that made itself clear in the Balkans. =Germany=

The biggest threat to the ‘balance of power’ in Europe, Germany developed its motives for war as it developed as a nation. After the [|Franco-Prussian War in 1870], the German Empire was firmly established. Following its conception, Germany enjoyed tremendous population and industrial growth beginning in the late 19th century, and, by the late 1910s, Germany’s industry and population had surpassed those of powerful Great Britain. As Germany grew as a nation, so did the its ambitions to become a 'world power'. To fulfill its ambition of becoming a formidable entity, Germany sought to contend with neighboring nations on the world stage through imperialistic endeavors. So, beginning in the late 19th century, //weltpolitik// took Germany by storm and defined its diplomacy. Germany sought to assert itself on the world stage by securing overseas markets and to belittle the naval prowess of Great Britain. To fulfill these prospects, Germany would need a strong enough navy to accommodate a merchant marine and to keep British ships at shore. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, one of the biggest proponents of //weltpolitik//, sought to achieve a massive German naval build up. To do so, he appealed to the Reichstag, which passed the first Navy Law of 1898. Thus, Germany's overambitious naval build-up began. But, instead of helping it to assert power on the world stage, Germany's massive navy build up only added to European suspicion over what Germany would do next.  This suspicion was especially felt by Great Britain, who received Germany's Navy Law as a provocation. After rejecting the possibility of a mutual relationship with Germany, Great Britain settled its differences with France and established a relationship that would address the growing threat of the German empire. Thus, the //entente cordiale// was formed. Along with the Franco-Russian Alliance, which was established to anticipate potential German belligerency, Germany began to feel increasingly encircled as the surrounding nations of Great Britain, Russia, and France formed relationships against her. In response to the events that had occurred, Germany sought to reassert her power and discourage the //entente cordiale.// Germany's move came in French Morocco in 1905 when the Kaiser appealed to the Sultan and promised him support against French predominance. But instead of weakening the //entente cordiale,// Britain and France drew closer and even discussed military cooperation, which only added to Germany's feeling of encirclement. In 1911, Germany, again, sought to reassert herself at what resulted in the Agadir Crisis, where a German gunboat sailed off of the coast of Agadir in Morocco to frighten the French there. But, like the events that took place in 1905, Germany suffered diplomatic humiliation as Britain stood behind France and expressed its willingness to back her up Germany were to attack. Germany felt its position as a 'world power' start to diminish as Bethmann Hollweg, the German chancellor, vainly attempted to improve relations with Britain and establish an alliance with Russia. Soon, Germany's vision of //weltpolitik// was abandoned and its handle on the dying grasp it had over its position as a dominant power in Europe was tightened. Bethmann Hollweg soon saw war as Germany's only chance of regaining its hold in Europe. This sentiment was also held by the Kaiser and his military advisers as they met on December 8, 1912 to discuss war with France and Russia.It was Germany's desire to secure itself its 'place in the sun' that eventually led to the Great War. =Italy= Italy's involvement in the Great war was purely opportunistic. Unlike other belligerent nations, Italy entered the war on the grounds of gaining territory in its wake. Following its emergence as a unified nation, Giolitti fostered a sense of national pride throughout Italy to unite the country. One of the ways in which this was achieved was through irrendentism. This meant the absorption of Trentino and Trieste to the north of Italy, which were occupied by Austria-Hungary, and Nice and Savoy, which were within the boundaries of France.  Along with irrendentism, Italy also participated in the rush of European imperialism. In fact, it was the opportunism of Italy that influenced its alliances in the Great War; first with the Triple Alliance before the start of the war and then with the allies after it as Italy saw that an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary wouldn't ensure them their imperialistic goals. <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Aside from the territories of Trentino and Treiste to the north and Nice and Savoy to the west, Italy also looked to colonize the Turkish territories of Tunis and Tripolis. In fact, it was the French occupation of Tunis in 1881 that prompted Italy to join the Triple Alliance in 1882. But as a member of this alliance, Italy's imperial ambitions were far from realized. So, at the beginning of the 20th century, Italy sided with Great Britain and France to claim shares of North African territory, which an alliance with the allies ensured. =Austria-Hungary= <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Like its brother to the north, Austria-Hungary had ambitions of expanding its empire. The Dual Monarchy was preoccupied by the waning influence that it had over the Habsburg Empire and its vicinity and, after having lost predominance in the Italian and German states, it saw the Balkans as the last frontier to assert its power over. It was this motive of predominance that ultimately led to the provocation of the Great War. The Dual Monarchy's plans to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina was the motive of gain that caused the start of the Great War. In response to Austria-Hungary's desire to absorb Bosnia-Herzegovina, nationalistic sentiment developed in Serbia, which sympathized with the Serbian population of Bosnia-Herzegovina. After the subsequent assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which was linked to a Serbian terrorist group, the Dual Monarchy sought to reassert itself over Serbia and the rest of the Balkan area. This motive, in turn, set off the complex alliance system that existed among the allies and Germany and Austria-Hungary, marking the beginning of world war. =<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> France = <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">France, more than any other major power to take part in the First World War, entered the war due to motives of fear, but still had some gainful motivations. The French were aware of their secondary status as a military power and recognized that abandoning their alliances would leave them powerless against Germany. The required Russia and France to come to one another’s aid in war; the French used it, in 1905, as a safety net against the German. In the face of German aggression, the Entente Cordiale between France and Britain was established in 1905, leading to the dismissal of Theophile Delcasse and a hardening of the Franco-German relationship. Germany demanded French neutrality on 1 August. However, the French refused to remain neutral and joined their ally, Russia, in mobilizing their army. Germany thus declared war on France on 3 August. However, the French also had their own reasons for wanting to enter the war - namely, the province of Alsace-Lorraine, which was currently held by the Germans and which they believed was properly theirs. They also wished to preserve colonial holdings in North Africa, which Germany threatened in 1905 and 1911. <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">President Raymond Poincare led France into the war, calling for a “sacred union” to defend his country. This led to the creation of a unified national party encompassing all political beliefs, exhibiting the extraordinary belief in the power of the common good as a stabilizer that almost inevitably arises in a time of national crisis. <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">

= Russia = <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July. Russia, as Serbia’s ally, ordered mobilization of troops. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Serbian alliance was the result of Pan-Slavism, a belief in the unity and supremacy of all Slavic nations. Serbia was the most powerful Slavic nation outside of Russia, and the alliance of the two went along nicely with the ideals of Pan-Slavism. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Russian motivation for entering the war was mainly defensive; they wanted to protect their borders but also to assert themselves as a world power. Russia was not in a domestic situation to enter the war, which was proven in the [|Russian Revolution of 1917]. Tsar Nicholas II was overly confident about the abilities of the Russian army, and as a result believed them much more capable than they actually were. Thus, the country entered a war for which they were not prepared with very similar motivation to Germany: to demonstrate Russia's ability to act as a major political force. Like the French, they wished to reestablish their might after a humiliating military defeat at the hands of the Japanese in the [|Russo-Japanese War of 1904.] <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In addition, a successful war would boost Tsar Nicholas II’s public image, which was necessary for him to regain the authority he lost in the proletariat uprisings of 1905.

= Britain = <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August after Germany invaded Belgium, thereby violating international rule of law through breaching and providing Britain with adequate public reason to enter the conflict. Britain's primary interest in entering the war was to protect their colonial interests in their [|massive empire], and make sure Germany was subjugated and unable to form another European superpower that would overshadow that of Britain. To a degree, this reflects fear on the part of Great Britain. However, as the world's most powerful empire at the time, they wished to reaffirm their abilities to conquer other nations in the face of the relative decline of their power. In part, the British made the treaties with Russia and France due to the taking place in South Africa, which ended in 1902. <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Bibliography__ code <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Grenville, J.A.S. //A History of the World in the 20th Century//. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap code code <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> Press of Harvard University Press, 2000. Print. code