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GO131:International Relations
Professor Walter HatchColby College
World War I
“The Great War”
“A war to end all wars”
World War One: Basic Facts
A monumental event of heavy artillery and trench fighting37.5 million casualties (15 million soldiers killed)Chemical weapons (poison gas) deployedFour empires destroyed
GermanAustria-HungarianRussianOttoman
How did it happen?
Balance of power (realism)
Domestic conflict (liberalism)
Rise of nationalism (constructivism)
Rise of imperalism (Marxism)
Background:German Industrialization
Krupp Plant
Background: German Unification
War with Denmark (1864)
War with Austria (1866)
War with France (1870-1)
Bismarck’s Revived Concert(1870-1890)
Germany Outflanked
Alliances Become Less Flexible
Triple Alliance (1882)Germany
Austria-Hungry
Italy
Triple EntenteFrance and Russia (1893)
Britain and France (1904)
Britain and Russia (1907)
Kaiser Wilhelm II:Moroccan Crises
Crisis One (1905-6)German opposition to French claims
Crisis Two (1911)Gunboat diplomacy
Austria-Hungary’s Franz Josef:The Bosnian Crisis (1908)
Young Turks come to power
Bulgaria claims independence
Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina
Balkan Crises
First war (1912): Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece against Turkey
Second war (1913) Serbia, Greece, and Romania against Bulgaria
Igniting the Conflict
June 28, 1914
Serbian nationalist (terrorist) assassinates Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo
Europe on the Eve of WWI
Sequence of Events
July 23: Austria-Hungary secures German support, sends ultimatum to SerbiaJuly 25: Serbia secures Russian support, rejects ultimatumJuly 26: Germany and Austria reject British call for international conferenceJuly 29: Austria attacks Serbia; Russian troops mobilize against Austria
Nicholas II inspects Russian troops
Sequence of Events (cont.)
July 31: Germany demands Russian demobilizationAugust 1: Germany declares war on Russia; British and French troops mobilize as Germany invades LuxembourgAugust 3: Germany declares war on FranceAugust 4: Britain declares war on Germany as German troops march into Belgium
Kaiser Wilhelm inspects the troops
Belgians retreat into Holland
Germany’s Schlieffen Plan
Stalemate
German trench
German artillery battered
RAF (British) aviators
Downed German Zeppelin
Battles of Verdun and Somme (1916)
Somme, France
U.S. Enters the War (1917)
Competing explanations
Realism: Balance of Power
Classical Realists: State leaders locked themselves into inflexible alliances
Neo-Realists: Germany’s rise upset the existing balance of power
Realism: Balance of Threat
Stephen Walt: Perceptions (not merely resources) matter
Liberalism: Domestic Politics
Domestic conflict in Germany and UK
Germany: class divisions lead “iron and rye coalition” to launch “social imperialism”
UK: divisions with Liberal Party led to waffling
Constructivism: Nationalism
Pan-Slavism challenged two empires
Anti-Slavic sentiment in Germany
Stronger than family ties
Marxism-Leninism: Imperialism
Monopoly capitalism
Imperalism: Competing for overseas territories
Problems with this explanation