Origins of World War I

04 October 2004 (Lecture #16)

• New alliances form in order to protect economic and political interests

o Countries militarize to have a sense of security and industrialize which stimulates the economy

o Arms race ensues – vision of total war in which industry would be destroyed

o Diplomats feel Europe will be destroyed if war comes – feels that no country would do this

o If a country mobilizes, its economy’s focus changes, putting it behind other nations unless they actually go to war

§ Puts pressure on countries which mobilize to actually to go to war or put themselves at a disadvantage

• The Schlieffen Plan – devote most forces to attack into France and a small amount to the Russian border

o Russia is slow to mobilize – force France out of the war and then turn around and defeat Russia

o Required a strict timetable – Paris must be captured before Russia mobilized

• Balkan Tensions – Austrians try to convince Russia not to defend Serbia upon invasion because Serbs had killed Aus. leader

o Russia refuses because Serbia has a similar background and it could cut them off from the sea (Russia wants it too)

o Germans mobilize because they have to fight before Russia can mobilize

o Every nation joins to defend itself and power balance except Austria-Hungary

Conclusions

• Competitive alliance system in which a nation could not back down without hurting its interests
• No mechanism to resolve conflict