Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Militarism:
Nationalism:
The July Crisis:
-
The Great Powers believed that the war would be a very short one;
most of the people in Britian believed that the war would end until
Christmas.
Austria:
-
Germany had plans for war before the crisis of 1914, and the
assassination of the Archduk Franz Ferdinand provided an
excuse for Germany to implement its plans.
== Germany felt that it should support its ally Austria or risk serious
consequences. If Russia drove Austria out from Serbia and
established itself in the Balkans, Germanys security would be
largely affected. If France gave support and retook Alsace
Lorraine, Germany would not be secure. If the Kaiser showed
weaknesses, this would further develop into a war, and Germany
believed that war should be faced earlier before Russia grows
stronger and especially tensions between France due to Alsace
Lorraine has been ongoing for years.
Imperialism had increased conflicts with other powers and there
may have been plans to expand Germanys imperial territory by
conquests in Russia, where the Ukraine offered a tempting
prospect of food supply for a growing German population.
- Growth of military power
war was the apex of capitalist desire for new markets and territory
supported by the fact that many arms manufacturers and steel companies
profited from war
counter-arguments:
o scramble for Africa and Asia did not result in hegemonic war
o primary western European industries (e.g. steel, coal, iron) became
increasingly interdependent before 1914, making peace desirable for
capitalists
o evidence for influence of capitalist businessmen on European foreign policy
is lacking
o not all German monopoly capitalists supported war (at least two were
found to oppose it)
o