Why were there two armed camps in Europe 1914

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  • Created on: 03-05-15 14:26
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  • Why were there 2 armed camps in Europe 1914?
    • The triple alliance
      • Between Germany Austria-Hungary and Italy - it was signed in 1882
        • Designed to isolate France after they lossed the Franco-prussian war of 1870-71.
      • It formed a central block of countries across Europe
        • It separated France from Russia and was a defensive alliance - all 3 would fight if one was attacked by two powers
          • Designed to isolate France after they lossed the Franco-prussian war of 1870-71.
    • The Franco-Russian Alliance
      • France signed the treaty of Frankfurt -it lost Alsace Lorraine and had to pay Germany £200 million
        • France hated Germany and wanted revenge - this dominated their foreign policy
          • formed an alliance between the autocratic Tsar of Russia and the peoples republic of France
            • They were reluctant to become allies and the talks between them lasted 2 years before an agreement was signed in 1893
              • The alliance became firmer when France loaned money to Russia for the development of railways.
              • The terms were defensive - both agreed to join in war if either were attacked by Germany or Austria Hungary
                • This was a great success for France as it had emerged from isolation
      • Europe was divided into 2 armed camps and Germany would face a war on 2 fronts if it broke out
        • This was a great success for France as it had emerged from isolation
    • Britain and splendid Isolation
      • GB was happy to remain isolated from the alliances as long as no single power gained complete control
        • 'Splendid Isolation' depended on the strength of the GB navy for protection, trade and communicatio-ns with its empire
      • Most of GB's problems involved clashes with France and Russian so GB worried about the Franco Russian Alliance
        • Gb's natural ally was Germany: it was not a colonial power and was not therefore as a rival to GB and the two royal families were related.
      • 2 Events between 1898 and 1902 made GB question its policy
        • In 1898 Germany began to build a navy. Gb could not understand this as Germany had no empire and the strongest army in  Europe - many in GB saw it a threat to GB's naval suprmemecy
        • In 1899 the Boers in South Africa rebelled against GB - this war lasted until 1902 most of Europe sympathised with the Boers and the Kaiser made this public - annoying GB
    • The Anglo-Japanese Alliance
      • In 1902 GB and Japan signed an alliance - they promised to help each other if one of them was attacked more than 1 powers
      • It reinforced 'splendid isolation as GB had an ally in the far east to prevent Russian expansion and the Boer war ended without any resistance from Europe - GB needed no allies in Europe
    • The Entente Cordiale
      • GB was becoming worried about the size of the German naval fleet - it was not strong enough to challenge GB but could sway a war between GB and France or GB and Russia.
        • in 1902 GB put its navy on the three power standard so it had to be as large as the next 3 largest worldwide fleets combined.
          • in 1903-1904 GB and France signed the Entente Cordiale - it was an agreement not an alliance.
            • GB could go on with reforms in Egypt and France could act in Morroco without GB opposition
            • GB had wanted no involvement in European affairs and its colonial problems in Egypt had been solved, its ally in japan was defeating Russia and GB had reached its goal of a three power standard
              • Germany did not see it this way - they saw it as an alliance with France and intended to challenge it
    • Kaiser Wilhelm's aims in foreign policy
      • He wanted to be in the international limelight. He saw himself as the heroic leader of the German army and navy and wished to make Germany the WELT POLITIK
        • He was jelous of GB and he often upset other countries with dramatic gestures and statements.
          • His led to him supporting building up the German Navy and Challenging France in Morroco
    • Crisis in Morroco
      • It was not controlled by a European power. However France intended to rule morroco and in 1905 Germany decided to oppose this.
        • The kaiser visited Tangier in Morocco and rode through the streets on a white horse accompanied by a military band and Moroccan troops.
          • He announced that Germany supported an independent Morocco and called for an international conference to discuss Morocco's future. This was aimed at preventing French occupation of Morocco and testing the entente cordiale.
            • The conference was held in 1906 at Algeciras in Spain. GB and Russia supported france and A-Hungary and Morocco supported  Germany
              • France had to recognise Moroccan independence but but was given joint control with Spain of the Morrocan police - meaning Germany had failed in its aims and even worse - the entente cordiale was strengthened.
                • GB was concerned about Germany and began secret military talks with France. GB had no intention f becoming a formal ally of France but both felt more secure and GB seemed to be taking more of an interest in European affairs.
    • The Anglo Russian agreement
      • Supporting France over Morroco led to the signing of the Anglo Russian agreement
        • The entente cordiale and Anglo Russian agreement were not military alliances but they solved the colonial problems between GB and France and Russia especially in Tibet and Persia.
          • Germany believed these alliances were designed to surround them through the policy of encirclement, Fears like this occured because the terms of the agreements were secret
    • The Bosnian Crisis
      • In 1908 there was a revolution in turkey , AH took advantage of this to annex Bosnia, one of the small Slav states in the Balkans under the control of turkey
        • This annoyed Serbia but it was too small to resist AH, so it appealed to Russia for help.
          • Russia was annoyed with AH for annexing Bosnia without telling them, as Russia had long been a supporter of the Slavs so it backed Serbia's demands for an international conference, Everything depended on the Kaiser.
            • Wilhelm the second was annoyed with AH because it had acted against Bosnia without consulting him but he still promised his full support against Russia. This was probably because he was annoyed by the Anglo-Russian agreement. Russia was too weak to fight and backed down when challenged
              • The effects of the Bosnian crisis
                • Austria-Hungary now felt it had the full support of Germany, which affected how it acted in 1914.
                • Italy did not like Austria Hungary expanding into the Balkans, so it became less keen on the triple alliance
                • Russia had been humiliated by Germany and it was determined that this would not happen again, which led to military improvement in Russia
                • It brought Britain, France and Russia closer together because now all of them had a reason to dislike Germany.
                • Serbia had been forced to accept the annexation but was now  determined to oppose Austria-Hungary and looked to Russia for further support.
    • Agadir:The second Moroccan Crisis
      • In 1911  a rebellion against the ruling Sultan in fez broke out, the capital of Morocco. The Sultan appealed to the French for help and the French army went to Morocco to put down the rebellion. The Germans reacted by sending a gun boat 'the Panther' to the port of Agadir to protect to protect german interests in Morocco
        • This seemed fair to the Germans as the French had sent their army to Fez to protect French interests there. The Germans expected France would take over Morocco but because they had shown an interest they expected France to negotiate with them.
          • The Gunbot was another example of  an over reaction of the Germans and it was seen as a warlike action as it occurred during the Naval race with the UK.
            • GB thought that the Germans were planning on building an Atlantic nval base and use it to challenge GB's base in Gibraltar. This Naval action of Germany led to GB supporting France
              • Preparations for war were made in Germany, GB and France in 1911, but, in the end, Germany backed down and accepted compensatio-n through 2 marshy strips of land in the French Congo in return for accepting French rule in Morocco.
                • The Agadir crisis was far more dangerous for Europe than the previous Crisis and Bosnia. It brought Europe close to war and affected the relationships between powers.
                  • Germany felt humiliated and if there was any future crisis in which German interests were involved, it was unlikely to back down.
                  • Britain became more convinced that Germany wanted to dominate Europe
                  • The German people felt more annoyed with  GB than France and the German public opinion was beginning to support the idea of a war
                  • GB reached a secret naval agreement with France. GB promised to defend the north coast of France if it was attacked from the sea, France promised to defend the Mediterranea-n.
                  • Italy opposed Germany over Agadir, which weakened the triple alliance and meant Germany relied more on A-H.
    • The Anglo- German Naval race
      • The launch of the dreadnaught in 1906 showed a faster bigger ship that would wipe out old gunships in 5 minutes. The power of navies was now measured in how many Dreadnoughts it had. Germany felt it could challenge Gb if it had enough dreadnaughts - This led to the Naval race.
        • It played a vital part in GB making agreements with France  and Russia.  In 1909 the Germans were speeding up their production and the public opinion was the GB was alarmed by this , as it was believed Germany's intentions were to dominate Europe.
          • In 1909 the plan to build 4 more dreadnoughts was doubled because of groups who used the slogan 'we want 8 and we cant wait.' The Agadir Crisis of 1911 increased Gb's fears of Germany's aims as war became a possibility for the first time .
            • After 1911 the Naval race continued but it was less intense because GB had gone further ahead. Germany did not seem to realise the threat that it's navy was to GB. Germany needed its Army GB needed its Navy , the Naval rivalry did not directly cause the war but it made GB and German more likely to fight against each other
    • The arms race
      • By 1907 Europe had been divided into 2 armed camps: The triple alliance and the triple entente. The alliances were secret and defensive. However all powers involved felt each alliance was directed against them. Germany felt the entente powers were trying to surround it while the Entente felt Germany was trying to expand into their lands . The Fear and crises that these alliances caused also led to these countries building up their armies
        • Fance in 1900 = 0.7 million - 1914 = 1 million
        • GB in 1900 = 0.5 million - 1914 = 0.4 million
        • Russia in  1900 =  1.1 million - 1914 =  1.5 million
        • A-H  in 1900 = 0.25 million 1914= 0.48 million
        • Germany in 1900 = 0.5 million - 1914 = 0.8 million
        • Italy in 1900 = 0.25 million - 1914 = 0.35 million

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