The First World War, Causes and Military History: An Overview

Gary Sheffield

The Origins of the War [1]

The First World War was the product of Great Power rivalry, and in particular a bid for hegemony in Europe by a dissatisfied power. The years 1870-71 are a convenient starting point for a discussion of the origins of the Great War, for in those years the existing balance of power in Europe was overturned by the victory of Prussia over France, which up to that point had been the Continent’s dominant military power. As a consequence of the war the numerous German states (except Austria) were united into an Empire under the Prussian king, now the German Emperor. Remarkably, instead of triggering a prolonged period of instability and conflict in Europe, the German victory led to a period of peace. Under the ‘Iron Chancellor’, Otto von Bismarck, the architect of German Unification, Germany became a conservative power, content to remain within the post-1871 balance of power, and adept at keeping France diplomatically isolated. This changed with the accession of Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Imperial throne in 1888.

Wilhelm was an unstable character, a young and impatient man who chafed at Bismarck’s caution and conservatism. In 1890 Bismarck was forced out of office. Over the next few years, Germany, the most powerful state in Europe, moved towards fulfilling Wilhelm’s ambition of Weltpolitik (world power). Germany’s bellicose and clumsy foreign policy was a major step along the road to war. Deeply alarmed, Czarist Russia and Republican France signed a treaty in 1894. France had never been reconciled to the loss of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine in 1871, and Germany had allowed the so-called ‘Reinsurance’ treaty with Russia to lapse. Both France and Russia were concerned at a potential German threat, although from Berlin’s perspective Germany was in danger of being encircled.