Essay: What factors led to the outbreak of the War in 1914?

1914 was the year that global mass destruction had begun with millions of lives to be lost. World War One affected millions of people across the world in some way whether it had been through the causes of World War One known as the Franco-Prussian War, the Alliances Systems, The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand or the Bosnian Crisis or through the consequences and aftermath of the war being the Spanish flu, the outbreak of World War Two, Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand or The Women At War. Together World War One affected and changed the world forever and it will be a part of history that will never be forgotten.
Franco-Prussian War
A long term political cause that contributed to the outbreak of World War One was the Franco-Prussian war which was significant because it led to increased tension in Europe. In 1866 Austria and Prussia went to war with the outcome of Prussia winning the war. It was then confirmed the leadership of the German states begun to threaten Frances particular stance as the dominant power of Europe. This caused significant tension and in the 1870’s the German state of Prussia declared war with France. Prussia wanted to show they were a country not to be underestimated and to achieve the idea of expanding their empire to make a single German nation. Both France and Prussia went into the war with the idea and hope that they both thought their country would win the war. July 19th 1870 a war between France and Prussia had begun. Unfortunately, the war did not go as planned for France as they did not get the support they were hoping for from Austria, whereas Prussia came in much more prepared than France and had gained support from other German states. France was found not only outnumbered as Prussia conscripted troops to go to war but Prussia also came more prepared and seemed to be more skilled compared to France. May 10th 1871 France had been defeated and overpowered by Prussia. This gave Prussia their original hope of creating a single German nation by seizing French territories. France was also deemed to pay a reparation of £200million. The Prussian leader Wilhelm II was now Kaiser if the German Empire and was crowned at the French Palace of Versailles. This made France incredibly angry and bitter and that is the reason why the Franco-Prussian War was a cause of the outbreak of World War One.
Alliance System
Another significant factor that led to the outbreak of the War in 1914 was the creation of the Alliance System which bound the Great Powers into supporting each other during conflicts. During the 1870s many alliance agreements were put in place by the German Kaiser, Bismark to prevent France from having an opportunity to seek revenge and to gain power. Bismark discovered an issue by being surrounded by two opposing allied powers being Russia and France. 1873 was the year Bismark created an alliance system called ‘The Three Emperors League’ between Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary. Bismark knew he needed Austria support in order to have Austria’s cooperation in the future. In 1879 Bismark created one of the most significant alliances with Austria- Hungary which was then called the ‘Dual Alliance’. This agreement was much stricter in comparison to ‘The Three Emperors League’. Bismark tried to prevent as many wars as possible in his favour due to at this time Germany was much weaker compared to opposing powers and being surrounded by stronger countries Bismark knew that Germany was not strong or wealthy enough to win a war. Overtime Bismark knew if he created alliances with the opposing powers this would give Germany a chance to prepare if a war was to occur. During 1888 Russia began loaning money from France as France wanted to create a relationship with Russia which continued to develop especially when Wilhelm II supported the lapse of the Reinsurance treaty in 1890, a stronger relationship between France and Russia developed. The Franco-Russian alliance was created in 1895 when both France and Russia agreed and signed to mobilise their armies and fight together is Germany was to undergo an attack on them. This was a significant cause of World War One was many bitterness began to rise from Great Powers combining and creating alliances during the time of conflicts.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Another significant cause that led to the outbreak of World War One is the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which caused the outbreak almost immediately. On the 28th June 1914 the heir to the Austrian empire, Franz Ferdinand traveled to the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo which is located in the South-East of Austria where the people wanted to become independent from Austria and become a nation of their own. Ferdinand’s visit caused outrage and controversy but the threats and warnings were ignored in order to create an outlook that their family was in control.  During his travels to Sarajevo, one of Ferdinand’s cars was hit by a grenade killing one of his officers and injured another. He then ordered to be taken to the hospital to visit the injured officer but on the way sense of direction was lost. When they exited the car to figure out where they had pulled up beside Gavrilo Princip. Princip who was a member of the Black Hand Gang, which was a group who strongly wanted to enforce Bosnia becoming independent from Austria, retrieved his revolver and assassinated Ferdinand and his wife. This was believed to be the most immediate cause of World War One.
Bosnian Crisis
During 1908 a majority of the great powers including Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia developed a significant interest in the Balkan region after Serbia began to blame Austria for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. ‘The Black Hand Gang’ was a group of people that wanted Bosnia to become an independent state from Austria that Serbia supported and began supplying them with weapons. Serbia had hopes of Bosnia becoming independent from Austria with the idea of Bosnia joining Serbia to become a Balkan state. Russia was brung in by Serbia with the idea that if Austria was to attack, Russia is much stronger than the Austria Empire and would not be able to cope with an Austro-Russia War. In defensive, Austria called upon Germany to back them so they had a stronger army if a war was to occur with Russia. Germany created a plan which was called the Schlieffen Plan where they had estimated it would take Russia around a full six weeks to prepare and mobilise troops. While they believed Russia was mobilising they believed they would try to attack France by going through Belgium and continue to attack Russia. Britain had made an agreement with Belgium that if they were to be attacked Britain would be in full support and would attack whoever was to attack Belgium. Six countries had tension building while on the verge of War which was a cause of World War One.
July Crisis
During the time from the 28th of June 1914 to the 4th of August 1914, there had been serious tension building which escalated to the British declaring war upon Germany. During the five weeks, decisions were made that then lead to the outbreak of a European War which after these events occurred a lot of damaged and bitterness formed to multiple countries of the world and in consequence they had decided to go to a World War, which is now known as World War One. Many of the troops thought to be home by Christmas but instead were confronted with 4 years worth of fighting and long term damage ending in 1918. With many men lost from both sides, there were to be significant consequences that occurred from the outbreak of World War One which changed and affected the world.
Spanish Flu
A deviating consequence of World War One was the large outbreak of the Spanish Flu. This flu was a fatal illness which affected and killed many people from all over the world. This flu managed to spread around in three different waves. Starting of the Spanish Flu began on March 11th, 1918 when a man who was known as Albert Mitchell, came down with what everyone believed to be a cold but had been put into isolation. Within five weeks over 1,100 had believed to have caught the virus with 46 death occurring. The virus had excruciating effects such as coughing with force it would tear abdominal muscles, fever, colour changing to blue, vomiting blood and blood leaking from the patient’s nose and ears. Unfortunately, in the end, thousands of people had caught the virus due to men unknowingly spread it due to coming off ships and traveling to multiple countries. An American soldier who traveled through Europe had believed to pass it on to a French slider which caused the virus to spread all over Europe including affecting not only soldiers but civilians also. The Spanish Government had then publicly announced the spread of the flu which is where the name ‘The Spanish Flu’ originated from but the virus itself is still uncertain of where it began. The flu was then to have thought to have spread to countries such as Africa, India, Russia and also New Zealand. The first lot of the virus had spread almost worldwide. The virus had a second outbreak which spread to places such as America and France which began killing people within days but then continued to spread and caused a third outbreak around the time of the end of World War One due to mass amounts of hugs and kisses which caused another large outbreak. It spread worldwide and overall devastatingly killed between 20-50 million people.
World War Two
A significant consequence of World War One was the outbreak of World War Two. After World War One ending with Germany surrendering all nations came to build a peace settlement called the ‘Treaty Of Versailles.’ Throughout this agreement, Germany was forced to pay 6.6 billion pounds, reduce their army to 100,000 men, hand over mass amounts of land and to disarm their army. Germany was not only upset but bitter towards their punishment and having to accept the blame for World War One. The US stock market crashed causing a rise in unemployment rates to twenty-five percent and it wasn’t a short term problem but continued for 10 years. America had to break their loans to Germany which lead to Germany becoming in debt from war. As time contained by 1929 over 1.5 million Germans were unemployed which continued to rise significantly. People were living in poverty struggling to survive. This caused suicide and homelessness rates to increase which left the German people fighting for an answer. Adolf Hitler began talking about Germanys problems to the people, telling them what they wanted to hear to become in power of Germany. Hitler was bitter and angry about Germany’s situation and turned against the entire Jewish race for the loss of World War One which causes the Holocaust which led to over 60 million lives lost. Hitler began invading Poland to retrieve land for the German people to live on which they lost at after the war. Britain signed with Poland in an agreement that supported them through their military if they were to be attacked. World War Two was then declared by Britain.
Anzac
Anzac was one of the most significant consequences that still affects millions of people around the world but specifically to Australia and New Zealand. Anzac has a very raw emotional effect on people still to this day. In the countries of Australia and New Zealand Anzac has such a significant impact on people that a public holiday is set in place and a ‘Dawn Parade’ is held in a majority of towns and cities where the public come together to remember the soldiers who fought in World War One. A bugle is played with the remembrance song ‘The Last Post’ while the countries flag is lowered and once finished a minute silence is set to remember the soldiers who lost their lives fighting for their country. This service has been held every year since the end of World War One to remember the soldiers who fought. Anzac parades have increased in people getting involved as the years go on and will continue to be an important part of Australia and New Zealand’s culture.
Women At War
Another consequence of World War One was the role the women developed as they were required to step up into many of the men’s roles during the war. A women role before the war consisted of bringing up the children, cooking and cleaning while the male was set to work to supply and bring money in for the family. When the war began a mass majority of men were conscripted or volunteered to go to war to fight for their country. This caused a problem as the men’s jobs were left unfilled with only women left to fill them in. Women began developing skills in farming, factory jobs, building and helping send supplies to the military due to the jobs that had been left behind when the men who went to war. Women were mainly on part time contracts until the war had ended. Men who had returned wanted their original jobs back. Women not only developed skills but built a positive realisation that they are capable of more than looking after children, cooking and cleaning. They saw that they were just as capable of doing jobs the men were set to do and they began to campaign for women’s right to be allowed to work the same jobs then men do after proving they were more than capable. 1818 was a year one woman was elected into parliament and began a new phase for women to work.
Significance to New Zealand
World War One had a significant impact on almost everyone in New Zealand’s society. People throughout families and communities became greatly affected in some way because of the war whether it was knowing someone who had gone to war or the aftermath on how society changed once the men had returned. Over 120,00 men enlisted for war and around 105,000 men ended up serving in the army overseas with New Zealand’s population at the time was just over one million. Tragically around 19,000 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives during the war which was the same as around one in five men who went to war sadly lost their lives. Families and communities in New Zealand grieved and had to come to terms with the loss of loved ones, with a majority of the men killed were very young. This caused heartbreak for many families as they believed they were sent away too soon and some soldiers never returning home to their families causes a lot of psychological damage to people which changed their lives forever. During the war, many men had to leave their jobs to serve their country which left jobs unfilled and only women left to fill them. This caused movement for working women which was the start of a change in society itself for New Zealand. Today there is still a huge significant remembrance to the soldiers who fought for New Zealand known as ANZAC day.  This day is a public holiday nationwide held on the 25th of April every year and has begun to grow in interest with many more people beginning to attend the early morning Dawn Service. This is a day to pay respects to the fallen soldiers and to the soldier who fought for our country.
World War One was an event that was a major part of today’s history. With lives lost, people separated, women’s rights developed and people coming back together World War One had an impact on everyone around the world then and still to this day. The aftermath of World War One is still impacting millions and the remembrance of the soldiers who fought will never be forgotten.