Modern Warfare and the concept of Total War

First world war Modern Warfare and the concept of Total War

●Post 1789: general military conscription replacing private paid armies

○Bigger and cheaper army ●Total war: complete mobilisation of means such as armed forces, money and industry ○Mobilisation of entire society for war effort (every aspect of society is involved and affected by the war) Causes of WWI ●Concert of europe: meeting between big powers to decide how to form a new european rule after Napoleonic era ○Power struggle between Russia, Prussia, Austria-Hungary, GB, Italy, Netherlands ●1815-1871: collaboration of european powers to maintain a certain balance of power within

europe but:

○Crimean war 1854-56: weakened both russia and austria hungary

○Unification of germany and italy made germany the largest power in europe ○GB came out stronger after the two unifications as it was not connected to the continent, and so isolated from problems there ●Imperialism made things more problematic for the concert of europe and division of power ○Congress of berlin put different powers straight across each other Bismarck’s system ●After congress of berlin 1878: bismarck created many alliances and treaties to consolidate german power in europe, as well as isolate france

●Franco Prussian war 1870: france lost eastern territory to german

●1879: zweibund alliance with austria hungary

○1881: dreikaiserbund with russia and austria hungary

○Deibund with italy and austria hungary to support each other against other two great powers ●Secret treaties against russia to prevent war on eastern and western fronts ●Power realism: every country had only a focus on its own safety and interests - distrust between european powers Great Britain ●Isolated and therefore not involved in conflicts in the continent ○Empire in relative decline - more jingoism ●Created the navy league and two power standard ○Navy always had to be twice as big and as strong as the two powers in second and third ○Great britain tariff reform league: protest against unfair foreign imports and to advocate imperial preference to protect british industry from foreign competition ●France as an adversary - after Fashoda incident 1898 1 / 3

○Climax of imperial territorial disputes between britain and france in eastern africa, GB won ●Russia as an adversary ○But now more germany

●1904: alliance with france (Entente cordiale)

○Two would help each other if one was attacked France ●Humiliated after loss of french german war ●Rise of chauvinism and revancism under french population and in government ●Domestic unrest due to Boulangism incident 1886-91 and Dreyfus-Affair 1894-1899 Austria Hungary ●Government and emperor with very conservative views ●Growing movement of pro separatism, wanting serbia to be independent of the rest of the empire ●Empire fixated on balkans and demise of ottoman empire ●Far behind economically and in political reform ○Industrialisation not widespread or advanced ●Looked for support in germany and russia Russia ●Far behind in modernisation (political and economic) ●Conservatives and pan-slavists dominating political landscape - wanted separation of slavish states from russia ●Looked for support from france - triple entente 1907 GB france russia Germany ●Focused on becoming a world power through imperialism and colonialism ○Weltpolitik ●Flottenverein plan to expand and strengthen navy to the level of british navy ●Bund der Landwirte - pressure and interest group for agricultural sector ●Focused on dreibund ●Wanted to start the war with military leadership - Von Schlieffen plan ○Attacking france through belgium from north to crush the enemy before there is a threat and opportunity of mobilisation

Great war: summer 1914

●28 June: murder of franz ferdinand in saravejo

○Murdered by a member of the blackhand - separatist group of serbia

●28 july: austria hungary declares war on serbia

●Russia mobilises troops to support serbia and help them against the attacks of the austrian hungarian empire 2 / 3

●Germany responded to action of russia by declaring war on russia

●3 august: germany declares war on france

●4 august: britain declares war on germany (alliance to france)

1917 as a turning point:

●A lot of political consequences from attrition warfare ○Military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous loss in personnel and material (so war is usually won by the side with more resources) ●31 january: unlimited submarine warfare and america joins war to protect trade

●Throughout: 2 russian revolutions - bolsheviks win and retreat from WW1

●September onwards military dictatorship in germany - von Hindenburg ●French mutiny until arrival of le tigre in november Treaty of Versaille and Wilson’s 14 points 14 points ●New diplomacy rules between countries - no more secret treaties ●Freedom of sea for trade ●Some autonomy in colonies ●Right to self determination in europe - right to vote

●NATO

Treaty of Versailles ●Completed in 3 months: germany seen as starter of war and had to pay massive reparations but german power not destroyed ●Recognition of national self determination in europe ●Left europe weak due to rise of american government Tragedy of Weimar & Great Depression Historiography

●Stillborn thesis:

○Structuralist and deterministic ○Republic is doomed from the start ○Clear cut with empire never made and conservative group remains too influential (Hindenburg) ○Republic without republicans

●Murder thesis:

○Elitist ○Deliberate plan of old imperial elite that never wanted a democratic state and therefore waited for the right time to finish off

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