Origins of WW1

Question 1

How did some people justify fighting the war?

Answer 1

Because they saw it as being against dangerous enemies

Question 2

Why was there a sense that Britain was not feeling very European?

Answer 2

Both World Wars would not be fought on their soil

Question 3

What were the 4 Empires that ended as a result of WW1?

Answer 3

Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman and Tsarist

Question 4

Which regime can be argued to have been created by WW1?

Answer 4

The Communist Regime under Lenin in the Russian Revolution

Question 5

How did the War affect Italy, in regards to fascism?

Answer 5

Mussolini’s regime was born from the debate around Italy joining the war or not

Question 6

How did the war affect the relationship between European powers and their non-European colonies?

Answer 6

They had to rely on men from their colonies

Question 7

How did the war affect the relationship between States and Society?

Answer 7

There was popular resentment against the state in many European nations - the actual systems themselves rather than the parties involved

Question 8

In what way can you argue the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand highlights an underlying cause of the War?

Answer 8

He was the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne (a declining empire) which contained various nationalist movements seeking independence. He was then killed by a Serbian nationalist.

Question 9

What were the ‘power crises’ (medium term causes) that helped cause the war?

Answer 9

1. Area of the Balkan States becomes both important for Russia and Germany/Austria as it acts as a possible corridor for expansion
2. Militarism/Arms race - considering how important technology was in the war
3. Imperialist Rivalries
4. Significance of the Alliance System

Question 10

Where in the world is a good example of Imperial Rivalries?

Answer 10

Germany making threats towards French territories in North Africa (Morocco etc)

Question 11

What was the significance of the Alliance System? And when had this system started?

Answer 11

Started in the 1870s and 1880s, it resulted in a Europe split into Central Powers and Allied Powers

Question 12

How did the historiography regarding who was to blame for WW1 change?

Answer 12

In the first few decades after the war it was thought the Germans were to blame (1918-19 ‘war guilt’ ruling”), but by the late 20s/30s this thesis was dismantled. Sponsored by post-war governments who used documents to ‘prove’ Germany’s innocence and instead shift blame to Russia and France etc - as they saw that Germany could be an ally against the up and coming threat of the Soviets. However after WW2 German blame was extrapolated backwards to include the First World War too

Question 13

What was the ‘Fischer Thesis’? Who opposed it and what was agreed upon?

Answer 13

The idea that the militaristic German society not only caused the Second World War, but also the First. The German establishment (historians and politicians) were outraged and tried to discredit its followers. Most disagree with Fischer that the world was intentionally provoked - and instead concluded that there were key decision makers in every European country who considered a European war a risk worth taking

Question 14

What did some people argue the War would do to European Culture?

Answer 14

It would save it and Nation States, as well as improve the mettle of Europeans

Question 15

What has the recent historiography shown in regards to emotion?

Answer 15

There was a definite undercurrent of emotion in the build up to the war - with many individuals fearing what was going to happen

Question 16

What popular phrase regarding the war contrasted with the positive outlook on the war held by some intellectuals?

Answer 16

‘Lions led by Donkeys’

Question 17

Why couldn’t those who saw what was going to happen, do anything about it?

Answer 17

Because retreat would be seen as dishonourable

Question 18

What other evidence is there for the emotional side of politics in the lead up to the war?

Answer 18

Evidence that some ambassadors were tearful on the eve of war - an idea that contrasted with the idea of masculinity

Question 19

Which two factors helped cause more discontent amongst those living in urban settings?

Answer 19

Urbanisation and disease

Question 20

What two diseases were the most prominent at this time?

Answer 20

Cholera and Typhus

Question 21

How were Darwin’s theories manipulated to justify a war?

Answer 21

His ideas regarding natural science were distorted to apply to ‘social science’ (Social Darwinism) - which meant the idea of survival of the fittest was applied to humans

Question 22

What was a common justification of the war by the upper echelons of society?

Answer 22

It would be rejuvenating and correct the ‘cowardly years’

Question 23

What is ‘Jingoism’? And what did it combine with to help cause the war?

Answer 23

Aggressive patriotism. Which was combined with the increased military spending and militarism/arms race

Question 24

Why was war welcomed by many?

Answer 24

It was seen as regenerative, purifying a release from bourgeois sterility

Question 25

How was the war linked with a religious experience? And which key individual saw the war this way?

Answer 25

It was a process of expiation (atoning) ‘through fire and cleansing’. And many referred to the war using quasi-religious language: sacred, redemption etc.

Adolf Hitler

Question 26

What helped foster a feeling of ‘national decline’?

Answer 26

1. It was hard to maintain empires
2. ‘New’ nations like Italy and Germany - unified nations – want empires to consolidate nationhood
3. Small nations threatened old empires - like Serbia with Austria-Hungary

Question 27

In Central Europe what was the sense of national decline linked to?

Answer 27

With the threat of racial mixture

Anti-semitism