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Were the foreign policies of European governments before 1914 conducive to the outbreak of war
seek revenge if ever it was possible. France’s traditional colonial rivalry threatened to erupt in 1905 because of the impending hostilities between Japan and Russia, allies of Britain and France respectively. However the hostilities led to an agreement between the two that they would not end up fighting against each other; this led to the Anglo-French Entente, which was primarily a colonial agreement. The Entente brought yet another European power into the network of alliances, and it meant for Germany that Austria-Hungary, possibly the weakest of the five great powers, remained as their only ally.
The Franco-Russian agreement held potentially dangerous consequences for Germany, as it now seemed inevitable that if war broke out, they would have to fight on two fronts. This led to another piece of foreign policy, one that resulted in full European participation in the war, the Schlieffen Plan. Through the Schlieffen plan Germany would attack the French through Belgium, and then defeat them quickly enough to attack the Russians before they were able to mobilise. The Schlieffen plan inevitably meant that any attack from Germany would result in France and Russia entering a war. Through Britain’s guarantee of Belgian neutrality, the potential that all five European powers would become involved in a war.
British could possibly be described as the only nation not to have a foreign policy conducive to the outbreak of war. The British sought to create a balance of power in Europe, and were more concerned about maintaining their colonial empire than involving themselves in a British conflict. However, the challenge to naval supremacy by the Germans, and Germany’s colonial ambitions certainly brought about criticism from the British. The guarantee of Belgian neutrality was what eventually what brought Britain into the war, but it could hardly be seen as a policy conducive to the outbreak of war, in fact the opposite could easily be argued.
The respective foreign policies of the European powers before 1914 were certainly conducive to the outbreak of war. The build-up of the two power blocs, and the general distrust among nations led to the creation of a situation that needed just a spark to produce an explosion into war. Michael Howard is quite correct in stating that “from 1911 onwards it is hard to find any military leader suggesting that war could or should any longer be avoided”. The respective foreign polices of European nations had led to an inevitable decline into war that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand only accelerated. Henig, Ruth. The Origins of the First World War, London, 1989.
Howard, Michael. ‘Europe on the eve of the First World War’ in R.J.W. Evans and Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann (eds.) The Coming of the First World War, New York, 1988. pp. 5-10.
Joll, James. The Origins of the First World War, London, 1992.
Rich, Norman. Friedrich von Holstein: Politics and Diplomacy in the Era of Bismarck and Wilheim II, London, 1965.
White, John Albert. Transition to Global Rivalry, Cambridge, 1995.
Wilson, Keith. ‘European Diplomacy 1871-1914’ in Martin Pugh (ed.) A Companion to [next page]