# From 1870 to 1914: Towards the First World War

History II · Contemporary History · https://tryals.app/learn/history-ii/from-1870-to-1914-towards-the-first-world-war

## Systems Do Not Make Decisions

Bismarck's diplomacy aimed to isolate France and keep Austria and Russia peaceful. He constructed a complex network of agreements:

* The **Dual Alliance** with Austria-Hungary (1879)
* The **Triple Alliance** adding Italy (1882)
* The **Reinsurance Treaty** with Russia (1887)

Wilhelm II let the Russian treaty lapse. Consequently, Russia allied with **France in 1894**. Britain then ended its isolation through two **colonial settlements**:

* The **Entente Cordiale** (**1904**) resolved disputes over Egypt and Morocco.
* The **Anglo-Russian Convention** (**1907**) settled spheres in Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet.

These were not military alliances. In 1914, Britain entered the war over the invasion of Belgium, not an entente obligation.

Security tensions escalated through the Anglo-German **naval race**. German Naval Laws in 1898 and 1900 challenged British supremacy. Britain launched HMS **Dreadnought** in **1906**, resetting naval competition.

A series of international crises followed:

| Crisis | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|
| First Moroccan | 1905–06 | Germany isolated at Algeciras |
| Bosnian annexation | 1908 | Russia humiliated; Serbia inflamed |
| Agadir Crisis | 1911 | Anglo-French cooperation deepens |
| Balkan Wars | 1912–13 | Serbia doubles in size |

## The Road to 1914

Domestic politics also transformed Europe before the war. The German **SPD** won **35 per cent** (35) of the vote in the 1912 Reichstag elections. The Second International, founded in 1889, opposed imperialist war. Yet in August 1914, socialist parties voted for war credits.

The final crisis began with the assassination in Sarajevo on **28 June 1914**:

* 23 July: Austria issues an ultimatum to Serbia.
* 28 July: Austria declares war on Serbia; Russia mobilises.
* 1 August: Germany declares war on Russia.
* 3 August: Germany declares war on France and invades Belgium.
* 4 August: Britain declares war on Germany.

Historians still debate the **causes** of the war. **Fritz Fischer** argued that Germany deliberately pursued European hegemony. Conversely, **Christopher Clark** spreads responsibility across all major powers, highlighting Russian and Serbian choices.

> **Common pitfall:** Viewing alliances as mechanical triggers. Alliances did not force action. Italy belonged to the Triple Alliance but stayed neutral in 1914, later joining the Entente in 1915. Human decisions, not automatic systems, caused the war.

## Practice questions

10 of this lesson's 14 practice questions, with answers. The full set is in the app.

### 1. Arrange these developments in pre-war diplomacy, earliest first.

**Answer:**

1. The Dual Alliance binds Germany to Austria-Hungary
2. Italy joins to form the Triple Alliance
3. France and Russia conclude an alliance
4. The Entente Cordiale settles Anglo-French colonial disputes
5. HMS Dreadnought is launched
6. The Anglo-Russian Convention settles disputes in Persia and Afghanistan

**Why:** The twenty-five-year gap between the Triple Alliance and the Anglo-Russian Convention is the shape of the problem. Bismarck’s system was designed to keep France without partners; within two decades of his fall France had Russia and an understanding with Britain, and Germany faced exactly the encirclement the system existed to prevent.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/history-ii/from-1870-to-1914-towards-the-first-world-war/arrange-these-developments-in-pre-war-diplomacy-earliest-first

### 2. Why is it inaccurate to describe the Entente Cordiale of 1904 as an alliance?

A. Britain entered the war in 1914 over the invasion of Belgium, not over any obligation to France
B. It settled colonial disputes over Egypt and Morocco rather than creating military obligations
C. It was signed by Britain and Russia rather than Britain and France
D. It contained no commitment for Britain to fight on France’s behalf

**Answer:** A. Britain entered the war in 1914 over the invasion of Belgium, not over any obligation to France; B. It settled colonial disputes over Egypt and Morocco rather than creating military obligations; D. It contained no commitment for Britain to fight on France’s behalf

**Why:** The precision matters because it undermines the automatic-machinery account of 1914. Britain had no treaty duty to France, staff talks notwithstanding, and the cabinet argued about intervention until the invasion of Belgium, a commitment from 1839, settled it. A power with no alliance still went to war; a power with one, Italy, did not.

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### 3. Every member of the Triple Alliance fought on that alliance’s side when war broke out in 1914.

**Answer:** False

**Why:** **False.** Italy declared neutrality in 1914, arguing the alliance was defensive and Austria had been the aggressor, and joined the Entente in 1915 after being offered territory. It is the clearest single piece of evidence against the idea that the alliance system operated automatically.

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### 4. Complete the account of the naval race.

**Answer:** The German Naval Laws of 1898 and 1900 announced a battle fleet that Britain could only read as directed at **itself**, since Germany had no overseas empire requiring one. Britain’s answer was HMS **Dreadnought** of 1906, whose all-big-gun design made every existing battleship **obsolete**, including Britain’s own, which **reset** the race at a number both publics could count.

**Why:** The self-defeating quality of the British answer is the interesting part. By making its own fleet obsolete, Britain converted a lead built over a century into a fresh contest starting near zero, and turned naval strength into a figure that newspapers could print weekly, which made the rivalry a matter of mass politics rather than of admiralties.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/history-ii/from-1870-to-1914-towards-the-first-world-war/complete-the-account-of-the-naval-race

### 5. Diplomatic alignments are often described as structural 'systems' of collective security. What critical limitation arises when treating these pacts as automatic mechanisms of escalation?

A. They ignore that sovereign alliances legally bound every signatory to wage total war
B. They assume secret military clauses overrode public treaties in diplomatic crises
C. They overlook how colonial settlements automatically expanded into defensive pacts
D. They obscure the decisive role of human agency and domestic political calculation

**Answer:** D. They obscure the decisive role of human agency and domestic political calculation

**Why:** Viewing alliances as mechanical automata misrepresents how states actually calculated risk. Pacts created expectations, but political leaders still chose when, how, and whether to honour commitments—or break them entirely, as Italy's neutrality in 1914 demonstrated.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/history-ii/from-1870-to-1914-towards-the-first-world-war/diplomatic-alignments-are-often-described-as-structural-systems-of

### 6. Sort each crisis by whether it left GERMANY more isolated or left RUSSIA or its clients aggrieved.

**Answer:**

- Left Germany more isolated: The first Moroccan crisis and the Algeciras conference, The Agadir crisis of 1911
- Left Russia or Serbia aggrieved: The Austrian annexation of Bosnia in 1908, The Balkan Wars, which doubled Serbia in size

**Why:** The pattern explains why 1914 was different. Each Moroccan crisis pushed Britain and France closer while leaving Germany with only Austria; each Balkan crisis left Russia determined not to give way again and Serbia stronger and bolder. By 1914 both sides had learned that backing down cost them, which is a dangerous thing for every party to a crisis to believe.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/history-ii/from-1870-to-1914-towards-the-first-world-war/sort-each-crisis-by-whether-it-left-germany-more-isolated-or-left

### 7. Arrange the events of the July crisis of 1914 in order.

**Answer:**

1. Franz Ferdinand is assassinated at Sarajevo
2. Austria-Hungary delivers an ultimatum to Serbia
3. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
4. Russia mobilises in support of Serbia
5. Germany declares war on Russia and then on France
6. German forces invade Belgium and Britain declares war

**Why:** The month between the assassination and the ultimatum is the part usually skipped, and it is the part that matters most. Nothing was automatic in those weeks: Vienna deliberated, Berlin gave assurances, and the delay itself was a choice that allowed a local outrage to become a general crisis.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/history-ii/from-1870-to-1914-towards-the-first-world-war/arrange-the-events-of-the-july-crisis-of-1914-in-order

### 8. In which year did the Anglo-Russian Convention settle disputes over Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet, completing the alignment usually called the Triple Entente?

**Answer:** 1907

**Why:** **1907.** Like the 1904 agreement with France it was a colonial settlement rather than a military alliance, which is why "Triple Entente" is a looser term than "Triple Alliance". Its effect was strategic all the same: Britain and Russia stopped watching each other in central Asia, and both could look at Germany instead.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/history-ii/from-1870-to-1914-towards-the-first-world-war/in-which-year-did-the-anglo-russian-convention-settle-disputes-over

### 9. Historians have reached a settled verdict that Germany deliberately provoked a general war in 1914.

**Answer:** False

**Why:** **False.** Fischer’s 1961 argument for deliberate German responsibility broke a national consensus and remains influential, but Clark’s account in 2012 distributes responsibility across the powers and stresses Serbian and Russian decisions, and other historians weight Russia more heavily. The question is open, and a good answer argues rather than asserts.

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### 10. The German SPD became the largest party in the Reichstag at the elections of 1912. Estimate the percentage of the vote it took.

**Answer:** 35 (within ±3)

**Why:** About **35 per cent**: roughly 110 seats and the largest party in the country. The figure is worth holding beside 1914: the most powerful socialist party in the world, in a state whose government was not answerable to parliament, voted for war credits in August, and the gap between electoral strength and constitutional power is part of the explanation.

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