An Anglo-Saxon colleague once remarked that German historians had been fighting on the wrong front for nearly three-quarters of a century when it came to understanding the war’s origins. This pointed observation highlighted the fundamental deficit that has characterised research in Germany since Fritz Fischer’s groundbreaking 1961 work “Griff nach der Weltmacht” (Grab for World Power).<\/p>\n
While a wealth of documents has been compiled to prove Berlin’s preparation for a war of conquest or a deliberate escalation strategy, the files of the opposing powers remained unconsidered. Most notably ignored were sources dragged into the light by the Bolsheviks from tsarist archives after 1918, which revealed the secret agreements among the Entente powers to encircle the German Reich.<\/p>\n
This internal perspective led to the conclusion that decisions made by Berlin, particularly the so-called blank cheque to Austria-Hungary on 6-7 July 1914 and the declarations of war against Russia and France on 1 and 3 August, established Germany’s primary responsibility for the outbreak of war.<\/p>\n
The simplistic causal formula that “declaration of war equals causation of war” ignores the reality that international politics is determined by a complex web of antagonistic action and reaction. Major wars are not sudden natural events but rather the lightning discharge of a thunderstorm preceded by long rumbling. Without examining the roles of France, Russia, and England, the complicated grammar of the war’s prehistory cannot be deciphered.<\/p>\n
The manoeuvre to encircle the German Reich and set the stage for confrontation began with the Franco-Russian military pact of 1893. It envisaged the mobilisation of 1.3 million men in the west and nearly a million Russian soldiers in the east. This arrangement represented an entirely new element in European politics. Bismarck’s alliances had been status quo arrangements that tamed turbulence in the state system and aimed at conflict avoidance.<\/p>\n
The “Gallic-Russian pincer,” as Wilhelm II called it, was by contrast an offensive tool of power expansion, a springboard to war. The Paris Foreign Minister evaluated the revenge perspective of the agreement euphorically, stating that France must not lose sight for a moment of the war it would one day have to wage against Germany, which would decide Europe’s fate for a long time.<\/p>\n
Similar tones came from Tsar Alexander III when he rebuked his hesitant Foreign Minister, insisting that Russia must immediately fall upon the Germans in the event of war between France and Germany, not giving them time to first defeat France and then turn against Russia. Russia must crush Germany at the first opportunity, he declared.<\/p>\n
After the turn of the century, this scenario became acute. The decisive moment came with the British colonial settlement with Russia in 1907, when London threw overboard an axiom of its continental policy that had prevailed for nearly a century: the defence of Constantinople against Russian seizure. The sacrifice of this iron principle was an invitation to Saint Petersburg to act. From that point, the clockwork of war was ticking.<\/p>\n
Russian expansionist impulses no longer discharged against British bastions in Asia. The aggression now directed itself against Austria-Hungary and the German Reich allied with it. Euphoria in Petersburg was correspondingly great. The seizure of the straits, according to the decision of a conference under the Tsar’s chairmanship on New Year’s Eve 1913, was only possible through a general European war. Therefore, the grab for Constantinople must begin with operations on the German-Austrian border, with neither England nor France interfering.<\/p>\n
\n28. Juni 1914 – Das Attentat von Sarajevo: Am Jahrestag der Schlacht auf dem Amselfeld ermordet der Serbe Gavrilo Princip den \u00f6st. Thronfolger Franz Ferdinand. In der Folge kommt es zur Julikrise, aus der der Erste Weltkrieg erw\u00e4chst.#Stolzmonat<\/a> #Vernetzungstweet<\/a> #STLZMNT<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/30bV3ROkJF<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Der Deutsche Geist (@BismarcksHering) June 28, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n