Marne, First Battle (1914) 5-10 September 1914

Type:

Book Chapter

Author:

Paul K Davis

Published:

2001

Publisher:

Oxford University PressNew York, NY

Abstract To ask what caused World War I is almost like asking, “Who killed John Kennedy?” The answers are numerous and varied: France’s desire for revenge after its humiliating loss in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871; the alliance system, which created an antagonistic balance of power resulting from France’s desire to gain allies for the inevitable next war with Germany; rampant nationalism, which begat militarism and imperialism; a lack of government leaders after the removal of the chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, who had been somewhat able to control the erratic and aggressive nature of Kaiser Wilhelm; German desire for a navy that rivaled Britain’s; Germany’s desire to create Mitteleuropa, a central European customs union stretching from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf; the struggles of ethnic groups in the Balkans that involved their respective major-power champions, Austria Hungary and Russia; and Britain’s need for allies in an increasingly hostile world. Any or all of these answers apply.

Türkçe sayfa →