Essay: The Responsibility of Alliances; Did They Lead to WWI? - Kalina Decora

The European alliance system prior to the breakout of World War I, initiated by German Chancellor Otto Von Bismark, is notorious for being one of the supposed causes of the breakout of World War I in July 28, 1914, for stirring up tensions in Europe by presenting two clear fronts and blowing the stakes out of proportion for any local conflicts. While the alliance system was a factor in World War I to an extent, the alliance system was defensive in nature and nationalism played a stronger hand in the breakout of WWI, engendering Serbian imperialist aspirations regarding Austria-Hungary, and the assassination of the Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, at the hands of Serbian terrorist group.

Alliance systems led to the breakout of World War I through the escalation of conflicts and commitments to one another pulling them into war. On June 28th, 1914, The Austria-Hungarian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group. Austria-Hungary was outraged yet waited for their ally, Germany, to give them their support before issuing an ultimatum because Serbia had a bilateral relationship with Russia as Slavic nations and Austria-Hungary was too weak to take on Russia and Serbia on its own. Hadn’t Germany given Austria-Hungary the blank cheque on July 5, 1914, Austria-Hungary wouldn’t have been so brave in giving Serbia an ultimatum designed to be rejected so that Austria-Hungary could wage war on Serbia. Germany and Russia becoming involved in the war meant the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia would be more than a local contained conflict between them. The Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy and the Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia defined two clear camps of Europe who had commitments to each other. When only one member of the Triple Alliance has a problem with one member of the Triple Entente, all members of the Entente will eventually be pulled into war and the individual countries despised each other. France hated Germany over Revanchism and the Moroccan Crises to name a few. Russia and Austria-Hungary hated each other over the Balkan territory and the Bosnian Crisis. Britain hated Germany over the Naval Arms Race. The alliance system turned the local dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia into a large-scale crisis through players like Germany and Russia backing their smaller allies and through the countries’ commitments to one another. The two camps of Europe swept the Austria-Hungary and Serbia conflict into a multinational conflict, World War I. 

It is debated whether or not alliances were actually responsible for aggression between the two fronts of Europe as they were initially drawn up as defensive alliances.  In international relations, the “Balance of Power” theory is where, according to Britannica,  “a nation or group of nations protecting itself… by matching its power against the power of the other side.” Germany’s emergence in 1871 offset the balance of Europe. it became the dominant power of the continent. It was only rational the opposing countries sought alliances to match Germany’s power and defend itself. Germany itself sought alliances to protect itself due to its vulnerable position at the center of the European map. Fearing being encircled in a two front war, Bismark had set out to create alliances in hopes of being in a 3 out of the 5 major powers. France and Britain came together in the Anglo-French entente where they ended almost 1000 years of rivalry and colonial dispute as they found themselves both concerned with German Power. The primary concern that formed the alliances was protecting their own country rather than to launch an offensive on each other. The alliance system wasn't inherently aggressive in nature, having been drawn up as a defensive measure for both Germany and the countries that felt threatened by its might offsetting the balance of Europe. The alliance system wasn’t designed to attack other countries, but to protect their own interests, making it plausible that the alliance system was actually a preventative measure and not a cause for the outbreak of the World War I

Nationalism played a stronger role in stirring up tensions, pushing countries into adopting more aggressive roles, and making other countries feel endangered by them. From 1815 to 1914, Following Serbia’s territorial gains from the Second Balkan War, Austria-Hungary felt threatened by Serbia because Serbia had been eyeing Austria-Hungarian territory for its notable Slav population, particularly in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Serbia dreamed of a Pan-Slav nation. Ilija Garašanin, prime minister of Serbia, placed the political goal of unifying all the Southern Serbian people and recreating the borders of medieval Serbia above its economic issues.  It was part of Serbia’s agenda to acquire the parts of Austria-Hungary that had a large Slavic population like Bosnia-Herzegovina in order to form a “Greater Serbia.” The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, spurred by Serbian nationalism, is declared the “Spark” of World War I. Gavrilo Princip declared "I am a Yugoslav nationalist, aiming for the unification of all Yugoslavs, and I do not care what form of state, but it must be free from Austria." The hostility of the Black Hand, who has ties to the Serbian government, towards Austria-Hungary makes  it understandable for Austria-Hungary to feel attacked, especially after the assassination of its heir. Nationalism amplified the tensions of Europe, being the root of the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia which started World War I by fueling the Black Hand who assassinated Franz Ferdinand and by fueling Serbia’s unification ambition which threatened Austria-Hungary.

The breakout of World War I is thought to have been the fault of the European Alliance system but while the alliance system pulled the major countries into a global conflict rather than the war being a local conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, nationalism destabilized the fostered Serbian aspirations which threatened Austria-Hungary,  increased aggression and hostility on the continent, and fueled the Spark of World War I, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, making it a more suitable cause for the breakout of the First World War.