The War that Ended Peace
Page 93
Viviani, René 484, 485, 530, 538, 544, 548, 551, 553, 559, 565, 583
Vladimir, Grand Duke of Russia 62
Vladivostok, Russia 152, 181
Voigt, Wilhelm 262
voting rights, extension of 9, 28, 32–33, 489
W
Wagner, Richard 149, 197, 255
Ring Cycle 197
Wake 16
Waldersee, Field Marshal Count von 81, 523, 524, 525, 533
Waldorf schools 325
War Ministry (Austria-Hungary) 539
War Ministry (French) 482
War Ministry (Germany) 285
War Office (Britain) 110, 182, 281, 491
war plans xviii, 22, 106, 111, 113, 135, 298–303, 313, 321, 335, 336, 344–45, 371, 373–74, 426, 506, 595
Warburg, Max 504, 525
Warburg interests 412
Warsaw Pact 496
Watergate scandal (1972) 141
Waterloo, Battle of (1815) 132, 134, 137
Webb, Beatrice 540
Webb, Sidney 540
Wehrverein 472
Weihaiwei, Shantung peninsula, China 46
Weltmachtstellung (‘world power’) 80
Weltpolitik (‘world policy’) 80, 81, 83
Western Front xix–xx, 28, 373
German war plans xviii, 22
map (1914–18) xii–xiii
White, Andrew 281
Wickham Steed, Henry 210
Wilde, Oscar 244
Wilhelm I, Kaiser 59, 60, 65–66, 69, 228, 418, 429
plot to kill him 518
Wilhelm II, Kaiser 2, 22, 26, 32, 99, 113, 101, 158, 235, 256, 259, 373, P1.2, P1.3, P1.8
abdication (1918) 59, 599
and the Anglo-Japanese Alliance 50
appearance 60, 213
and archaeology 478
armed forces’ oath of loyalty to him 71
attitude to Britain 84
and Belgium 328–29
Björkö agreement 189–90
and Bosnia-Herzegovina annexation 398
and the British royal family 84–86
character 60–64, 70, 322, 494
childhood 170
conversations at Windsor Castle 44
Daily Telegraph affair 124–27, 400, 405, 416
daughter’s wedding 469, 471
death 605
and death of Queen Victoria 58
decision to build a navy to challenge British sea power 59
difficult birth 64–65
dismisses Bismarck 52, 223
during the war 604
education 65
and Edward VII 61, 85–86, 122–24, 156, 190
and the Entente Cordiale 157, 188
fascinated by ships and the sea 18
favours Anglo-German alliance 58–59
and the first Hague Peace Conference 279
and Franz Ferdinand’s assassination 513
furious at Russian military preparations 568
German jokes about 71
Kruger telegram 56, 76
lack of co-ordination and overall direction of Germany 322
lives in the Netherlands 604
love of the military 66, 72, 171, 205
Mahan’s influence 75, 89
marriages 62–63
Military Cabinet 322, 324
models himself on Frederick the Great xxvi, 91
naval race 198, 406
New York Times interview 195–96
peacemaking 103, 326, 406, 425, 458
and Permanent Court of Arbitration 282
power of 59, 66–67, 69, 70, 72, 89, 97–98, 130, 169
promises support to Austria-Hungary 457, 465
relations with Franz Joseph 223
relations with the tsar 358, 419, 494–95, 590
and rise of Hitler 605
on Salisbury 56–57
and Schlieffen 317
on Second Novelle 120–21
sees himself as the balance of power in Europe 74
sees war as inevitable 480, 525
speeches 63–64, 70
and Spithead naval review 27–28
state visit to Abdul Hamid II 378–79, 379
talks with Haldane 508
Tangier visit 353–4, 355, 356, 359, 360, 361, 363, P1.22
telegrams to Wilhelm 566–67
travelling 71, 83
and the ultimatum to Serbia 551–52
unwelcome advice to Nicholas 188–89
wants to dominate the world’s stage 59–60
War Council 479, 480
withered arm 65, 359
Youth Decree 261
William of Wied, Prince, king of Albania 67, 462, 540
Williams, E.E. 103
‘Made in Germany’ 101–2
Wilson, Sir Arthur 373, 374
Wilson, Sir Henry 374, 375–76, 426, 428, 490–91, 499, 603
Wilson, President Woodrow 276, 509, 584, 591, 592, 597–98
Witte, Count Sergei 171, 172, 174, 177, 178, 184, 185, 187, 188, 191, 192, 239
Wolff, Theodor 541
Wolseley, Field Marshal Sir Garnet 243, 309
Woltmann, Ludwig 249
women
abandoning traditional roles 244
demand for votes xxii, 244, 423, 489
Women’s Christian Temperance Union 275
working classes
alienated 233
and conscription 258
doubting their loyalty and reliability 106–7
feared as a political force 245
growth in 7
improved conditions 285
joining up in the Great War 240
militancy 400, 412
public houses 11
resentment of middle classes 248
rise of 32
tourism 10
working hours 233, 243
Y
Yanushkevich, General Nicholas 550, 567
Yellow Peril 125, 188, 189, 195, 356, 369
Young Bosnians 514–15
Young Turks 394–95, 397, 399, 441, 444, 449, 459, 493, 494, 495
youth movements 309
Ypres, Belgium xix, 596
Yugoslav movement 389
Yugoslavia 598
Yusupov, Prince 164
Z
Zabern (now Saverne) incident (1913) 229, 263–65, 483
Zagreb 201
Zanzibar 34, 93
Zedlitz-Trützschler, Count Robert 61–62, 67
zemstvos 173
Zeppelin, Count 122, 253
Zeppelins 232, 253, 483
Zhilinski, General Iakov 345
Zimmermann, Arthur 525, 533
Zola, Émile 87, 247
‘J’Accuse’ 142
Zulu wars (1879–96) xxiii
Zurlinden, General Emile 144
Zweig, Stefan 10, 11, 12, 14, 19, 231, 277, 563–64
‘the Golden Age of Security’ 11, 12
The World of Yesterday 11
1. The Paris Exposition of 1900 celebrated peace and prosperity as well as Europe’s dominance in the world. Its exhibits, though, hinted at some of the tensions which were going to bring an end to one of the longest periods of calm in Europe’s turbulent history.
2. A family wedding in Coburg in 1894 shows the many connections that linked the European royal families. Most of those present were related to Queen Victoria, seated in the front dressed in her customary black. Her grandson, Wilhelm II, the ruler of Germany, is on the left and behind him, his cousin Nicholas, about to become the Tsar of Russia. Victoria’s son, the future Edward VII, is just behind the latter while the future Tsarina, Alexandra, stands between Wilhelm and Victoria.
3. Although Wilhelm (right) was devoted to his grandmother Queen Victoria, he had an uneasy relationship with her son and successor Edward VII (left) whom he suspected of plotting to create a coalition against Germany. Edward reciprocated the mistrust and found his nephew tiresome.
4. Otto von Bismarck was the greatest statesman of his time. He not only
created the new state of Germany in 1871 but he dominated the international relations of Europe.
5. The Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary ruled over a diminishing and troubled empire at the heart of Europe (1848–1916). With a strong sense of duty, he lived a life marked by rigid routine and unceasing work.
6. For many, Robert Cecil represented the calm self-assurance of the British upper classes and of Great Britain itself. Rich, clever and well-connected, he was a Conservative prime minister three times between 1885 and 1902.
7. Jan (or Ivan) de Bloch was a Russian financier who understood that the new general war could lead to stalemate and costs which Europe’s societies would not be able to bear.
8. Alfred von Tirpitz was convinced that Germany needed a big navy in order to become a world power. Wilhelm II who shared his aspirations made him Secretary for the Navy in 1897 and Tirpitz set in train a massive naval building programme.
9. Forceful and opinionated, Admiral John Fisher revitalised and reorganised the British navy to meet the growing challenge from Germany. He brought back much of the fleet into home waters and initiated the building of the huge dreadnoughts.
10. Dedicated to re-establishing French power and prestige after its humiliation at the hands of Bismarck and Germany, Théophile Delcassé was one of the longer serving and more competent foreign ministers of the Third Republic.
11. Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, and his German wife Alexandra (centre), lived in seclusion with their children outside St Petersburg and continued to believe, in the face of growing unrest in the country, that the Russian people were still loyal to them. From left to right the daughters are Marie, Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia. The little boy is Alexei, heir to the throne, and suffering from the life-threatening condition of haemophilia. All were murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918.
12. Bloody Sunday, as it became known, took place in January 1905 during the unrest in Russia which had been set off by military defeat in the war with Japan. As a peaceful procession including many workers marched towards the Winter Palace in St Petersburg to present a petition to the Tsar asking for reforms, troops fired on them.
13. Jean Jaurès, a leading French socialist, was one of Europe’s most vociferous pacifists. He hoped to build the Second International of left-wing parties and unions into a strong and united force opposed to war. In the final crisis of 1914 he struggled until the very end for peace. A French right-wing nationalist shot him shortly before the outbreak of war.
14. Bertha von Suttner, an author and activist, was one of the most prominent figures in the growing international peace movement before the Great War. She worked tirelessly for disarmament and peaceful methods of settling disputes and persuaded the explosives magnate, Alfred Nobel, to leave a considerable fortune to endow the peace prize in his name.
15. All across Europe civilians were urged to emulate the military and demonstrate such qualities as discipline, sacrifice and patriotism. Scouts and cadets were a manifestation of militarism. These boys in the Balkans also show the growing readiness for war in that troubled part of the world.
16. Commemorating great figures and events of the past helped to fuel the intense nationalism which marked so many European societies before 1914. While it was often promoted by leaders anxious to overcome divisions in the nation, nationalism also came from the grass roots. Here locals in a small French town celebrate Joan of Arc despite the fact that she fought against France’s new friend Britain.
17. General Joseph Joffre (left) became chief of the French general staff in 1911. Efficient and phlegmatic, he inspired confidence in the politicians. Like many, he was wedded to the idea of the offensive. His civilian companion at these army manoeuvres was President Raymond Poincaré (centre), an ardent nationalist.
18. Helmut von Moltke, chief of the German General Staff, was a pessimist and depressive who felt himself inadequate for the duties of his office. In the crisis of 1914 he suffered a breakdown.
19. Clever and competent, Vladimir Sukhomlinov was also vain and corrupt. While he helped to prepare the armed forces for war, he was over-optimistic about their capacity to take the offensive. In 1916 he was tried on charges of abuse of power and treason.
20. Alfred von Schlieffen gave his name to the Schlieffen Plan which assumed that Germany would have to fight a two front war against Russia and France. By violating Belgian neutrality, which Germany had promised to uphold, the plan significantly increased the chances of Britain entering the war.
21. Bernhard von Bulow was Germany’s chancellor and in charge of its foreign policy from 1900–09. He managed, for the most part, to keep his difficult ruler Wilhelm under control but was unable to prevent the developing naval race with Britain.
22. In 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm rode through the narrow streets in Tangier which were lined with cheering crowds who may have hoped that he would save Morocco from French domination. His government, which hoped to break apart the very recent friendship between France and Britain, insisted on the visit against Wilhelm’s better judgement.
23. Herbert Asquith was Liberal prime minister from 1908 to 1916. An adept politician who kept a divided party together and had to deal with an increasingly turbulent Britain and a rebellious Ireland, he left foreign affairs largely to Grey.
24. Like most leading statesmen in Austria-Hungary, foreign minister Alois Aehrenthal came from the aristocracy. Deeply conservative, he was dedicated to serving the emperor and maintaining Austria-Hungary as a great power.
25. Sir Edward Grey, British foreign secretary between 1905 and 1916, was a Liberal who believed in the Empire, a statesman who disliked foreign countries, and a prig who suspected everyone else of low motives.
26. Known as ‘Apis’ or the Bull on account of his formidable physique and character, Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević was head of Serbian military intelligence in 1914. Deeply involved in secret Serb nationalist societies, he encouraged the plot to assassinate the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.
27. The Bulgarian troops on their way to fight the Ottoman Empire in the First Balkan War of 1912 have little idea of what lies in store. Although the Ottomans were defeated by an alliance of Balkan states, the Bulgarian army was badly mauled.
28. Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie set out on a summer morning in Sarajevo on their last trip. The timing could not have been worse since it coincided with the Serbians’ national day. In spite of warnings of terrorist plots security was lax. His death removed the one man close to the emperor who might have counselled against war. Gavrilo Princip (inset), a passionate Serbian nationalist, himself fired the shots that killed the royal couple. Because he was underage at the time he could not be executed. Sentenced to prison, he died of tuberculosis in 1918, unrepentant about the European catastrophe which he had helped to set off.
29. On 31 July 1914 Germany took the first step towards general mobilisation and so to making war on France and Russia. Standing outside the old arsenal in Berlin, a lieutenant announces the state of ‘imminent threat of war’ in the traditional way.
30. Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf saw his nation as surrounded by enemies, from Italy and Serbia in the south to Russia in the east. His recommendation in the several crises before 1914 was invariably for war.
31. Handsome, cultivated and exceedingly rich, Count Leopold Berchtold was Austria-Hungary’s foreign minister from 1912–15. Although he preferred peace, he became increasingly convinced that Serbia had to be destroyed.
32. István Tisza was an Hungarian aristocrat who twice headed the government. Clever, proud and headstrong he was committed to maintaining Hungarian dominance over the large national minorities within Hungary’s borders. Initially reluctant to support a war on Serbia he eventually swung round.
33. Like many other civilian leaders, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, Germany’s chancellor between 1909 and 1917 frequently chose to appear in military uniform. While he hoped for improved relations with Great Bri
tain, he was not strong enough to overcome Wilhelm and Tirpitz and bring an end to the naval race.
34. In a scene that was repeated across Europe, families in Berlin wave goodbye to the men who have been called back into uniform. These troops from the reserves may well have been heading for the front lines, something the French had not counted on. As a result, French armies and the tiny British Expeditionary Force faced a stronger German attack than they had expected.
35. French nationalists had never accepted the loss of the provinces Alsace and Lorraine to Germany in 1871 and in Paris, the statue representing Strasbourg, the capital of Alsace, had been draped with mourning. As France and Germany go to war in August 1914, crowds rushed to the Place de la Concorde and tore off the black crepe.
36. Although much worse destruction was to follow, the burning of the great library at Louvain by German troops as they passed through Belgium was a symbol of what the Great War did to European civilisation. The act also helped to turn opinion in neutral countries, most importantly in the United States, against Germany.
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