Germany Before the First World War (AQA GCSE History): Revision Note

The Unification of Germany - Summary

Germany became a unified country in 1871. Otto von Bismarck was a leader from Prussia who wanted to bring together the smaller German-speaking states under one powerful German nation, led by Prussia. To achieve this, he started and won three wars, with the last one being against France in 1870. After Germany defeated France, the different German states decided to unite. They announced the new German Empire in 1871 at the Palace of Versailles in France.

Germany took control of the French region of Alsace-Lorraine. This anger and the rivalry between France and Germany lasted for years, as France wanted revenge and its lost land back. Over time, many countries in Europe formed alliances to protect themselves from each other. By 1914, these alliances, along with the tensions between Germany and France, contributed towards the start of the First World War.

Germany's pre-war government

• Before the First World War Germany was a constitutional monarchy

  • Kaiser Wilhelm II was the emperor of Germany

    • The Kaiser was the head of state and the armed forces

    • The Kaiser was a grandson of Queen Victoria and cousin to King George V of Britain and Tsar Nicolas II of Russia

• The German government was made up of two governing bodies called the Bundesrat and Reichstag

  • The Kaiser had to work alongside the Reichstag and the Bundesrat

  • The Kaiser had the power to choose the chancellor

  • The Reichstag had the power to accept, reject and amend legislation

  • Before the First World War, only men could vote and could be elected into the Reichstag

Germany's pre-war economy

• By 1914 Germany had the largest industrial economy in Europe

  • Germany's 1870-1871 victory in the Franco-Prussian War increased its economic strength

    • Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine, an important and wealthy industrial area

  • Germany went through a period of rapid industrialisation in the 19th century

    • Germany moved away from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing economy

Germany's pre-war military

• Before the First World War, European nations were building their armies

  • It was believed that European nations were doing this:

    • in response to other countries expanding their army and naval forces

    • to protect themselves from possible invasions

    • to be prepared for war

• Before the First World War, the German army contained 2,200,000 soldiers

  • Although this was not the largest army in the world, it was believed to be the best-trained and most powerful

• German commanders faced the problem of encirclement if war broke out in Europe

  • In 1905, Germany created the Schlieffen Plan to prevent France and Russia from encircling Germany

Germany's pre-war navy

• The Kaiser announced plans to build a powerful navy

  • This increased tensions in Europe

    • Germany did not have a large empire, and European nations started to question why it wanted a large navy

    • Germany had a short coastline and European nations were concerned about what Germany would do with warships concentrated in the North Sea

• In the 1900s, Britain and Germany engaged in a naval race

  • By 1914, Germany's total naval strength increased to 85 warships and 23 submarines by 1914

Germany's pre-war relations with neighbouring countries

Anglo-German relations

• Anglo-German relations created a lot of pre-war tension in Europe

  • Britain felt threatened by Germany as they challenged Britain's:

    • Splendid Isolationism

    • world dominance

    • economic power

    • trade

  • Germany attempted to gain more colonies around the world

    • This threatened Britain's power and empire

Franco-Prussian relations

• French and German relations were poor

  • In 1871, Germany defeated France and annexed Alsace-Lorraine

  • France saw Germany as a threat, as Germany had:

    • a powerful economy

    • a growing armed forces

• France started to make allies with historical enemies in Europe to protect itself from Germany

  • France and Russia established a secret military alliance in 1892

Russian-German relations

• Russia was the largest European power, however, it was economically and politically weak

  • Russia still had an agricultural economy

  • The Tsarist rule in Russia was facing great opposition

    • There was a revolution against Tsar Nicolas II, which made his rule vulnerable

  • Russia lost the 1905 Russo-Japanese war

    • This defeat made Russia look weak on the international stage

• Russia shared France's concerns over Germany

• Russia's rivalry with Austria-Hungary made their relationship with Germany worse, as Germany was allied with Austria-Hungary

  • Russia became friendly with Serbia due to their shared cultural background and hatred of the Austrian-Hungarian empire

Austria-German relations

• The Austrian-Hungarian Empire contained many different ethnic groups, including Germans, Slavs, Serbs and Czechs

• The Austrian-Hungarian Emperor, Franz Josef, was worried that his empire might split up

  • Many of the people in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire wanted independence

  • Powerful neighbouring countries, such as Russia, supported their independence

• Germany and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire became allies in 1879 as they both feared an attack from Russia

Italian-German relations

• Italy was a strong industrial power before 1914

• Germany and Italy shared a common goal

  • They both wanted colonies overseas

  • They both wanted an empire

• Italy joined the German and Austrian-Hungarian alliances, to form the Triple Alliance in 1882

Germany's pre-war aspirations

• The Kaiser felt that Germany should be a world power

  • To achieve this the Kaiser created a foreign policy known as Weltpolitik

    • The Kaiser created Weltpolitik to have colonies overseas, like France and Britain

    • The Kaiser was particularly interested in achieving colonies in Africa

• Militarism was a key feature of Germany before the First World War

  • The Kaiser staged military rallies, and processions he wore military uniforms and had military advisers