Hapsburg Empire decline in the half century before World War I

¶ … Hapsburg Empire in the Half Century before World War I

At the outbreak of World War I, The Hapsburg Empire was one of the last vestiges of Holy Roman Empire to be found in Europe. The eventual defeat of the Austrian Haspburgs culminated a demise that began in the half century before the war started.

The reason for the longevity of the Hapsburg Empire rested in its ability to form advantageous political alliances whether they be through marriage- Maria Theresa and Joseph II, religion- acceptance of Protestants ending discrimination against Jews or militaristic- alliance w / Germany, in nature. During the half century before the World War, The Haspburgs created some allegiances that would prove to be faulty.

During the Crimean War (1853-1856) the Haspburgs flirted with siding with the France and England against Russia if Russia did not leave Romania. Russia withdrew but not without hard feelings towards the Hapsburg Empire, ending a centuries old alliance. Shortly thereafter, The Hapsburgs began to loose their foothold within Europe. The Austrians lost their position in the Italian peninsula and Italy was created. The Prussians (under Bismark) expelled the Austrian Hapsburgs from Germany and created a unified state.

To make matters worse the Hungarians pressed for a dual monarchy, the Empire was now known as the Austria-Hungary with the Hungarians having their own constitution. This encouraged the other ethnic groups within the Hapsburg Empire to seek autonomy, including the Serbs, who became one of the harshest critics of the Empire. This shifting of power created a general sense of unrest within the Hapsburg Empire long before it collapsed following the end of the First World War.

An over-inflated view of territorialism, poor judgment in choosing alliances, underestimation of internal dissension, and weak leadership eventually brought the once great Hapsburg Empire to its knees. Creating a path for a new Europe to emerge.

Were the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles Failures?

The Treaty of Versailles was a multi-country agreement that ultimately proved to be anything but internationally harmonious. In short, the terms of the treaty did little to fully appease the wishes of England, the United States, and France but instead did much to bolster the resentment and tension among the Nazi and Fascist movements which came to power in the years before WWII.

According to the treaty, the control of Alsace-Lorraine (which had been under German control since 1870) was returned to France. In addition, control of the Saar was taken from Germany and turned over to French rule for 15 years. While France viewed these as just territorial reparations, Germany, which had no say in the terms of the treaty, failed to view them in the same light.

They felt they were unjustly robbed of land and economic opportunity as the Saar was the site of a coal field. Coupled with the large monetary reparations, and the forced reductions in the size of the German army, the general sentiment of the Nazi party was one of bitterness and rage. Ironically many French expressed the same sentiment as they felt the reparations weren't harsh enough since certain aspects in the rough-draft, such as the dismantling of Germany into smaller nations, did not come to fruition.

The tempered judgment in the final draft was due in part to attempts made to appease conflicting wishes that the punishment not be too severe so as not to incite another German lead war.

An additional reason cited as a failure of the treaty was America's failure to ultimately join the League of Nations, an organization who's foundation was laid with the treaty of Versailles and who's purpose was to has been the staving off of future international disagreements. Ironically although President Woodrow Wilson designed the league, the U.S. never joined the League of Nations nor did they ratify the treaty of Versailles. The senate felt that the terms of the treaty did little to ensure the moral and welfare of Americans. The lack of American involvement in both the treaty as well as the League is also seen as one of the major contributing factors of the Second World War.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic

Germany was a defeated nation at the conclusion of World War I. A new form of government, accommodating to the victors' demands, needed to be formed. The Weimar Republic was instituted to try and cope with Germany's imposed post war political structure. It both succeeded and failed.

From 1919-1933 the Weimar Republic governed Germany. From the outset, the Republic was a dichotomy. How could the Republic maintain a balance between the political ideals of Germany and the position of the Allies? The leaders of the Republic were forced to sign the Versailles treaty to avoid a resurgence of war. The treaty was harsh, demanding various disarmament and reparation accordances. The general public felt as if the Weimar had sold out to the Allies and became extremely agitated with their government, but in actuality the Weimar was attempting to save the Republic. This agitation led to communist uprisings, which were quickly squelched by the Freikorps (state run police)

The Weimar Republic was also faced with post war inflation, poverty, and unemployment; definitely not the best of circumstances to begin an infantile government in. The Weimar Republic was able to adapt to the threats these circumstances posed by assimilating with the German People's Party. This coalition of sorts was able to occupy a place of balance between the extremism found in the communist viewpoint and other radical parties such as the Nazis.

In addition, the political structure of the Weimar itself was an attempt to be fair that backfired. This eventually caused the collapse of the Republic with Hitler's election to chancellor under the majority Nazi party in 1933.

Overall, the Weimar Republic was a capable government unfortunately destined for disaster. Balancing the will of the people vs. The will of the world is a complicated situation.

World War I

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 was rooted in nationalism and imperialism. Strained relations between European countries, armament, and rigid alliances created a very tense political situation, ripe for war. The incident in Sarejevo was the "spark that ignited powder keg" setting off a war on a global scale.

The established European empires (Austria-Hungary under the Haspsburgs and Turkey) were deteriorating. Austria was desperate to maintain control of her Empire and began to oppress the Balkans (Serbia), who voiced discontentment with the Empire. Germany agreed with the Serbian subjugation because they needed an unopposed trade route to Asia (This would run through the Balkans). Russia was interested in extending her Empire towards the Adriatic Sea (through Serbia). Great Britain and France, were not ready to let anyone else become a global economic player.

These countries formed military alliances. (Germany + Austria against the Serbs, vs. France + Great Britain + Russia.) If one country of the alliance were attacked, the besieged could count on support from its coalition. World War broke out in the summer of 1914 because of the static pacts existing between the nations.

The heir to the Austrian throne (Archduke Franz Ferdinand) was assassinated. The Austrians blamed the Serbs. Russia decided to support the Serbs and mobilized her troops. This caused Austria Germany and France to engage their troops. (Germany + Austria vs. France + Russia + Serbia) When Germany advanced through Belgium, Britain who had an existing treaty with Belgium and an alliance with Japan (Japan would back up any British involvement in European warfare) weighed in on the side of France, Russia, and Serbia. Turkey joined Germany and Austria. Eventually, Germany attacked United States interests and they were brought into the war on the opposing side.

This World War was like no other war before its time. Enormous numbers of combatants were transported to the battlefields via trains. Supply lines were set up because the means to move goods along from vast distances to the troops were available. World War I was also primarily a defensive war, relying heavily on trench warfare. This brought the fighting to a quagmire and led to the creation of early weapons of mass destruction (i.e. poison gas, flame throwers, machine guns, arial bombs etc..) to advance the troops.

World War I was a result of egotism, imperialist aspiration and inflexible political alliances resulting in over 29,000,000 casualties, not including the many civilians killed.

Background Information

The History of Austria http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/6711/austria.html#FranzJosef

Treaty of Versailles http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3Av/versailles__treaty_of

Paris Peace Conference http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3Av/versailles__treaty_of

Treaty of Versailles http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3Av/versailles__treaty_of

Political Groups, Bolsheviks, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSbolsheviks.htm

Events and Issues in Russia 1914-1925, Russian Revolution February 1917, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSmarchR.htm

Russian Revolution, October 1917 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSnovemberR.htm

Weimar After the First World War (1919-1933) http://web.hky.hk/~emilylo/History.htm allowing the political party with the majority of representatives to rule)

Conflicting National Interests

http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/civil_n2/histscript6_n2/wwstart.html

Military Casualties of W.W.I http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/casualties.htm