Politics and the First World War - Professor Sir Richard Evans

TL;DR

The First World War was a global conflict that transformed the relationship between war and politics, leading to the collapse of empires and the rise of new political regimes.

Transcript

well good evening everybody welcome to this latest lecture in our series on the first world war and I'm Richard Evans I'm also provest of gesan college and it falls to me to talk about war and politics in relation to the first World War and I put up the famous quote there by the Prussian military theorist of the Napoleonic era Carl fonait who famou... Read More

Key Insights

• 🫱 War is an instrument of policy used to achieve specific aims and purposes.
• 🫱 The First World War broke with the established pattern of limited conflicts in Europe, becoming a global war fought between empires.
• 😮 The war resulted in the collapse of empires and the rise of new political regimes, transforming the political landscape.
• 😮 The war had significant impacts on the politics and leadership of various nations, leading to the downfall of monarchies and the rise of new leaders and ideologies.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did war and politics intersect in the 19th century wars in Europe?

In the 19th century, wars in Europe were fought between limited combatant nations and within a restricted geographical area. Political objectives often became obscured in the fog of war, but wars were used to achieve specific aims in relation to balance of power in Europe.

Q: How did the First World War differ from previous conflicts in terms of its scale and scope?

The First World War lasted for more than four years and involved global conflicts across various nations. It defied attempts to localize or end the war until one side was forced to concede defeat. The collapse of empires and the rise of new political regimes transformed the political landscape.

Q: How did the war impact the politics and leadership of Germany?

The war led to the downfall of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the end of the German monarchy. It also revealed the precarious position of the new Germany in the world and the danger of upsetting the European status quo without a clear political reason. The war also exposed tensions between different factions within German society.

Q: What were the key factors that led to the outbreak of the war?

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by Serbian nationalists triggered a chain of events, with Austria-Hungary issuing an ultimatum to Serbia. The support and alliances between various nations, including Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, France, and Britain, escalated the conflict beyond a localized event.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• War is viewed as a continuation of politics by other means, as demonstrated by the examples of bismar wars in the 1860s aimed at achieving German unification under Prussian leadership.

• The war between 1914 and 1918 broke with the established pattern of limited conflicts in Europe, becoming a global war fought between empires.

• The war resulted in the collapse of empires, such as the Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, German Empire, and Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the rise of new political regimes.