Realism and WWI

WHAT CAUSED WORLD WAR 1?
As Hobbes said in Leviathan, “if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies”. Men are equal and interact in anarchy, driven by competition, diffidence, and glory. World War I was prompted by the self-centered behavior of Germany in the early 20th century combined with the achievement of balance of power in Europe. For realists, the war could have been a case of security dilemma for Germany in a system of balanced power; however, certain critiques would argue that nationalism caused the war with the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian arch-duke and successor to the throne, Franz Ferdinand. Despite the archduke’s death clearly being the first action leading to the war, realists would agree that without the system of alliances in Europe, the war in itself would have been a different one. With the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the war was officially over and Germany was given full responsibility for the horrors and disasters of the Great War. In this essay, we will discuss how and why realists would also blame Germany for the war.
Due to uncertainty of other states’ objectives, and driven by self-interest to be a regional hegemon, Germany clearly pushed for World War One to happen. Because Germany felt encircled by the “understanding” alliance (“triple-entente”) between Britain, France, and Russia, it began mass producing weapons and mobilizing German military. According to realist theory, uncertainty is a significant motive for state behavior. In World War One, Germany demonstrated the classic case of security dilemma in which international anarchy encouraged Germany to increase its own power due to uncertainty of neighboring states’ intentions. After this dilemma created rising tensions in Europe, Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to start a war with Serbia, and therefore Russia which had to protect its influence in Serbia. In regards to the triple alliance pact, this gave Germany the opportunity to participate in the war and thus gain as much power as it could by crushing the opposition. With Russia mobilizing a day after Austria-Hungary declared war, Germany executed its Schlieffen Plan in which it would quickly neutralize the French army to go on and destroy Russia. In an anarchical international system, states tend to pursue self-interest, which caused Germany to resort to irrational offensive stratagem in order to gain power.
Critiques to the realist theory would claim that World War One was not about Germany seeking world domination, but rather about Slavic nationalism. A Slav himself, Gavrilo Princip who assassinated Franz Ferdinand was part of the Black Hand, a secret group which wanted an independent state for all South Slavs. After Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia from the Ottoman Empire, the men of the Black Hand sent Princip to assassinate Ferdinand who was heir to the throne. Therefore, the first incitement of war was of nationalist nature with Slavs hoping to detach themselves from Austria-Hungary. Subsequently, Austria-Hungary delivered the July Ultimatum to Serbia, a series of ten demands intentionally made unacceptable to provoke a war with Serbia. When Serbia agreed to only eight of the ten demands, Austria-Hungary declared war (July 28th 1914). Considering Serbia was against the annexing of Bosnia, critiques could deem Slavic nationalism as the main element sparking the war. In this case, the initiation of war would be irrelevant to Germany and its state-centrism evoked with the realist theory.
Nevertheless, realists would argue that the diplomatic problems between Austria-Hungary and the Slavic peoples could not have sparked such a massive, intense, and horrifying war the world had never seen before. The war was of great magnitude due the balance of power achieved at the end of the 19th century in Europe. Had Germany not been an ally to Austria-Hungary, and Russia an ally to Serbia, the war could have been a revolution of Slavic peoples for independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. By the end of the 19th century, Europe had a system of alliances which put France, Britain, and Russia in an agreement or “triple entente”, and Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary in a “triple alliance”. These were the 6 great powers of Europe at the time. They had created a balance of power because national security is enhanced when military capabilities are distributed so that no one state is strong enough to dominate all others. On the word of realist theory, this balance of power created a situation in which no state had the upper hand, and Germany acted as a revisionist state, seeking hegemony. This system of alliances made the conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary much more substantial. Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to start a war so that it could execute its Schlieffen Plan. One mistake the Germans made was invading France through Belgium. Although this invasion was militarily/strategically keen, it brought Britain in the war and made the Schlieffen Plan and German hegemony impossibly, creating a four year struggle which resulted in about 10 million deaths.

In conclusion, Germany knew what it was getting into when it encouraged Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia by offering help. As a realist, condemning Germany as fully responsible for the war is hard because its actions could be described as pre-emptive defense force. However, since Otto Van Bismarck’s chancellorship, the Germans possessed war plans for all of Europe, including the Schlieffen Plan used in WWI. Offensive realists would have seen this as assumption of the worst and self-centrism in an anarchic international system. After the Austro-Hungarian throne-heir was killed and the empire declared war on Serbia, Germany used their alliance with Austria-Hungary as an excuse to commence attacks on the opposing alliance powers Russia and France. In realist theory, the Germans sought hegemony in a system of power equilibrium. Although nationalist issues between South Slavs and Austria-Hungary was the initial conflict of the war, Germany brought the war to another level and tried taking advantage of the war for personal gain. This happened because one power (Germany) became a revisionist state and wanted to change the international system’s balance of power in its favor through forceful acquisition of resources.

Sources
1) Thomas, Hobbes (1651), Leviathan, eBooks.com, Chapter 13
2) Keegan, John (1998), The First World War, Hutchinson, P.52
3) Willmott, H.P. (2003), World War I, New York: Dorling Kindersley, P.27, 29
4) Lieber, Keir (2007), The New History of World War I and What It Means for International Relations Theory
5) Waltz, Kenneth (1988), The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, XVIII, P.615-628