Tutor HuntResources History Resources
How Important Were Alliances In Determining The Outcome Of The First World War?
Focus did alliances decide who won and lost by 1918?
Date : 11/01/2016
How important were alliances in determining the
outcome of the First World War?Focus – did alliances decide who won and lost by 1918?Both the Triple Entante of Britain, France and Russia
and the Triple Alliance of Germany Austro-Hungary (and Italy) have problems.
Russia is always the weaker player for the Entante and needs major support to
keep it in the war. The German high command correctly foresaw that Russia would
collapse in a protracted war. The Russians can fight against the Austro-
Hungarians with some degree of success but not against Germany. Huge amounts of
material might were delivered to Russia to support her but her armies
disintegrate. The revolution of February 1917 and the formation of the Russian
provisional government does little to help. The Provisional Government is under
huge pressure to stay in the war from Britain and France and tries to renew the
war (the Kornilov offensive) The Russian people and the soldiers want peace but
the Provisional Government needs the support of Britain and France. For the
Russians this is a lose-lose situation, it was not inevitable that Lenin and
the Bolsheviks would succeed in the October revolution, it was highly likely
that the Provisional Government would however fail in the situation it was in.The Triple Alliance has its own problems.
Austro-Hungary is not just a dual monarchy it is a confused swirl of ethnic
groups held together by not very much. Germany has to give considerable support
to the Austro-Hungarians to keep them going. Equally Italy does not declare war
in 1914 and when she does she comes in on the side of Britain and France in
1916. The involvement of the Ottoman Empire is an equally mixed blessing as
another decaying empire of different ethnic groups. Britain and France attempt
to force the Dardanelles in 1915 to open up a supply route to Russia via the
Black Sea, this fails but the war in the Middle East is not decisive.Germany’s use of submarines and unrestricted warfare
at sea (plus the sinking of the liner Lusitania in 1915 as a slow burning fuse)
finally brings the USA in on the side of Britain and France in April 1917. The
Germans realise that once the economic power of the USA is mobilised that they
will be defeated, however the collapse of Russia gives them one last stab at victory
in the spring of 1918. The failure of the Kaiser’s spring offensive means
Germany cannot win but one must recognise the importance of the economic
blockade of Germany. Starvation at home played a major role in German defeat in
1918. The arrival of large numbers of American soldiers in the last few months
guaranteed defeat for Germany but other factors were probably more important.Assessment - The end of the war sees a major
realignment of power in Europe as old empires collapse. The Ottoman Empire, long
the ‘sick man of Europe’ collapses and Turkey emerges as a modern nation. The
Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolves, Austria and Hungary become separate nations,
new ‘successor’ nations such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia emerge but in
both cases they were based around more than one ethnic group, Poland emerges as
a nation and not just a people. So while alliances might not have decided the
outcome of the war on their own the consequences of alliances sees a new Europe
emerge and with it a new set of problems that will within a generation bring
another world war.
This resource was uploaded by: Paul
Other articles by this author
- Winston Churchill - The Wilderness Years after 1929
- Pacifism in France between WW1 and WW2
- The Quality of Soldiers in WW1 - Case study the French Army
- Garibaldi as a Military thinker and general
- The Haldane Reforms - planning for the First World War
- How important was Generalship and Leadership in the First World War?
- How important were alliances in the Second World War
- The French revolution for war studies
- The Russo Japanese War an introduction for A level History
- How well did Governments organise their resources during the Second World War
- American West - Why Did the Second Fort Laramie Treaty break down
- To what extent and in what ways did Communism transform East Germany
- Nazi propaganda - case study Leni Riefenstahl
- East Germany - State Church and Youth
- How to help you son or daughter with their GCSE History Homework