FZHISVKHA/2(E)

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‘Mutual suspicion was an important factor that caused the First

Before the First World War, mutual suspicion between different countries created
a strained international atmosphere. And it was their mutual suspicion that made the
world war unavoidable. Therefore, what the question suggests is valid and this essay is
going to discuss it in terms of racial, alliance, military and colonial issues.

First of all, mutual suspicion at racial level accounted for the world war. In the
early 20th century, two strong nationalist ideologies, namely Pan-Germanism 泛日耳
曼主義 and Pan-Slavism 泛斯拉夫主義, had expansion in the Balkans 巴爾幹, and
mutual suspicion between both sides provoked different conflicts and even the world
war. For example, Germany mistrusted Russia that actively supported Serbia in Balkan
affairs for the suspected purpose of extending the influence of the Slavic race. It
responded aggressively by backing Austria-Hungary with one-third of its population
being Germanic as a countermeasure against the Slavic camp. During the Bosnian
Crisis 波斯尼亞危機 of 1908, Germany gave Austria-Hungary strong support for its
annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and this almost triggered a world war. As for the
Sarajevo Incident 塞拉耶佛危機 of 1914, Germany offered Austria-Hungary the
‘blank cheque’ out of suspicion of the Slavic influence, boosting its confidence so much
that it issued a harsh ultimatum 最後通牒 to Serbia which caused the war between
them. Meanwhile, Pan-Slavic Russia doubted that Germany supported Austrian
expansion in the Balkans in the hope of stemming Slavic influence there. In response,
Russia also acted aggressively against Germany as exemplified by its general
mobilization in support of Serbia with strong ethnic ties after the Sarajevo Incident 塞
拉 耶 佛 危 機 of 1914 against Germany and Austria-Hungary, but this made the
situation so bad that the world war was already inevitable. Therefore, suspicion between
Germany and Russia of the expansion of each other’s race led to the world war.

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Secondly, mutual suspicion concerning alliance also led to the world war. The alliance
system had a secret nature and signatories were not allowed to disclose details of treaties they
signed. This caused mutual distrust among countries, created international tension and led to
conflicts as well as their deterioration. After Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale 英法
協約(1904), Germany, without knowing the nature of this treaty, started the First Moroccan Crisis
第一次摩洛哥危機 in 1905 to test how supportive Britain would be of France in a crisis and this
clearly caused a conflict. In addition, after the formation of the Triple Entente 三國協約 in 1907,
Germany doubted if Britain, France and Russia did this to make it isolated and thus offered Austria-
Hungary more assistance to counterbalance the Entente Powers as demonstrated by its firm support
for the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina 波黑 in 1908. This also added tension to conflicts.
Worse still, German suspicion of the Allied Powers during the Sarajevo Incident 塞拉耶佛危機
encouraged the country to start a war easily. Since Britain did not show explicit support for Russia
and it did not back Russia in the Bosnian Crisis 波斯尼亞危機 of 1908, Germany made a wrong
predication that Britain would not fight in the war for Russia. It therefore executed the Schlieffen
Plan 施里芬計劃 to attack France by first travelling through Belgium, triggering the First World
War. It was clear that mutual suspicion concerning alliance led to miscalculations and subsequently
the world war.

Thirdly, mutual military suspicion also led to the world war. In terms of navy, Britain was
suspicious of German naval expansion and worried that its naval strength would sooner or later
surpass that of Britain. Therefore, Britain put in more effort to build its own navy, especially after
the failure of the Second Hague Conference 第二次海牙裁軍會議 of 1907 on naval disarmament.
At that time, Britain became even more suspicious of Germany and thus proposed the 2:1
dreadnought policy 二 比 一 無 畏 艦 政 策 , which was that for each dreadnought Germany
manufactured Britain would build two more. This led to the fierce naval arms race between the
two countries. Out of suspicion about the German naval build-up, Britain even signed the Anglo-
French Naval Agreement (1912) with France as a measure to cope with German naval threats in
the English Channel and the Mediterranean Sea. In 1914, Germany implemented the Schlieffen
Plan to invade Belgium, which fueled fear among the British that Germany intended to establish a
naval base against Britain and would pose a threat to the English Channel. Following British
declaration of war, Britain and Germany went to war as a result. Also, in terms of war plan, some
countries with suspicion against other countries came up with war plans and perceived other
countries as imaginary enemies. For example, Germany speculated that it was targeted by the war
plans jointly developed by France and Russia (Plan 17 十七號計劃 and Plan 19 十九號計劃).
For this reason, it adopted the Schlieffen Plan 施里芬計劃 immediately after the Sarajevo
Incident 塞拉耶佛危機 of 1914 for fear of a two-front war, hoping to defeat France directly
before having a war with Russia. Eventually, the implementation of this plan triggered the world
war. Therefore, mutual military suspicion also made the world war inevitable.

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不要盡 100%努力。
要突破自己，就要起碼每次盡 120%努力﹗
K.W.HO．讓革命顛覆所有 瘋紙．保五．奪★．衝★★

Lastly, mutual suspicion concerning colonies also became an important factor that
caused the First World War. Colonial expansion was the focus of many countries in the
early 20th century but they were all suspicious of their competitors. Among these
countries, Germany, as an emerging power, adopted the ‘Weltpolitik’ policy under the
reign of Emperor Wilhelm II from 1890 onwards in a scramble for colonies. This
aroused suspicion from old colonial empires, including Britain and France that even put
aside their differences and signed the Entente Cordiale 英法協約 in resistance to the
German policy, and gave rise to hostility between Germany and these two countries. In
1905, Germany started the First Moroccan Crisis 第一次摩洛哥危機 and attempted
to tighten its grip on Morocco. This upset France that had strong ties with Morocco and
made it more suspicious of Germany. Considering Germany a competitor for colonies,
France sought to facilitate the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente 英俄協約 in 1907,
which led to the formation of the Triple Entente against Germany. In 1911, Germany
made another attempt to challenge French control over Morocco and caused the Second
Moroccan Crisis 第二次摩洛哥危機. This again created suspicion on Germany and
France thus supported Russia in the Sarajevo Incident 塞拉耶佛危機(1914) in order to
destroy Germany and prevent it from harming French colonial interests. This became
one of the reasons for the outbreak of the world war. Therefore, mutual suspicion
concerning colonies also contributed to the world war.

In conclusion, mutual suspicion between different countries in the above aspects

Words: 1070

©K.W.HO – All in One Super Course – Homework#1.1(2020-21Version) 3

不要盡 100%努力。
要突破自己，就要起碼每次盡 120%努力﹗