Chapter III

Chapter 3
Part I:

Kaiser Wilhlem II’s personality and ideas – The Kaisers personality/ ideas were unique because of the condition he had, his paralyzed left arm and a defect balancing in his ear. Because of this he had to show his own strength and power. From an early age he liked the military and when he became Kaiser he chose solders to advice him. He told people that he had divine power from God to rule.
- The way that Kaiser Wilhem II personality and ideas were I would understand that a large war would break out because this monarch is not really a man to have sitting on a throne. They described him as a mad man and unpredictable at anytime.

Economic growth – Germanise economical growth was huge at the time. The country was booming in all ways populations, and business.
- Since the country was so strong and was one of the richest countries in Europe at the time it brought a peaceful existence to the country. Everyone had their duty to do and the system worked.

The Mittlestand – These were the lower middle class in Germany in those days.
-The Mittlestand were not happy about how the direction their country was going in. They felt stranded between the industrial working class and turn to right-wing pressure groups hoping that they would bring back Germany old values.

Trade Unions – Was one of the pressure groups, they increased their members by 3.3 million
-Their ways were to work with government about practical matters such as wages, working hours, and conditions. This would bring the country stronger together.

Junkers – Are the people who are at the top of the social pyramid, and are in the elite group, they are the most privileged group.
-With this group I couldn’t say if they would start a war or bring peace.

Weltpolitik – Meaning “World Policy”, this was the name of the policy which was made by the Kaiser about foreign policy.
-Foreign policy would lead Germany to a large war because the ideas were to conquer the other lands and to have benefit the country and expand the empire.

The ideas of Admiral von Tirpitz – That Germany should take action to make strong policies which would enhance its statue as a world power.
-This would bring a large war to Germany because to be superior world power people in the way must be removed which will start problems and lead to war.

The Daily Telegraph Affair – It was a conversation which was between the Kaiser and a friend and then was written up and said to be an interview with the Kaiser. The Kaiser got mad at Britain, and tensions came.
-This would be hard tensions would bring a large war to Germany because both sided got made at each other.

The Zabern Affair – This was a crisis which had to do with the German Empires domestic policies.
-This would bring Germany closer to a larger war because this caused a lot of political conflict

The von Schleiffen Plan – Was a plan made for victory over a war which Germany would be fighting two sides the French and the Russian.
-This would lead to a large war in Europe since the country was already peppering a victory plan.

The First Moroccan Crisis –This was a international crisis where Germany wanted the independence of Morocco because they didn’t want France to have more land in their name.
-The crisis was bringing a large war into Europe the tensions between so many countries started to come out.

The Second Moroccan Crisis- A German gunboat went to Agadir to show the French army that the Germans were not going to sit around and let them have Morocco.
- This brought again tensions to start the large war in Europe because the two leaders of the countries were fighting for the same piece of land.

Part I Question:
“To what extent was Germany already at war with Europe by 1914”
By 1914 Germany and the rest of Europe had let out all of them steam. After the incident in Moroccan, the Germans and French were fighting over the land. But already by then Germany had already many conflicts between different countries of Europe. One of the main ones was the assignation of Crown Prince of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in Serbia. All that had to happen was an incident which would start the war. The German Empire and its allies fought against the French and their allies during World War One. In those days it was easy to have people to fight for their country because nationalism was very high at the time.
One of the main reasons the countries had such fury with each other was because when it came to land, nearly all of Europe was competing for that territory. Even before all of this started Europe was watching Germany since Bismarck went into power and even before that. Leaders knew that this empire was growing faster and becoming stronger they had to take action so that they could insure survival. Most of European countries wanted the German Empire to fall. More or less each leader of a country wanted their home to be the best so they were competing amongst each other even if it meant to sacrifice the lives of your own people.