International Relations

1. International Relations Historiography

2. Was Bismarck to blame for WW1? • Mary Fulbrook (1991) argues Bismarck left a legacy of complex alliance systems and a state that was prone to authoritarianism and Bismarck can therefore be seen as a “sorceror’s apprentice”. However, she sees a clear break between the policy of Bismarck and the Weltpolitik policies of Kaiser Wilhelm II. • Geoff Layton argues Germany was a complex country on the eve of WW1 and she was just as likely to develop into a liberal democracy as she was to become a military dictatorship.

3. Was Kaiser Wilhelm II to blame for WW1? • Fritz Fischer argued there was a clear link between the expansionist policies of the Kaiser and the liebensraum policies of Hitler. The Bielefelder school of historians argued that there was a link between the anti-democratic, authoritarian and militaristic politics of the Kaiser and Hitler. • Fulbrook (1991) argues that historians writing history from below are able to challenge the view that Germans were inclined to follow authoritarian leaders and therefore questions the assumption that there is a clear link between Wilhelmine Germany and Nazi Germany. • Mombauer (1999) argues the Kaiser was responsible for WW1 because he allowed the military to dominate German politics

4. Exam Questions • Analyse the aims and results of German foreign policy between 1870 and 1914? • To what extent was German foreign policy responsible for the outbreak of WW1?

5. The causes of WW1 • Sydney Bradshaw Fay (1929) argues it was a complex assortment of causes (nationalism, the alliance system, militarism and imperialism) • Fritz Fischer and Norman Stone blamed Germany • Hobsbawm (1987) argued that it was the system of capitalism that generated the new imperialism that caused tension in the world. He also claims that capitalists encouraged militarism in order to secure arms contracts. • Nial Ferguson (1999) blames Britain. He argues that Britain could have intervened to stop the war but wanted an opportunity to crush the “Napoleonic” ambition of Germany

6. Exam Questions • New imperialism was the cause of WW1. How far do you agree with this statement? • Nationalism was the primary causal factor in the outbreak of WW1. How far do you agree with this statment? • Examine the growing impact of militarism on international affairs between 1870 and 1914.

7. The Treaty of Versailles and the League • RJ Overy (1994) It was a Treaty that almost no-one liked except Britain and France. The “peristance of international idealism in the 1920s” masked important weaknesses in the international order. • Fulbrook (1991) argues it was a harsh Treaty but claims that the critics of the Treaty in Germany manipulated it for their own purposes unfairly. • “the world’s ‘first sustained and consequential experiment in internationalism’, (it) paved the way for a second, more effective and lasting period of international collaboration under the United Nations. Rather than dwell on its weaknesses or condemn its failures, we should applaud the League’s successes, while continuing to learn important lessons from its history.” Ruth Henig (2009)

8. Exam Questions • The Treaty of Versailles satisfied no-one and laid the foundations for a second world war. How far do you agree with this statement?