926 Ch. 22 • The Great War
Conclusion
The Great War had several causes, with none alone standing as a sufficient
cause. To be sure, the entangling alliances of the European great powers
were undeniably a principal factor in the outbreak of hostilities. Aggressive
nationalism spilled out of the opposing alliances during this period.
Schoolchildren throughout much of Europe were taught that their country
was the greatest nation in history, and that their rivals and enemies were
craven reptiles. The imperial rivalries of the great powers—above all, in
Africa—helped make the alliance system more rigid, sharpening rivalries
between Germany and Britain and France. Nationalists strongly believed
that having colonies helped define status as a great power: by such reason
ing, states had to expand their military forces and be prepared to defend
their empires as they would their own borders.
Military planners (who were, after all, nationalists themselves) in Ger
many, Austria-Hungary, France, and, to a lesser extent, Russia, all consid
ered war not only inevitable but desirable. To one British writer, “War...
is the sovereign disinfectant, and its red stream of blood... cleans out the
stagnant pools and clotted channels of the intellect.” In Germany, an offi
cial in the chancellery wrote that “the hostility that we observe everyw here
[is] the essence of the world and the source of life itself.” War would be
the ultimate test by which the fit—individuals and nations—would be mea
sured. “Give me combat!” rang out from the dueling fraternities in Heidel
berg to the gymnastic and shooting clubs of Paris.
For those who had been lucky enough to survive, how much greater the
disappointment, disillusionment, and bitterness that w'ould follow'. One
contemporary observer did not mince words: “The World War of 1914-1918
was the greatest moral, spiritual and physical catastrophe in the entire his
tory of the English people—a catastrophe whose consequences, all wholly
evil, are still with us.” Soldiers returned home to find skyrocketing prices
and unemployment awaiting them. In Britain, parents whose sons had died
as foot soldiers in France or Belgium learned that families of aristocratic
officers had complained that their sons had been buried alongside ordinary
people. Politicians who had put aside their differences during the war in a
common effort for victory—such as the “Sacred Union” in France—reverted
to bitter disagreements that were compounded by the dilemmas posed in
the peace settlement. The problems of making peace and putting Europe
back together again, as well as paying for the war, would not be easily
resolved. U.S. participation in the war and, particularly, the Russian Revo
lution, which we will examine in the next chapter, would each have a pro
found impact on Europe’s future. War became the continuing experience
of the twentieth century.