9781422286029

Prelude to a Catastrophe

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not before the autumn leaves had fallen, then at least by Christmas. Rivalries and Alliances Just a fewmonths earlier, an all- out war in Europe had seemed almost unthinkable. None of the continent’s Great Powers — Britain (or, more formally, the United Kingdom), Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, and Russia—had fought against another for more than 40 years. Europe enjoyed rising prosper- ity. That prosperity was driven largely by a growth in cross-bor- der trade and investment. Beneath its placid surface, though, Europe contained dangerous currents. The Great

In the early years of the twentieth century, Ger- many’s ruler KaiserWilhelm II began to strengthen Germany’s military. Particularly concerning to the British government was the Kaiser’s expansion of the Imperial German Navy, which made it one of the most powerful fleets in the world and a poten- tial threat to Great Britain’s vast overseas empire.

Powers were engaged in a massive military buildup. Between 1890 and 1913, military spending increased more than 150 percent in both Austria- Hungary and Germany, more than 115 percent in Britain, and more than 90 percent in France. Europe’s military buildup underscored a sobering reality. The conti- nent’s Great Powers may not have fought one another for a long time. But their rivalries ran deep. Kaiser Wilhelm, for example, resented the fact that Germany had few overseas colonies, whereas the British and French empires were vast. The Kaiser made it clear that he intended to change that situation. And colonial issues were just one source of friction in