THE GREAT WAR [1914-1918]
To those who hailed the Intellectual Revolution
as signifying the mastery of nature by man and proof of the superiority of
twentieth-century Western Civilization, the future was a most promising
one. The outstanding achievements in science and technology would be the
means of attaining a full and rich life for increasing millions of people
throughout the globe. All that was needed was continued peace, and the
world had reason to be optimistic on this point. Europe had not been swept
by general warfare since 1815 and what wars had been fought in the hundred years
since had been relatively isolated and of short duration. The last major
European war - - the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 - - had involved only two
powers and had lasted less than six months. Consequently, there was
generally common agreement between those who believed that man had evolved to
the point where he had mastered his animal heritage, and those who believed that
man had never possessed an animal heritage but had achieved new heights of
civilization. Both were generally convinced of the superiority of
twentieth-century Western civilization over all previous civilizations.
No one could have possible predicted that between 1914 and 1918 the leading nations of the West would demonstrate that their civilization, rather than being the threshold of Utopia, was not far removed in spirit from the violence and destruction of the "Dark Ages." If anything, however, the Dark Ages [c. 500-c1000] could compare favorable with the Armageddons of our twentieth-century, for they had led slowly to improved and more stable conditions, while the post-World War I period became an interlude between two world wars, and World War II resulted in an increase of worldwide tension and in mistrust and suspicion; it led to feverish military preparations for a possible World War III.
Actually, the optimism had not been justified, for World War I had long been in the making. In 1871 Germany had emerged as the strongest power in Europe, while a humiliated France - - smarting from the loss of Alsace-Lorraine and from its forced huge indemnity payment - - dreamed of 'la revance" [revenge]. Well aware of France's position and content with Germany's European boundaries, Bismarck dedicated himself to the simple foreign policy of keeping France isolated from potential allies. Realistic and skillful in diplomacy, Bismarck's efforts culminated in the TRIPLE ALLIANCE [1882] of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Friendship with Great Britain and Russia was continued and France was successfully isolated.
Great Britain had followed an independent policy of "SPLENDID ISOLATION," with her relations with France strained over Egypt, and her concern over the security of India leading to clashes with Russia in Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan. Consequently, the possibility of France finding allies seemed remote - - until Kaiser Wilhelm II dropped Bismarck in 1890 and began to direct Germany's foreign policy himself. In short order his blunders alienated first Russia and then Great Britain. The first crack in France's wall of isolation resulted in the FRANCO-RUSSIAN ALLIANCE of 1894. Rebuffed in her overtures of friendship to Germany and thoroughly alarmed by Kaiser Wilhelm II's open naval challenge, Great Britain ended her period of "splendid isolation" with the ANGLO-JAPANESE ALLIANCE of 1902, resolved here differences with France through the "ENTENTE CORDIALE" of 1904 and reached agreement with Russia over Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet in the ANGLO-RUSSIAN ENTENTE of 1907. In effect, a TRIPLE ENTENTE alliance now was a counter force to the TRIPLE ALLIANCE - - though not spelled out in such definite military terms - - and Bismarck's success in isolating France was nullified.
While military preparations were rushed and secret diplomacy pursued between the increasingly hostile armed camps into which Europe had been divided, several crises occurred which were temporarily resolved. However, the one area in which conflicts of interest could only be resolved by the clash of arms - - the BALKANS: the "powder keg of Europe" - - resulted in a final crisis involving nationalistic aspirations which led to the outbreak of hostilities. Before World War I was over, it had become truly a "world war": a total war in which civilians were bombed by planes and zeppelins and where on the battlefield mass slaughter was carried out with deadly efficiency by the machine gun, poison gas and the tank. Thousands of men died in a single day's engagement as they emerged from muddy trenches and crossed barbed wire entanglements to gain or lose a few hundred yards. Individual gallantry practically disappeared on land and at sea [where submarine warfare dominated] to emerge in the air in thrilling aerial "dog fights" - - in which one-third of all who had flown were killed.
When World War I had ended, the old European dynasties of HAPSBURG, HOHENZOLLERN and ROMANOV no longer ruled, the United States had ended its period of isolation from European conflicts in order to "make the world safe for democracy," and the world's largest nation [in land area] had become a Communist nation. The wonderful opportunity for a real peace and for an end to "international anarchy" was lost by the vengeance-minded European victors who imposed a Carthaginian peace, and by the United States which failed to measure up to its newly won and deserved role. Instead, democracy itself was laid bare to attacks from a newly created adversary - - TOTALITARIANISM - - and the foundations were laid for a renewal of European hostilities and the waging of an even more terrible world conflict in which a new generation would bear the brunt.