To what extent was Germany already at war with Europe by 1914?

Otto van Bismarck had a very special way of thinking. His belief was that war should be the last resort, but at the same time wanted events that couldn’t have come if there was no war. Germany was improving steadily under the rule by Bismarck until Kaiser Wilhelm II came to power in 1888. Germany then began trying to align themselves with many countries so they could prevent potential war. Two incidents in Morocco, a naval race with Britain and a crisis in the Balkans were enough to cause war.

In 1905, France tried to extend her influence in Morocco but Germany argued that it would be illegal to do so and the Kaiser went himself to Morocco to demand a deal to struck. Germany did this because it wanted to show that Germany was the powerful ally and not Britain. However, Britain supported France at the Algeciras conference and won their support. At this point, Germany was more isolated than ever but still had the Triple Alliance. Once Britain joined Russia, Europe split up into two alliances which was one of the main causes of the war.

In 1908-1909 there was a crisis in the Balkans where loyalties where questioned. Germany stood by Austria and forced Russia to back down in 1909, an event that Russia stated would never be repeated again. The Balkans were a contested area between Germany and Russia because of their location but Russia was weak after the Japanese war so they were forced out by the Austro-German alliance. A naval race was also going on between Britain and Germany. The British government believed that if Germany was to attack by sea, they would be annihilated. The liberal government agreed to increase battleship production and the race to a superior navy begun.

The Second Moroccan crisis was in 1911, when French troops were sent to Morocco at the Sultan’s request. Germany thought that this was the beginning of a takeover, and so they sent one of their gunboat’s to demonstrate their power. Germany had previously been in talks to exchange some land in Morocco for the French Congo but the British were alerted by the German fleet and got gunned down. This concluded their negotiations.

Germany was isolated, the naval race was growing to an all new high and there was expansion in land by all big European powers. The prospect of a war was clearly present. Germany was alarmed by the speed of Russia’s recovery. Wilhelm and his army general’s called a meeting where a war was discussed, thus proving that not only was Germany at War in 1914 but even two years before.