The period 1900-1914 was a time of increasing tension between the great powers, which exacerbated the long-term 'pressures-towards-war', moving towards the final crisis at Sarajevo which sparked the First World War.

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

- listen to Giles Hill on the growing tension

Germany's Weltpolitik policy

Powerpoint - Crises of 1905-1914

1.   First Moroccan Crisis, 1906

France hoped to conquer Morocco in Africa, and one of the points of the Entente Cordiale (1904) was that the British would help them.  But in 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm visited Morocco and promised to protect Morocco against anyone who threatened it.  

•  Effects
  • 1.  The French were furious with Germany.
  • 2.  The British saw it as yet another attempt by Germany to build a German Empire to rival Britain's empire.
  • 3.  A Conference was held at Algeciras (1906), where Britain and Russia supported France, and Germany was forced to promise to stay out of Morocco.   This in turn annoyed Germany, who thought that they were 'ganging up' to stop Germany occupying its rightful place in the world.
  • 4.  In 1907, Britain and Russia, alarmed by German ambitions, made an Entente

A description of the Kaiser's landing in Morocco in 1905

Wikipedia on the Moroccan crisis of 1905

2.   Telegraph Article, 1908

Kaiser Wilhelm gave an interview to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, in which - although he claimed that he wanted to be friends with Britain - he said that the English were 'mad', said that the German people hated them, and demanded that: 'Germany must have a powerful fleet to protect her interests in even the most distant seas'.  

•  Effects
  • 1.  The article outraged the British.
  • 2.  It convinced them that Germany wanted to challenge the British Empire overseas.

The Daily Telegraph article of 1908 and

    a comment on it by 'Trenches on the Web'

3.   Bosnian crisis, 1908

Turkey had been in decline for a long time.   In 1908 there was a revolution in Turkey, and Austria-Hungary took advantage of this to annex (take over) the Turkish state of Bosnia.  

•  Effects
  • 1.  Serbia was furious, because Bosnia included many Serbs whom it had hoped to rule.  This eventually led to the assassination at Sarajevo and the First World War
  • 2.  Serbia asked her ally Russia to help, and Russia called a European Conference, expecting support from France and Britain.   However, Britain and France did NOT support Russia, no conference took place, and Russia had to back down and was humiliated - but Russia vowed not to back down again.   This, again, was to help to cause the war in 1914.

The Bosnian Crisis of 1908-9

Annexation of Bosnia - original documents

4.   Agadir Crisis, 1911

There was a revolution in Morocco, and the French sent in an army to put it down, then took over the country.   In the middle of this, Kaiser Wilhelm sent the gunboat Panther to the Moroccan port of Agadir.

•  Effects
  • 1.  The French and British were furious - the British minister Lloyd George said that 'Britain's interests were vitally affected'.   Fear of Germany's intentions increased.
  • 2.  Germany was forced to back down and remove the gunship, and was given only a small piece of jungle in the Congo.   This increased German resentment: 'the Kaiser was determined not to be the loser in the next crisis'.

Wikipedia on the Agadir crisis of 1911  

5.   Balkan Wars, 1912-13

As Turkey continued to grow weaker, in 1912 Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria (calling themselves the Balkan League) attacked Turkey and captured almost all the remaining Turkish land in Europe.   Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, arranged a peace conference in London, but in 1913 fighting broke out again.   Britain and Germany got together and used their influence to bring the war to an end (Treaty of Bucharest, 1913).

•  Effects
  • 1.  Serbia became the most powerful Balkan state, and felt confident enough to threaten Austria - the Serbian Prime Minister Pasic said: 'the first round is won; now for the second round - against Austria'.
  • 2.  The Kaiser took Sir Edward Grey's co-operation as a sign of Britain's weakness.   When the next crisis happened, he assumed that Britain would co-operate again.

Austro-Serbian relations before 1914

6.   Assassination at Sarajevo, 1914

On 28 June 1914 Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.

•  Effects
  • 1.  This started the sequence of events which led to World War One.

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand – detailed account     

Original Sources

Count Harrach's account

film footage of Franz Ferdinand arriving at the Town Hall

Contemporary account (notice that it gets almost EVERY fact wrong).