Arms Race Free Essays

The great war of 1914 was one of the bloodiest conflicts modern man has yet experienced. Its consequences reached far from the battlefield and into the towns, homes and families of the soldiers. There are many arguable points one could debate regarding the origins of WW1 but much guilt resides on the part of the arms race. We will write a custom essay sample on Arms Race or any similar topic only for you Order Now An arms race can best be described as one country adding a portion to Its military then a neighboring country doing the same because It is nervous. The two countries continuously keep adding to their military might to keep up with one nother. Edward Cray, Britain’s foreign secretary from 1906-1916 offered a good examplel . If one country builds a rail way to the border of a neighboring country, then that country will feel threatened and subsequently will build a railroad of its own to the border. Anticipating an attack, the first country will begin to mobilize its army and perhaps build weapons. The second country now feels incredibly threatened and mobilizes its own army calling in all the reserve troops possible. Gray assessed that the only way to stop an arms race is war. An arms race does not simply start on its own. There is indubitably some event that triggers the arming of a country. In WWI, that can be attributed to the treaties between European countries2. When Austria and Serbia get into a dispute, Austria Issues an ultimatum with ten conditions. Serbia agrees to all but one and starts looking around for backup In case of attack. Serbia forms an alliance with Russia because Russia hates Austria. When Austria finds out they call their friend Germany for an alliance. Russia subsequently calls France knowing that France is looking for an easy shot to get back at Germany Tor tne Franco-Prusslan war Trom akes them pay dearly n w cn Germany aeTeats France ana for the loss3. On the day of the ultimatum, Austria declares war on Serbia, Russia declares war on Austria, Germany declares war on Russia, and France declares war on Germany. French and German Military development France had bounced back fairly quickly after the Franco-Prussian war and paid off their debts ahead of time. They were quickly becoming an industrialized nation with many assets. Their progress made both Germany and Britain wary because they both wanted to be the most powerful country and were insecure about any sort of threat. Around 1912 when things were beginning to heat up in Europe Russia, Germany and France began to ramp up their military forces4. Germany Added 120,000 men to its army in anticipation of trouble. With Germany beginning to arm, France passes a compulsory service law that required all men ages 20-40 to serve in the military for a set amount of time. For twenty years, Frances army had been growing faster that Germanys. This changed drastically though when Germany decided to start pouring majority of their resources into their military. Germany, although not one hundred percent responsible for the war, certainly did not back away from it. They participated in arms races such as these and instigated others such as the naval arms race. When war came about, Germany was more than ready for it because to their years of preparation due to the arms race. English and German Army development Around this same time Germany was trying to cause an issue between France and Britain over the country of Morocc05. Germany was trying to cause issues over the independence of Morocco mainly because they themselves had personal commercial interests in the area and they wanted to insight strife between the two fore mentioned countries. An international conference was called and Germany did not get its way. This critically weekend the already strained relations between Britain and Germany and France and Germany. After Germany failed to get what it wanted, it stopped relying so much on diplomacy and more and more on brute military power. As a result of this, Britain formed an elite group of men numbering 150,000 in size that was ready to cross the English Channel at a moment’s notice to invade Germany6. Germany knew this and was made nervous by it prompting them to mobilize even more. Russian and German arms Development When Russia saw this, they became concerned and added 500,000 to their own army and launched the â€Å"Great Military Program† that would add 10 percent to its army each following year. Russia had the most available man power but it was also the least industrialized of the major powers which would prove to be a very serious setback. Germany had not been really bothered by France and Russia arming themselves until they formed the Franco Russian Alliance in 18947. If war were to break out, Germany would be fghting on two fronts instead of only one which could spread their resources to the limit. Because Russia’s army was 300,000 men bigger tnan Germanys In IYUU, Germany Increased ne growtn 0T Its army even more In anticipation of having to fght a raging battle on two fronts. Russia’s army was considered a steam roller and was believe to be able to Just â€Å"roll† over any obstacle in its path with no trouble at a118. By this point, Germany, Russia, England, and France all had the new intentions of war such as the maxim gun, airplanes, and gas. They also had the factories to produce them. Some had better infrastructure already in place but they all had the capability. Germanys advantage ver both Russia and France was its incredible train system that would allow it to mobilize much quicker. The land arms race in general It is quite impressive to look at the spending of European countrys on their defense system in the years leading up to World War 1. Looking at the data, it seems quite obvious that we were on the brink of war. As far as defense spending goes, Germany was the most dramatic influx in spending per capita. While most countries populations are increasing at the about average rate while Russia more than doubles in size. As fore mentioned they were a formidable amount of man ower yet not yet quite industrialized enough to use these men to their full potential. Britain and German Naval Race In the years preceding WWI, Britain had been making an effort to expand their navy. Due to their status as an island nation, it was imperative that they maintain a powerful naw to protect their interests. Also, in the days of empires, Britain had to maintain a powerful maritime force to protect their interest across the world. In 1889 Britain passed a series of laws known as the â€Å"Two Power Standard†10. This policy states that Britain must maintain a fleet at least as big as the fleets of two other ountries combined. When this policy originally passed, they were looking at Russia and France. Whenever these two nations built new ships, Britain would build an equal or greater numDer In order to stay at or aoove tne same level 0T prestige. Britain encountered some trouble when The United States of America, soon to become the most powerful, prestigious, and desirable country in the world, started building an elite naval fghting force. At this same time, Japan and Germany were both developing their maritime forcesl 1 . Originally, Germany wanted to threaten Britain into Joining he triple alliance by building their naw but this had the opposite effect. Winston Churchill pointed out that Germany did not really need a naval force and it was more of a â€Å"luxury’ while Britain’s was a necessity. Sir Edward Gray stated that Britain’s naw is to them what Germanys army is to Germany. They also argued that Germany was only producing a naw to threaten Britain’s commercial trade interests and their imperial colonies. However, Britain is not the kind of country to sit around aimlessly while they feel threatened. They responded by building a new type of ship powered by a turbine engine called the Dreadnaughtl 2. This new fghting wonder was supposedly capable of sinking an entire fleet of it’s less powerful and agile predecessor the common battle ship. Germanys strategy was not to build a naw so significant that it could beat Britain’s in an all-out display of might but one Just big enough to keep Britain’s naw busy. By continuing to build ships with no intent of outbuilding Britain, they kept Britain nervous and spending a lot of money they did not necessarily have to. After England introduced the dreadnought, Germany was not far behind. Although they did not want to out build Britain, they could not afford o be outnumbered by ships of such a superior caliber. As it stood in 1914, Britain had 23 dreadnaughts, 10 battle cruisers, 30 pre-dreadnoughts, 47 cruisers, 61 light cruisers, 225 destroyers and 70 submarines13. This was the biggest naw in the world. Germany was in second place with 13 dreadnaughts, 6 battle cruisers, 30 pre- dreadnoughts, 14 cruisers, 35 light cruisers, 152 destroyers, and 30 submarines. We can attribute the fact that Germany is most renowned in this wasr for the use of submarines due to their sinking of high profile targets like the Lusitania. Also, Britain’s submarines would not have had the great opportunity at sinking ships German submarines did because there were not as many German trade ships floating around. Looking at these numbers, we can tell that Germany had precisely built the amount of ships they needed to keep the Englanders occupied and nervous. This was a very good plan on Germanys part because every dollar Britain was pouring into their naw was a dollar that would not go towards their land force. Germanys army was far bigger than England’s and they wanted it to stay that way. In 1912, Britain ctually tried to reach a settlement with Germany regarding the future of the arms race but it proved unsuccessful when Germany rejected it14. Britain did not want to keep pouring as much money as they were into their naw or military at all. As a result of Germanys refusal, Britain recalled all their ships across the world back to home waters to be ready for an attack. The other Naval Powers France ta s tnlra place wltn 14 areaanaugnts, no Dattle crulsers, 15 pre- dreadnaughts, 19 cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 81 destroyers, and no submarines. America came in behind France in fourth place. We had 10 dreadnaughts, 1 battle cruiser, 7 pre-dreadnaughts, 8 cruisers, Slight cruisers, 106 destroyers, and 39 submarines. We ruined Britain’s 2:1 policy in 1916 when Woodrow Wilson passed a law that required our naw to be at least as big as Britain’s. Russia also had a mid- sized naw although it was iced in to their cold and inhospitable harbor at St. Petersburg. They possessed 4 dreadnaughts, 1 battle cruiser, 7 pre-dreadnaughts, 8 cruisers, 5 light cruisers, 106 destroyers, and 36 submarines15. Japan was also a cause of worry for both Germany and Britain at first hen they emerged from their mystical land with a not inconsequential navy. They possessed 4 dreadnaughts, 2 battle cruisers, 2 pre-dreadnaughts, 9 cruisers, 1 5 light cruisers, 56 destroyers, and 15 submarines. All these naws had been escalating dramatically over the years leading up to World War 1 even though most of the fghting was to be on land. This was because if one country could have a big enough naw to hold a blockade across a main importing port of the enemy to cut off their supplies. In conclusion, I think we can definitively say that Sir Edward Gray was correct when e stated that the only means to end an arms race is through war. Once things begin to escalate, there is only a small disturbance that is necessary to catapult the countries involved into all-out war as seen in The Great war. Once an army is mobilized and hostile with another country, the only thing necessary to get the ball rolling is a degrading remark from a high up official or perhaps a trigger happy soldier. All this could be avoided if the countries had not been trying to compete against each other in the development of arms, armies, and navies. How to cite Arms Race, Papers