World War I - An Imbalance of Power

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In The Guns of August Barbara Touchman presents a vivid image of the events and causes that lead to the First World War. The multitudes of motives that become evident in her book imply that none of Waltz's three images was solely responsible for the outbreak of war. However, the image that best explains the origins of World War I is the anarchy of the international system. The internal structure of individual states and the nature of men are two images that considerably contributed to the war but should be considered in the broader context of European rivalries that took place in the vacuum of interstate relations.

The premier reason for war, related to the realist image, came from the shift in the balance of power. The growing strength of Germany led to a military build-up in all the European countries. As military force is a zero-sum game, France, England and Russia expanded their armies in an attempt to preserve their relative power. Also, long preparation for the event of war permeated throughout Europe. Germany, France, Britain, and Russia all devised elaborate military plans that would correct the balance of power and bring the enemies under control. While the French had forged a German invasion draft called Plan 17 in 1911, the Germans created their own military tactic called the Von Schlieffen Plan already in 1906. The Chief of German Military, General Moltke saw the coming of war as inevitable. These extensive military preparations put countries in an inflexible position. Although, some countries were more focused on scaring other others than fighting, the commitment to military action undermined any attempts of peaceful negotiation. Mobilization brought countries on collision course that could only be stopp...

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...ke Ferdinand was only an efficient factor of the war. The true, underlying permissive factor is best described by Waltz's third image. A shattered balance of power and the resulting mobilization illustrated this perspective. While not a dominating factor, the second image was characterized by internal state conflicts and excessive decision-making authority of the leaders. Waltz's first image was portrayed in the abundance of personal stories and descriptions of character weaknesses, which demonstrated that all of the national decisions are made by fallible humans. The analysis of First World War proves that each of the images played some role in the conflict but that the anarchy of international system was the most compelling reason for the first global war in history.

Works Cited

Barbara Tuchman. The Guns of August. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994.

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