World War I: Causes, Phases, and Spain's Neutrality

1 - War and Revolution (1914-23)

1870-1914 Period of uneasy peace in Europe. Rivalries continued between countries, resulting in two main alliances.

In July 1914, World War I began, with the two alliances fighting against each other.

Industry reconverted to manufacture weapons and military equipment.

Society also changed due to the war. Women began to work in factories while men fought in the war.

2.1. The Causes of the War

• Tension during the uneasy peace.
• Rivalries to recover territories, for example, France over Alsace-Lorraine against Germany, or the Balkan crisis between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Economic rivalries, above all between Great Britain (former industrial power) and Germany (current), which led to a hard fight to control international trade.
• Colonial interests, for example, the Moroccan crisis (Germany tried to get colonies from other countries).

2.2. Additional Causes

• Arms race, Britain and Germany began a naval arms race.
• Another cause was the formation of two blocs of opposing alliances:

• 1882 The Triple Entente: Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire.
• 1907 The Triple Alliance: the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Italy.

Phases of the War

There were three phases:

In July 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia.

1. Initial German offensives 1914: rapid attacks on Belgium (neutral) and France, and to prevent actions against Russia.
2. Trench warfare and new allies (1915-17): period of trench warfare, followed by the entrance of the USA into the war (with the Allies). The Russian Empire began to collapse.
3. Allied victories and the armistice 1918: Russia withdrew from the war. After a political revolution, Germany signed the armistice in November 1918.

Spain and the First World War

Spain remained neutral throughout WWI between July 1914 and November 1918, but despite domestic economic difficulties, it was considered "one of the most important neutral countries in Europe by 1915". Spain had enjoyed neutrality during the political difficulties of pre-war Europe and would continue its neutrality after the war until the Spanish Civil War began in 1936.

Causes of the neutrality:

• The insufficient army.
• The objectives of Spain were far from the ones in Europe, Gibraltar, and Morocco.

The situation before the war in Spain was:

• Backward economy.
• After the disaster of '98: no colonies, social crisis, obsolete army, etc.
• Fraudulent electoral systems.
• Morocco problem.
• Tragic week in Barcelona, 1909.

From 1898, Spain was internationally isolated.

On 7 August 1914, Alfonso XIII declared Spain neutral by Royal Decree.