7 0 March 2016
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sJuly1,thecentenaryofthestartof
theBattleoftheSomme–aasco
inwhichonemillionsoldierswere
killedorwoundedtomakeasix-mile
advance for the Franco-British
forces,comesnearerwewillnodoubtbeasked
tocounterposeonceagaintheheroismofthe
EasterRisingparticipantswiththeheroismof
thecombatantsintheGreatWar.
Heroismissurelyanambiguouscategory.
Can heroism in a discreditable cause be
admired?Isnotindignationthemostappropri-
ateretrospectiveresponsetothepoliticians
andgeneralswhosentmillionstotheirdeaths
inthatmassslaughter?Andcompassion,rather
thanadmiration,forthosewhofollowedtheir
lead?
The1500orsoIrishvolunteersof1916were
takingontheBritishEmpireattheheightofits
power.Historyhasbynowjustiedtheircause
bypassinganegativejudgementonthatand
otherterritorialimperialisms.TheEasterRising
inauguratedtherstsuccessfulwarofinde-
pendence of the 20th century, an example
whichmanyothercolonialpeopleshavesince
followed.Itsetintraintheeventsthatledto
theestablishmentofanIrishState.
Astheworldmovesfromsome60Statesin
1945to200todayandtoaprobable300States
ormoreoverthecomingcentury,itisunlikely
thateitherhistoryorhistorianswilllooknega-
tivelyonthatIrishpioneeringachievement.
The 1914-18 war was by contrast a war
betweenEmpireswhichunleashedacatastro-
pheonmankindwhoseeffectsstillhauntus.
Quiteapartfromits17milliondeaths,20million
woundedandeconomicdevastation,itsdisas-
trouswinding-upintheTreatyofVersaillesgave
usHitlerandWorldWarII.
TheGreatWarwasaconictbetweenempire-
hungry politicians and powerful economic
interestsinthemainbelligerentcountries.The
recentacademicconsensusonhowitstarted
tendstospreadresponsibilitybetweenonthe
one hand the governments of the Entente
Powers–France,BritainandRussiaandonthe
othertheCentralPowers-Germany,Austria-
Hungaryand Turkey.Thetitle of Cambridge
historianChristopherClarke’sbest-sellingbook
‘Sleepwalkers’impliesthatbothsidesdrifted
into a disaster none of them foresaw or
intended.Theywereallequallyfoolishorcrimi-
nal,andsoequallyresponsible.
Traditionalleft-wingcharacterisationof1914-
18asan“inter-imperialistwar”impliesasimilar
conclusion:thatasalltheimperialismswere
bad,theywereallequallyguiltyforthewar.It
istruetherewasawarpartyineachbigpower
on either side. But neither logically nor
historicallydoesthatmeanthattheyallcontrib-
utedequallytostartingit
Unsurprisingly,ChristopherClarke’sconclu-
sionhasgonedownwellinGermany.Germany
was forced to accept sole responsibility for
startingWorldWarIinthe‘warguiltclause’of
theTreatyofVersailles.FordecadesEnglish-
language historians echoed that verdict
complacentlyuntiltheAustralianClarkecame
alongwithhisrevisionism.
Furtherrevisionismmaybecalledfor.Some
historiansnowcontendthattheprimerespon-
sibilityforcausingWarWarIrestswithBritain.
Theirthesisseemsconvincing.
Theirargumentgoeslikethis:Theeconomic
andpoliticalriseofimperialGermanyfromthe
1890sonwardsthreatenedBritishglobalpre-
dominance.Germaneconomiccompetitionwas
makinginroadsintotheBritishEmpire.Britain
wasanavalpower,withasmallarmy.Theonly
powers with land armies strong enough to
crushGemanywereFranceandRussia.They
couldattackGermanyfromEastandWestwhile
theBritishnavycouldblockadeitsports.The
central aim of British foreign policy in the
decadebefore1914wastoencourageaFranco-
RussianallianceagainstGermanywhichBritain
couldjoinwhenafavourablemomentcame.
For centuries Britain’s main continental
enemywasFrance,withwhichitfoughtmany
wars.In1904BritainconcludedtheEntenteCor-
dialewithFrance,ostensiblytosortouttheir
colonial interests in Africa. This was not a
formalmilitaryalliance,butsecretjointmilitary
talksdirectedagainstGermanystartedatonce
andcontinuedupto1914.
AsforRussia,thatwasthelandofserfdom,
theknoutandanti-Jewishpogromsintheeyes
of British public opinion during the 19th
As we move from
60 States in 1945 to
300 over the coming
century, it is unlikely
that history will look
negatively on Ireland’s
pioneering Rising
Britain was responsible
for The Rising and WWI
Heroism depends on the nobility
of the cause
by Anthony Coughlan
INTERNATIONAL
March 2016 7 1
century.RussiathreatenedBritain’sempirein
India.Itwasthecauseof“the greatgame”
betweentheirrespectiveintelligenceservices,
whichKiplingctionalisedinhisnovel‘Kim’.
BritainandFrancefoughtRussiaintheCrimean
Warofthe1850stopreventitmovinginonthe
weakTurkish EmpiretotakeConstantinople
andtheDardanelles,whichwasalongstanding
Russiandream.
In1907Britainupendedthispolicyandcame
toanagreementwithRussiaontheirrespective
spheresofinuence.FromthatdateBritishpol
-
icy-makersworkedtogetherwithFranceand
RussiatowardsbringingaboutawarwithGer-
manyinwhichTurkeywouldbepushedinto
joiningGermany’sside.Ifvictorious,France
wouldgetbackAlsace-Lorraine,whichithad
losttoGermanyintheFranco-PrussianWarof
1870.RussiawouldgetConstantinopleandthe
Dardanelles.And Britain,FranceandRussia
betweenthemwoulddivideuptherestofthe
TurkishEmpire,includingSyria,Lebanon,Pal-
estineandIraq.
ThewaraimsoftheEntentePowerswereset
outinthesecrettreatieswhichtheBolsheviks
releasedin1917followingtheRussianRevolu-
tion. These tell us what ‘the war for small
nations’wasreallyabout–thatofcialpropa-
gandist phrase which many people in this
countrywhodonotknowtheirhistoryarestill
liabletotrotouttoexplainBritain’sinvolvement
intheGreatWar.
WhoweretheBritishpoliticianswhoorches-
trated this scheme to crush Germany for a
decadepriortoSarajevo?Theywerethe‘Liberal
Imperialists’whowereinofcefrom1906–
Asquith as Prime Minister, Grey as Foreign
Secretary,HaldaneasWarMinisterandChurch-
illasNavalMinister,interactingintimatelywith
theTories’ArthurBalfour,AlfredMilnerand
BonarLaw,forthekeypeopleonbothfront
bencheswereatoneintheiranti-Germanism.
AndwhatofpoorlittleneutralCatholicBel-
gium – leaving aside its bloody Congolese
appendage-theGermanattackonwhichin
1914wastheostensiblereasonforBritaingoing
towar?Itisclearthatinthemonthfollowing
ArchdukeFranzFerdinand’sassassinationat
SarajevoBritaindeliberatelyprevaricatedon
whatitwoulddoifGermanysoughttoinvade
FrancethroughBelgium.CoupledwithBritain’s
seemingpreoccupationwiththeUlstercrisisat
thetime,thisledGermanytothinkthatBritain
would stay neutral – and Foreign Secretary
EdwardGrey sedulously soughttogivethat
impression.
AGermanassaultonBelgiumwasnecessary
togetBritishpublicopinion-andimportantly
thebulkofGovernmentLiberalPartyopinion,
muchofwhichwasstronglypacist,onsidefor
theplannedwar.Itisamythtothinkthatthere
wasalegalobligationonBritaintogotowarif
Belgium’sneutralitywasviolated.Gladstone
hadnotthoughtso.The1839TreatyofLondon
whichrecognisedtheindependenceandneu
-
tralityofBelgiumwasnotatreatywithBelgium
butatreatyaboutBelgium.BelgianGovern-
ments had been engaged in joint military
planning with their French and British
counterpartsforawarwithGermanyforyears.
The Entente Powers had long taken it for
granted that Belgium would be militarily
involved.
Tworecentbookssetoutthedetailedcase
forBritain’sprimeresponsibilityforcausing
WorldWar1.OneisbytwoScottishhistorians,
GDochertyandJMacgregor,‘HiddenHistory:
TheSecretOriginsoftheFirstWorldWar’(Main-
stream Publishing, Edinburgh).The other is
byDrPatWalsh,‘TheGreatFraudof1914-18’
(AtholBooks,Belfast).Theywillrevolutionise
mostpeople’sunderstandingofthatevent.
Anthony Coughlan is Associate Professor
Emeritus of Social Policy at Trinity College
Dublin
Germanys' war aims
OfcourseGermanyhaditswarpartytoo.
ThecontinuityofGermaneliteaspirations
uptoourowntimescanbeseenfromthe
notoriousSeptember1914programmeof
KaiserWilhelm'simperialChancellor,
TheobaldVonBethmannHollweg,whenhe
declaredGermany'swaraimstoinclude:
"Russiamustbethrustbackasfaraspossi-
blefromGermany'seasternfrontierandher
dominationoverthenon-Russianvassal
peoplesbroke…Wemustcreateacentral
Europeaneconomicassociationthrough
commoncustomstreatiestoincludeFrance,
Belgium,Holland,Denmark,Austria-Hun-
gary,PolandandperhapsItaly,Swedenand
Norway.Thisassociationwillnothaveany
commonconstitutionalsupremeauthority
andallitsmemberswillbeformallyequal
butinpracticewillbeunderGermanleader-
shipandmuststabiliseGermany's
economicdominanceoverMitteleuropa”.
Italy
1882 1879
1882
1914
1907 1904
1894
Germany
Austria-
Hungary
Bulgaria
Serbia
Triple Entente
Triple Alliance
The Balkans
Russia France
Britain
The
Ottoman
Empire
Aid
Treaty
Alliance
From 1907 Britain
worked with France
and Russia to bring
about a war with
Germany and Turkey
GREAT WAR MACHINATIONS

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