The Age of Empire: 1875-1914

The 19^th century was the most European century in all history according to Eric Hobsbawm in his book “The Age of Empire”. “The Age of Empire” focuses on historical events from 1875-1914, and explains the events that led the path to the Great War in 1914 by analyzing the sociopolitical environment in Europe. The book concentrates the majority of its attention on “the six ‘powers’ – Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Italy – and the Ottoman Empire […]” (Hobsbawm 23); with a focus on the first three respectively. Hobsbawm explains how the First World War was incited by drastic changes in the world’s sociopolitical conditions and hasty industrialization. Among issues tackled in his book, Hobsbawm speaks about the rise of the democratic institution, political emergence of the working class, and the fervent industrialization that resulted from an armament race.

“After 1870 it became increasingly clear that the democratization of the politics of states was quite inevitable” (Hobsbawm 85). The European powers formally began to adopt socialist parties in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Germany pioneered by forming the “General German Workers’ Association” in 1863 (Roskin 188); In Britain “the new Labour party [was] founded in 1900” (Roskin 33); In France the “French Section of the Workers International” was founded in 1905 (Roskin 147).

In an effort to hold on to political and economic power, the ruling conservative classes that once controlled Europe as monarchies and theocracies took steps to manage impending democratization of their states. “Their major target was the labour and socialist movement which suddenly emerged internationally as a mass phenomenon […]” (Hobsbawm 101). Huge socialist movements threatened the bourgeoisie, so they took steps to soften the brunt of the up-and-coming working class. An example of the upper-class efforts to hold back socialist movements was when “the British Conservative government used the South African War […] to sweep away its [socialist] Liberal opponents in the ‘Khaki election’ of 1900” (Hobsbawm 103). Aside from the war victories of conservative governments, nationalism was used as a tool to slow down the growth of socialist and liberal parties. The French government instituted the Fourteenth of July as a national festival and permanently assigned the extremely patriotic “La Marseillaise” as the national anthem in 1879. The Germans also branded a particularly nationalistic anthem “Deutschland Uber Alles” and even created a new Prusso-German flag in the 1890s. The conservative efforts to downplay these new movements were successful. It was this newly-bred nationalism that led European socialist movements to join “their governments and ruling classes in patriotic union” “when war broke out in 1914” (Hobsbawm 108).

Even though the conservative ruling classes of Europe had some triumphs over the working class, the socialist movement proved to be there to stay. Worker-unions had attained “a legal status and privileges so far-reaching” that employers and the conservatives “did not succeed in reducing or abolishing them until the 1980s” (Hobsbawm 121).

An entire chapter of Hobsbawm’s book is dedicated to “the uncertainty of the bourgeoisie.” This uncertainty was a result of the elimination of classes as an accurate method of separation caused by the rise of the working class in political and social affairs. “The Revolution had abolished classes” in France; and in Britain “classes, not being closed castes, did not exist” (Hobsbawm 170). Monetary power became less and less defining as a mark of higher social status. “The chief indicator of social membership increasingly became, and has remained, formal education” (Hobsbawm 174). Society’s elite attended “public schools” in Britain, “Lycées” in France, and “the classical Gymasien” in Germany (Hobsbawm 174). Britain’s private schools generated an “old boy network that assists graduates later in life” (Roskin 54).

“Peace was the normal and expected framework of European lives” before 1914 (Hobsbawm 303). The six ‘powers’ of Europe were too busy advancing and dealing with internal changes in socio-political conditions to be bothered by the next nation. The only place war seemed inevitable was in the Ottoman Empire, which as far as its history goes, has been in toil due to civil wars. Even Russia, who was constantly at battle, fighting with the “Turks in the 1870s and Japanese in 1904,” as not suspected as a reason for an all-out European war. The idea of a general European war was popularized in the fiction of the time along with commentaries of well-known figures such as Friedrich Engels and Nietzsche. European countries took measures to prevent a “possible war in the 1890s by instituting “The World (Universal) Peace Congresses – […] the Nobel Peace prizes (1897) and the first of the Hague Peace Conferences (1899) […]” (Hobsbawm 304). Tensions of some sort of a war became increasingly imminent from the late 1890s to 1914.

During the period of 1875-1914 armies existed not only to assist in internal and external problems, but more so as a method to instill pride and nationalism. Military personnel were the main attraction of parades and ceremonies; they also served as a rite-of-passage for young men. The military might of a European nation was arguably the major source of national pride, and European countries were ready to take the necessary steps to keep a dignified position amongst its fellow European nations. This created the competitive spirit that pushed Europe’s super-powers into the arms race that would increase tensions between them.

“The arms race began in a modest way in the later 1880s, and accelerated in the new century, particularly in the last years before the war” (Hobsbawm 307). A race of industries amongst the powerful European nations also came to be, mainly between the Germans and British. Under Kaiser Wilhelm II Germany’s industry rapidly came to excel that of Britain’s, which was the world’s industrial leader. In 1889 weapons became the next issue of importance as Wilhelm II of Germany began building an enormous naval fleet to compete with the famous Royal Navy of Britain. The landlocked Britain wisely focused the majority of its efforts and money on the Royal Navy while Germany’s naval fleet equipped with the most advanced gunnery began appearing formidable. Even the increasing military focus in the years preceding 1914 is not enough of a reason for a war of such a great scale that was to come. “[…] what drove Europe into the war was not competitive armament as such, but the international situation which launched powers into it” (Hobsbawm 309).

Allies and enemies began to take form in the few years before 1914. Many were obvious relationships due to historical and contemporary problems. “Germany and France would be on opposite sides, […]” because of the hostile annexation of Alsace-Lorraine (Hobsbawm 312). Bismarck of Germany clearly molded the allegiance between Germany and Austria-Hungary. Given the preceding facts, the “Triple Alliance” was created in 1882 between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The Austrian takeover of Bosnia from Russia, clearly labeled these two nations as enemies. This joined France and Russia as allies in 1891, as nations with common enemies. The final addition to these two blocs was Britain, when it came over to the anti-German camp. The alliance of Britain, France and Russia, became known as the “Triple Entente” which was completed and made official in 1907.

The alliances formed before The Great War were roughly brought together simply through associations. The Germans had no quarrel with the Russians and Austria-Hungary had no problems with France. “(Nobody worried much about the tergiversations of Italy, which was only a ‘great power’ by international courtesy)” (Hobsbawm 314). The Ottoman Empire owed allegiance to the German side because of “German economic and strategic penetration of the Ottoman Empire […]” (Hobsbawm 317). The British fear of being removed as the “force to be reckoned with” by an over-confident and zealous Germany was a main reason for its choice of sides. Though Britain did not have any overwhelming reason for “friction with Prussia – and the same seemed to be true of the super-Prussia now known as the German Empire” (Hobsbawm 314). As a matter of fact, given its history with France, Britain has a more justifiable enemy with the French.

World War I was a catastrophic event that baffled everyone involved. Governments were perplexed by there own affiliations and the reasons behind the war appeared even more ridiculous. As stated by Hobsbawm “In 1914 the peoples of Europe, for however brief a moment, went lightheartedly to slaughter and to be slaughtered. After the First World War they never did so again.”

Works Cited

Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Empire. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.

Roskin, Michael G. Countries and Concepts. 8^th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall: 2004