D. Source Analysis – European Militarism

Examine the sources on the following pages. Use these sources to draw reasonable conclusions about growing militarism in Europe in the years leading up to 1914.

1. What conclusions can we draw from this information about Europe in the years leading up to World War One?
2. Which country does not follow the pattern of the others in source A and B? Why do you think that is? What about source D? Does it match the other states in this chart?
3. Interpret source C. What is Sir Edward Grey suggesting in this source? What are the implications?

Source A: Triple Entente Peacetime Army Strength (with Index Numbers to show percentage changes) [Source: “Arms Race prior to 1914, Armament policy,” International Encyclopaedia of the First World War. 8 Oct 2014.]

Year	Britain	France	Russia
1904	209.460 = 100	575.000 = 100	1.100.000=100
1905	213.780 = 102	595.000 = 103	1.900.000 = 173
1906	196.600 = 93.7	590.000 = 99	1.000.000 = 90,9
1907	179.209 = 86	602.492 = 102	1.000.000 = 90,9
1908	183.280 = 88	610.923 = 106	1.000.000 = 90,9
1909	181.900 = 86.9	567.484 = 99	1.209.000 = 110
1910	182.350 = 87.1	574.342 = 100	1.303.000 = 118
1911	182.700 = 87,2	593.556 = 103	1.345.000 = 122
1912	192.590 = 92	611.709 = 106	1.332.000 = 121
1913	192.144 = 91,7	850.000 = 148 (1914)	1.300.000 = 118

Source B: Triple Alliance and Turkey Peacetime Army Strength (with Index Numbers to show percentage changes) [Source: “Arms Race prior to 1914, Armament policy,” International Encyclopaedia of the First World War. 8 Oct 2014.]

Years	Germany	Austria-Hungary	Italy	Turkey
1904	606.866 = 100	361.770 = 100	221.085 = 100	280.000 = 100
1905	609.552 =100.4	361.770 = 100	220.834 = 99,9
1906	614.353 =101,2	362.398 = 101	249.816 = 113
1907	616.838 =101,6	366.578 = 101	249.917 = 113
1908	619.006 = 102	365.742 = 101	247.000 = 112	361.644 = 129
1909	610.196 =100,5	369.203 = 102	247.000 = 112
1910	610.083 =100,5	370.510 = 102	238.617 = 108
1911	612.557 =100,9	353.017 = 98	253.786 = 115
1912	646.321 =106,5	405.120 = 120	256.000 = 116	378.377 = 135
1913
1914	811.000 = 137	494.000 = 137	305.000 = 138	250.000 = 89

Source C: British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, recalling his experience in 1914.

“A great European war under modern conditions would be a catastrophe for which previous wars afforded no precedent. In old days, nations could collect only portions of their men and resources at a time and dribble them out by degrees. Under modern conditions, whole nations could be mobilized at once and their whole lifeblood and resources poured out in a torrent. Instead of a few hundreds of thousands of men meeting each other in war, millions would now meet – and modern weapons would multiply manifold the power of destruction. The financial strain and the expenditure of wealth would be incredible. I thought this must be obvious to everyone else, as it seemed obvious to me. And that if once it became apparent that we were on the edge, all the Great Powers would call a halt and recoil from the abyss.”

Source D: Military expenditures per year of the great powers. Numbers are listed in USD. 

M = million (e.g. $286.7M = 286,7000,000 USD)

NATION	1908	1909	1910	1911	1912	1913
Great Britain	$286.7m	$306.2m	$330.4m	$345.1m	$349.9m	$374.2m
Germany	$286.7m	$306.8m	$301.5m	$303.9m	$331.5m	$463.6m
France	$216m	$236.4m	$248m	$277.9m	$307.8m	$363.8m
Russia	$291.6m	$315.5m	$324m	$334.5m	$387m	$435m
Italy	$87.5m	$115.8m	$124.9m	$133.7m	$158.4m	$142.2m
United States	$189.5m	$199m	$197m	$197m	$227m	$244.6m
Japan	$93.7m	$95.7m	$100.2m	$110.7m	$107.7m	$104.6m
Source: Jacobson’s World Armament Expenditure, 1935