Central Powers Plans
An interesting fact is that in the German Empire at the beginning of the 20th century, not only Pan-Germanists, representatives of the nobility, the military were supporters of the plan to create "Great Germany", the leader of the world community. In Germany, even the socialists supported these plans. And their positions in the empire were quite strong.
German social democrats relied on such authorities as Marx and Engels, Karl Marx, back in 1870, supported the war with France as “progressive”. According to him, the French should be given a beating, because victory will lead to the centralization of the German state, and this will serve the cause of the unification of the German working class. In addition, Marx and Engels were famous Russophobes and believed that the main obstacle to the victory of socialism in Europe was “reactionary” Russia. Therefore, any war against the Russian Empire is justified by "lofty ideals." Nor were they opponents of the great European war, as Engels wrote in 1887 year: “Absolutely, you can be sure of only one thing: total destruction will create the conditions for the victory of the working class.”
Such prominent German social democrats as Wilhelm Liebknecht (1826 - 1900), August Bebel (1840 –1913) also believed that it was necessary to "stand up for European civilization from the disintegration of its primitive Russia." Germany, according to the German Social Democrats, was the leader of the "world revolution against the plutocratic West." Thus, it is clear that the striving for war in Germany (this was also stated in the article of the All-Ukrainian Federation: “Germany is on the way to the First World War”) was practically national, covering the entire German public.
So, even the writer Thomas Mann was a supporter of the war, spoke out against pacifism and social reforms, this is evidenced by his articles, which were later included in the collection "Reflections apolitical." He wrote that war would be “cleansing, liberation, a great hope. The victory of Germany will be a victory of the soul. The German soul is the opposite of the pacifist ideal of civilization ... ”
Perhaps in a different situation, Germany could overcome this danger, the militarization of consciousness, but for this it was necessary that the head of state was another person, more reasonable, restrained, not like Kaiser Wilhelm II (he ruled from 1888 on 1918 year ). De jure, his power was limited, but in reality it was an absolute monarch, a kind of forerunner of the "Fuhrer", only at that time it was a "cult of the Kaiser" and not a "leader." Therefore, national socialism was not born from scratch, before it flourished Pan-Germanism and the cult of the Kaiser. They were also united by the cult of the army and forces. Wilhelm said: “The soldier and the army, not the parliamentary majority, and their decisions united the empire. I hope for the army. ” The military in the empire had the highest status, the representatives of the army were not under the jurisdiction of the civil authorities, schoolchildren and students evaluated themselves from the point of view, and whether they could make a military career. The Chief of the General Staff had access to the emperor at any time of the day or night.
It should be noted that the Germans, like other Western nations, were distinguished by great cruelty in the war. This was clearly demonstrated in the Franco-Prussian war and other conflicts. In 1900, the Kaiser, sending the expeditionary corps to China, instructed the soldiers and called for them to be “like the Huns”: “Do not give mercy, take no prisoners. The one who falls into your hands is in your power. Kill as much as you can! ... You must act in such a way that the Chinese will never dare to look askance at the German. ”
When the tribes of Herero (Bantu) and Nama (Hottentots) rebelled in modern Namibia in 1903-1904 in German South-West Africa, this uprising continued until 1907, German punishers destroyed 75 thousand people (up to 80% Gegero and half of Nama ), making a real ethnogenic acid. The survivors were driven into deserted areas or concentration camps, people were forced to work for German entrepreneurs, many died from overwork and exhaustion. In addition, the surviving women of the tribes (men died in battles) were subjected to violence, and they were forced into prostitution. Thus, those phenomena that they like to attribute only to Hitler and the German Nazis existed before them, and other Western colonialists acted in the same way. To understand this, it is enough to read history Ireland, India, the great tribes of North America, the civilizations of Central and South America, etc.
At that time, these actions did not cause special protests of “civilized nations” and their governments (if it did not hurt their interests), since the “savages” were not considered people. Interestingly, when even the Reich Chancellor Bülow was indignant and told the Kaiser that the actions of the German troops did not comply with the laws of warfare, Wilhelm replied: “This corresponds to the laws of war in Africa”.
True, there were people in Germany who believed that the main enemy was Britain. A number of German leaders led by Admiral Tirpitz thought that for world domination it was necessary to defeat the British. And this requires a powerful fleet and an alliance with Russia, perhaps even with Japan, for successful operations in the Pacific. But the tendency towards confrontation with Russia was stronger, Tirpitz and his supporters were in the minority. Kaiser, Theobald von Betman-Golvega government (was chancellor in 1909-1917 years), the army leadership, industrialists were supporters of the war with France and Russia.
After winning the war, Berlin planned to expand its holdings at the expense of France and Russia (the Baltic states, Finland, the Kingdom of Poland, possibly Ukraine and Crimea). To redistribute the French and British colonies in their favor. Become the main power of Europe and the world, with the most powerful fleet. Create "Great Germany" - the plan of the so-called "Middle Europe", which was supposed to include not only German lands, but also dependent states and territories. Such as Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Scandinavia, the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor.
Austrian plans
The main problem of Vienna was not the problem of access to foreign markets, raw materials sources - colonies, the confrontation with France (the main adversary in Western Europe) and Great Britain (for domination in the world), like in Germany, but issues related to its own international contradictions. They had already led to revolts in the 19 century and could have led to the death of the “patchwork empire” of the Hapsburgs.
In the Russian Empire, most of the peoples either did not have their own statehood (being at the stages of the primitive communal system, some had only the beginnings of statehood), or, as, for example, Volga Tatars and Baltic Germans, merged with the Russians into a strong symbiosis, became “Russians”, participating in building an empire. There was no such unity in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. All nations had a strong identity, the history of their statehood, so Czech statehood was established at the end of the 9th century, and Hungarian in the 10th century.
The resistance of the Hungarians led to the fact that in the 1867 year, after the defeat in the war with Prussia, the Hapsburg had to create a so-called. dual monarchy. Hungary, which also included Transylvania, Banat and Croatia, received full autonomy. The Hungarian constitution of the 1848 model of the year was restored. Hungary was united with the Eastern Empire by a dynasty and some common departments - military, foreign affairs, partly finances.
But this event caused discontent of other nations - Poles, Czechs, Ruthenians, Slovaks, Croats, etc., as the Austrians and Hungarians were now allocated to the “main” nations. Therefore, nationalist, separatist, pan-Slavist sentiments found good ground among them. The conclusion proposed by the heir to the throne - Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863 - 28 June 1914). He proposed to create a tri-empire empire: Austria-Vengro-Slavonia, to appease the Slavic peoples, to make them equal. But this idea provoked resistance from the Germans and the Hungarians.
Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Josef von Habsburg Archduke d'Este
The main opponents in Vienna considered Serbia. Moreover, they were afraid not only of the subversive actions of the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but of the very existence of the Serbian state, which set a "bad example" to the Slavs of Austria-Hungary. The constant headache of Vienna was the thought of a possible uprising in Bosnia, which would become a fuse for the revolt of Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Galician Rusyns, Slovenes and lead to the disintegration of the empire. Therefore, when in the Balkan wars of 1912 - 1913, Serbia became the winner and expanded its holdings at the expense of Novopazarsky Sanjak and Kosovo (shared with Montenegro), northern Macedonia, the “war party” finally won in Vienna.
The idea of a preventive war with the Serbs began to be considered a vital necessity. They planned to crush Serbia, put the faithful Vienna dynasty on the throne, demilitarize, curtail territory.
At the same time, the military-political elite of Austria-Hungary feared a big all-European war, which could also be the impetus for the collapse of the empire (which really happened). Vienna wanted to conduct a short, local war in the Balkans, without the intervention of other great powers.
Turkey in the plans of Berlin
Berlin specifically encouraged Vienna to intervene in the affairs of the Balkans in order to bind the Habsburg empire to itself, since without the support of Germany, the Austrians could not implement their plans. There were other reasons why Berlin was interested in the penetration of Austria-Hungary into the Balkans - thus, the region fell under the influence of Germany, its powerful economy. The Balkan Peninsula was supposed to enter the "Central Europe", to become a market for German goods.
Through the Balkans went the way to Asia Minor, the Ottoman Empire and then - to Persia, Egypt. These territories occupied an important place in the plans of the Pan-Germanists. Turkey was regarded as an ally, a market for the sale of goods, an object for colonization and a springboard for further advance into the Middle East. So, even Bismarck said: "Anyone who wants to quarrel with Russia, should be friends with Turkey."
Many Pan-Germanists believed that Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor should become regions for German colonization, these are the only territories that have not yet been conquered by any great power. Even before the war, the “peaceful conquest” of these territories went on, representative offices of German firms, banks, schools, shelters, missionary societies opened.
Kaiser in 1898, declaring himself the "patron of Muslims", he planned to use the vast human and natural resources of the Islamic world to fight with his opponents, to establish the world domination of Germany in the world. Wilhelm declared that the mission of the Germans is to become "leaders of the East in the fight against the West."
Istanbul plans
The leaders of the Young Turks (the Ittihadists, the Unity and Progress Party), who de facto led the Ottoman Empire, were the leaders of the Turkish “Party of War”. At the beginning of 1913, all power in the party and monarchy was seized by the “triumvirate” - Enver Pasha (War Minister), Talaat Pasha (Chairman of the Central Committee of the Young Turks Party, Minister of the Interior), Jemal Pasha (Head of the Garrison of Istanbul, Minister of the Navy). The Young Turks believed that German aid should be used to modernize the empire, its army, fleet, control system, infrastructure development, etc. Their ideology was based on Pan-Islamism and Pan-Turkism. Moreover, the Young Turk Pan-Turkism largely adopted the ideas of Pan-Germanism. The supremacy of the “Turkic race” over other nations was proclaimed. In this regard, Pan-Turkism came into conflict with Islam, which did not recognize racial or national superiority — Negroes, Arabs, Turks, Slavs, etc., who became Muslims were equal before God and the law. Moreover, many leaders of the Young Turk Party could not (like many leaders of the future Third Reich) boast of “pure blood” Turkish origin, in their roots were Greeks, Slavs, Jews, people from the Caucasus who converted to Islam.
The Ittihadists believed that the rule of Islam and Muslims should be established in the world, and a “Turkic race” would dominate Muslim society. According to pan-Islamists, civilization until the 20th century belonged only to Muslims, all world science and culture came from the countries of Islam, and it was adopted by Europeans, the conquest of countries by Arabs and Turks led to their enlightenment. The power of the Islamic world collapsed due to internal contradictions. All Muslims in Africa, Asia, and Europe were called upon to unite around the caliph, that is, the Turkish sultan.
Istanbul outlined a program to recreate a powerful fleet, planned to buy 6 battleships, 12 destroyers, 8 submarines, etc. ships. Arab politicians, originally from Egypt, Tunisia and other countries, were trained to, if necessary, raise these countries to a “holy war” against the colonialists. So, in 1913, the Russian naval attache in the capital of Turkey reported that the Young Turks were planning to blow up the “Maghreb bomb” in the rear of the western countries.
The idea of creating the "Great Turan"because most of the Turkish possessions in Europe were lost, it was planned to develop expansion in Asia. The Turks were declared the "purebred higher race", which must "restore" the Great Turan from the Danube and Asia Minor to the Altai and the Yellow Sea. Naturally, the main enemy for creating the “Great Turan” was Russia, which “occupied” a significant part of the “Turkic” lands in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Crimea, from the Middle Volga region to the Altai.
In 1910, the Parliament (Majlis) introduced a resolution banning intermarriage for the Turks. In the same year, the Young Turk Party put forward the slogan: "Turkey - only for the Turks". In Turkey, there was no place for Armenians, Greeks, Kurds, or other nations. At the party congress, Dr. Nazim (a prominent party ideologist) stated: “In the East in Asia there are infinite spaces and opportunities for our development and expansion ...” we need to “fulfill our sacred duty: to unite the Turkic tribes from the Caspian to the Yellow Sea”. In his opinion, the Armenian statehood in the east of Turkey was a "gravestone" for the program of tourism, and raised the question of the complete destruction of the Armenians in the eastern provinces of the empire as the only possible solution to this problem. Basically, the Turks did just that, staging the Armenian Genocide in 1915 year.
The ideas of Nazym were supported by the Beg Agayev (Azeri), who believed that the future empire should include the Balkan Peninsula, the Crimea, the Caucasus, the North of the Caspian Sea, Turkestan (most of Central Asia was then called), a part of Siberia, the northern part of China, and Afghanistan. Some authors went even further and through the “ancient Turan” established “family ties” with the Huns, and through them with the Finno-Ugric peoples and demanded that the whole Volga region, Finland and Hungary be included in the future empire. And somehow the Kuril Islands, Japan and Taiwan were included in the empire.
Tekin Alp in his work "Turan" put forward a "minimum program" and "maximum program". The “Small or New Turan” (according to the minimum program) was supposed to include lands from the modern Ottoman Empire to Baikal, from Kazan (Middle Volga Region) to Mongolia. The maxim program, the creation of the “Great Turan”, was supposed to expand the borders of the “Turkic race” to the Arctic Ocean, Scandinavia in the north and Japan in the east. The era of the “new Chingiziad” was proclaimed, when the Türks and Muslims “by fire and sword” were to establish world domination.
In the country, one after another, Pan-Turkic organizations, movements such as the "Turkic hearth", "Turkic might", "Turkic homeland" and others were born. The program of the movement "Turkic might" said: "The iron fist of the Turk will once again fall on the planet, and the whole world will tremble before him. " Newspapers called for "revenge" and the revival of "military spirit", the newspaper Azm wrote in 1913 year: "Every Turkish soldier must return to times of barbarism, crave blood, be ruthless, kill children, women, the elderly and the sick."
It is clear that the country's leadership was more sensible and understood that so far there is no power to implement these plans. Therefore, the beginning of the global war for world domination was planned to begin around 1925 year. A "Great Turan" to create in 1930-s. At the first stage, with the help of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires, they were going to crush Russia and, at its expense, begin expansion to the east - in the Caucasus and Central Asia. After the defeat of the Russian state and gaining power over the Muslims, the Turks of Russia, Istanbul hoped to catch up with Germany and achieve "superiority over the degenerating French and English civilization."
In the 1908-1914 years, the Turks did a lot of work on the lands of the Russian Empire - in Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus, Turkestan. They were flooded with Turkish agents, emissaries, merchants, missionaries, pilgrims. Islamist schools opened, an underground was created, illegal literature and leaflets were imported.
The attitude of Berlin to the plans of Istanbul
The Germans were completely satisfied with these ideas of “turism”. The Turks became the enemies of Britain - in Persia, Egypt, Russia - in the Caucasus, in the Black Sea, diverting their forces from Germany. Of course, in Berlin they didn’t take seriously the creation of the “Great Turan” to the Yellow Sea, but the Caucasus could be completely surrendered to the power of the Turks, so that it would come under the influence of the German Empire.
The Pan-Germanists also had their grandiose plans for the Black Sea, Crimea, and the Caucasus. There were plans to make the Black Sea a “German lake”, capturing the coast of Ukraine, the Crimea, the Caucasian coast of Russia. Under the guise of tourists, geologists, archeologists, orientalists, German agents studied the Caucasus and other territories of Russia. A “League of non-Russian peoples of Russia” was created, which was supposed to help crush the Russian Empire. Although it is clear that these plans were a “maximum plan”, pragmatists thought about the seizure of the Kingdom of Poland, the Baltic states, the rejection of Finland; Ukraine, the Crimea and the “German” Volga region were left in case of significant success in the war.
In Berlin, it was believed that the war should begin no later than 1914 year. In 1911-1912, laws were passed on extraordinary military tax, an increase in armed forces, and an arms modernization program. These steps were calculated to 1916 of the year, but then the timeline was reduced to the spring of 1914. France in 1913, passed a law on three years of service, which increased its army. Russia in March, 1914, adopted a new military program, which could radically change the balance of power in Europe. Moltke wrote that "after 1917, Russia's power will be irresistible," it will become "the dominant force in Europe." In May 1914, a meeting of the Chiefs of the General Staff of Germany and Austria-Hungary was held in Carlsbad, where plans were finally agreed.
There was another major reason that pushed Berlin to start a war - the empire was on the verge of bankruptcy because of the cost of weapons and the economic strain of the empire. It was necessary either to start a war, or to face a severe financial and economic crisis. In the same situation, Hitler was in 1939 year, and the United States - before the collapse of the USSR and the beginning of the 2000-s.
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