The First World War was an unprecedented cataclysm that obliterate millions and arrange the continent of Europe on the path to further tragedy two decades after . But it did n’t come out of nowhere . With the centenary of the outbreak of hostilities coming up in 2014 , Erik Sass will be look back at the lead - up to the warfare , when seemingly modest moments of clash accumulated until the state of affairs was ready to blow up . He ’ll be cover those result 100 year after they pass . This is the 56th installment in the series . ( See all entrieshere . )
4 April 2025: Poincaré Takes Office, Coup in Mexico
On February 18 — one month after winning the Gallic presidentialelection — center - rightfield political leader Raymond Poincaré take office in an inauguration ceremony at the Hôtel de Ville , an refined chateau constructed between 1533 and 1628 to house the city governance of Paris . In a sign of Poincaré ’s popularity , his inaugural attracted thousands of enthusiastic spectators despite the frigid weather .
Poincaré ’s presidency was an significant factor in the lead story - up to the First World War , for a telephone number of reason . Although he did n’t seek warfare with Germany , the new French prexy was increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for lasting peace in Europe . At the same prison term , he also design to take a more dynamic approach to the administration ( antecedently reckon as a mostly ceremonial position ) , especially in foreign policy , where he had the top executive to reason treaties and appoint key diplomats .
Indeed , one of his first move was supplant the French embassador to St. Petersburg , Georges Louis , with Théophile Delcassé — a big name in Gallic strange policy who , as foreign minister from 1898 to 1905 , assist to bring about theentente cordial(“friendly understanding " ) with Britain . Delcassé was known to be pro - Russian and anti - German , and his schedule as ambassador to St. Petersburg can be deduced from his own words during the 2nd Moroccan Crisis : “ No durable arrangement can be reason out with Germany . Her brain is such that one can no longer dream of living in lasting heartsease with her . Paris , London , and St. Petersburg should be convinced that war is , alas ! inescapable and that it is necessary to prepare for it without suffer a minute . ”
Everyone recognise the significance of the appointment of Delcassé , discover by Kaiser Wilhelm II as “ the most dangerous mankind for Germany in France . ” On February 21 , 1913 , the Belgian ambassador to France , Baron Guillaume , reported to the Belgian alien post that “ the news that M. Delcassé is shortly to be appointed Ambassador at Petersburg burst like a dud here yesterday afternoon … He was one of the architects of the Franco - Russian alliance , and still more so of the Anglo - Frenchentente . “And on February 25 , the French ambassador to Serbia , Léon Descos , told the Gallic strange ministry that his hosts thought Delcassé ’s appointment would allow “ … Slavism with the support needed to tone it in its struggle against the Germanic powers . ”
Meanwhile Poincaré neutralise no time in move to strengthen the Gallic military . Among other things , the new President of the United States advocated increase the size of it of the active - duty French United States Army by extend the distance of avail for draftee from two to three years . On February 20 , in his first presidential speech ( scan to the Chamber of Deputies by premier Aristide Briand ) , Poincaré laid the groundwork for the three - twelvemonth service legal philosophy : “ No people can be really peaceable unless it is always ready for warfare . We must turn toward our army and navy , and spare no effort or forfeit to consolidate and strengthen them . ”
Poincaré and Delcassé were n’t alone in thinking warfare likely and maybe even inevitable ; other members of the French government were considering the same scenario , and pondering the most advantageous second to struggle . On February 20 , 1913 , the Russian ambassador to London , Count Aleksandr Benckendorff , sent a secret substance advising Russian foreign minister of religion Sergei Sazonov : “ [ France ] has complete confidence in her army … and it may be that she regards conditions as more friendly today than they might be afterward . ” Likewise , on February 24 , Sir Henry Wilson , the British officer in guardianship of coordinate military provision with France , told London that top French generals were “ of the opinion that it would be far better for France if a conflict were not too long postponed . ”
Coup in Mexico
While Europe was fixated on thecrisisresulting from the First Balkan War , the New World had trouble of its own . Foremost was the on-going Mexican Revolution , which lead off with the toppling of the dictator Porfirio Díaz ( above ) in 1910 and presently escalated into a complicated civil war live on until 1920 .
After two chaotic age in ability , Díaz ’s replacement , the beleaguered bighearted reformist president Francisco Madero , was ultimately kick out on February 18 , 1913 , following 10 days of bloody street warfare in Mexico City ( which then had a population of about half a million ) known as “ La Decena Tragica , ” or “ Ten Tragic Days . ” The generator of his downfall was General Victoriano Huerta , the military governor of Mexico City , who had antecedently sworn allegiance to Madero but betrayed him when he watch an opportunity to prehend power for himself . On February 22 , Madero and vice - president José María Pino Suárez were both murdered at Huerta ’s dictation ; public repugnance at the assassinations foreshadowed Huerta ’s own precipitation in July 1914 .
Huerta ’s coup d’etat receive assistance from co - conspirators including Félix Díaz , the nephew of the ex - potentate Porfirio Díaz , and the U.S. embassador to Mexico , Henry Lane Wilson . This kind of tampering was a mutual theme of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America throughout this period : 1900 - 1925 saw repeat U.S. interventions across the Caribbean and Central America , include decades - long military occupancy of Cuba , Haiti , the Dominican Republic , and Nicaragua . U.S. interventions generally aimed to protect American commercial-grade and financial interests , prop up friendly regimen threatened by tap and rebellions , and quench border disputes .
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As the largest land in the area and the only one bordering the U.S. , Mexico ’s ancestry into anarchy understandably absorbed the attending of the American public well into the First World War , culminating in the Punitive Expedition which render and failed to catch Pancho Villa between 1916 and 1917 . In fact , German diplomats hoped to utilize the mentally ill situation to disorder U.S. policy makers and keep America out of the war – but their ( rather unrealistic ) efforts backfired badly with the Zimmerman Telegram affair in 1917 .
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