War Aims

• War aims


  The objectives of the warring parties in a conflict
• The warring parties probably had no clear aims in mind at the beginning of the conflict, notwithstanding previous clearly defined goals such as the re-conquest of Alsace-Lorraine for the French
• The actual discussion about war aims only began once the war had started, when different societal groups and institutions announced their respective objectives
• Examples of war aims announced

  • The September Programme of the Reich government (1914)
  • The catalogue of war aims issued by the Pan-German League (also 1914)
• Supporters of more "ambitious" war aims

  • Annexionists (mostly from the military)
  • Supporters of the idea of a Central Europe (mostly representatives of business)
• Supporters of the idea of a Central Europe

  Striving for indirect rule over the continent by means of a customs union, economic interdependence and financial dependence
• The German war aims became more and more unrealistic the less likely their realization became
• These immoderate German aims were bound to be an obstacle to the peace talks that followed after the end of the war in 1918
• It was not until 1917 that a Reichstags majority composed a peace resolution demanding a peace without annexations and contributions (indemnity)
• This approach towards a peace based on compromise and understanding remained without consequences since the Reichstag could neither influence foreign policy nor military decisions directly
• Allied war aims


  • The political and economic weakening of Germany, both on the continent and as a colonial rival of Britain
  • The re-integration of Alsace-Lorraine into France
  • The restoration of Belgian sovereignty
  • The idea of the River Rhine forming a possible border to France's east
• Woodrow Wilson's "14 Points"


  An attempt to establish common principles for a post-war order
• Wilson's political strategy


  To prevent a sovietisation of the world and inspire a democratic world revolution under the motto "making the world safe for democracy"
• Wilson's vision for post-war Europe

  To be reorganized on the basis of the self-determination of the people, the preservation of human rights and a collective peace order
• The First World War was to serve as a starting point for a new global system of law and order, with the League of Nations coming into being on Wilson's initiative