Arms Race

Adapted from Eric Broses Arms Race prior to

1914, Armament Policy
 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
1914
This aint 1904 any more.
Britain, Germany, and Austria-Hungary followed
Frances lead with semi-recoilless field guns by 1908.
Most armies deployed 24 machine guns per division
by 1914. The Germans, initially declaring it
humbug, eventually followed suit.
Non-rigid airships, rigid Zeppelins, and airplanes hit
the scene.
Most of the public were concerned with the easy
numbers (troops) and were unaware of the new
gadgetry, even if nobody knew how it would work in
war.
 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
Year
1914 Britain France Russia
1904 209,460 575,000 1,100,000
1905 213,780 595,000 1,900,000
1906 196,600 590,000 1,000,000
1907 179,209 602,492 1,000,000
1908 183,280 610,923 1,000,000
1909 181,900 567,484 1,209,000
1910 182,350 574,342 1,303,000
1911 182,700 593,556 1,345,000
1912 192,590 611,709 1,332,000
1913 192,144 850,000 1,300,000
Triple Entente Peacetime Army Strength
 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
Year
1914 Britain France Russia
1904 29.2 28.0 39.4
1905 28.9 28.5 40.0
1906 27.8 34.2 41.5
1907 27.1 32.7 42.9
1908 26.8 33.3 54.4
1909 27.2 34.7 57.0
1910 27.4 36.4 56.6
1911 27.6 40.5 58.1
1912 28.1 43.4 67.6
1913 28.3 44.2 75.8
Army Expenditures in Millions of Pounds Sterling
 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
Year
1914
Germany Austria Italy Turkey
1904 606,866 361,770 221,085 280,000
1905 609,552 361,770 220,834
1906 614,353 362,398 249,816
1907 616,838 366,578 249,917
1908 619,006 365,742 247,000 361,644
1909 610,196 369,203 247,000
1910 610,083 370,510 238,617
1911 612,557 353,017 253,786
1912 646,321 405,120 256,000 378,377
1914 811,000 494,000 305,000 250,000
Triple Alliance and Turkey Peacetime Army Strength
 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
Year
1914
Germany Austria Italy Turkey
1904 36.6 17.6 9.7 7.1
1905 39.7 17.4 10.1
1906 41.5 17.4 10.1
1907 46.0 18.5 10.3
1908 47.0 21.1 10.9
1909 49.0 27.4 12.0
1910 47.3 24.2 13.5 13.3
1911 46.9 22.4 14.7
1912 52.1 25.4 18.7
Army Expenditures
1913 in Millions 34.4
78.3 of Pounds Sterling
25.3
 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
1914
So, what can we see on those tables?
Army strengths remained steady after 1904
until 1912.
Russia was the exception, given their war
with Japan and the subsequent need to
rebuild afterwards.
Italy had the quickest buildup, faster even
than Germany, with Austria-Hungary close
behind.
 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
1914
Russia and France had to respond.
By extending tours of duty, France raised army strength
nearly 40% to 850,000 in 1914, passing Germany at
811,000.
France cut into Germanys heavy caliber artillery lead,
having 104 155-mm field guns compared to Germanys
400 150-mm field guns, which had to cover two fronts.
Russias Great Program of 1914 increased the army
45% to 1,885,000 in 1917. They also had 8,358 rapid-
fire field guns compared to Germanys 6,004 in 1914.
The pointers for the future were unmistakable.
~ Norman Stone
A slide with no useful
information at all
Just filling in the gap between the last slide
and the next one.

Please dont write this down.

I will definitely test you on this. or, as

80s kids would say NOT!

That said, I do know why I did this.

 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
1914
1914 Germany was hampered by its
diplomatic situation.
Moltke, anxious, pressed for more troops,
despite the notion that universal
conscription already existed on paper but
not in practice.
The Left in parliament wanted no more
consumer taxes.
The Right was protesting 1913 federal taxes
on wealth.
 Army Weapons and
Troop Expansion, 1904-
1914
We must be aware that the offensive of
almost the entire Russian army will be
directed against our forces which remain in
the east to be precise, a Russian army
which will, from 1917 onwards, probably
already be fully outfitted and equipped in
everything in a modern way, and which will
be able to cross the border in the shortest
time We must not close our eyes to these
facts that are so unfavorable to us. ~
Moltke to the Kaiser
After getting nowhere, If only things would
finally boil over We are ready the
sooner, the better for us.
 Reflection
Did an increase in army spending cause
tension, and thus cause WWI, or was it a
response to growing tensions?