Why war, not an International congress in 1914?

Abstract

The paper discusses the key developments and processes preceding the World War I, and answers the question of why the then political elites had not opted for holding an international conference where the interests of the major powers could have been agreed by compromise according to the diplomatic model of the Holy Alliance. The analysis of the causes of the failure of diplomacy to prevent the outbreak of the Great War is based on consideration of the characteristic of diplomatic practice of the so-called Concert of Europe, the influence of Germanic factor on antagonizing the relations between the European powers, the process of emancipation of Serbia and its diplomacy, as well as the domination of militaristic perception in the summer of 1914.

Keywords

• diplomacy
• international order
• national interests
• balance of power
• world war one