Something New on the Eastern Front: the ‘Balkanization’ of the Franco-Russian Alliance and the New Historiography of the Origins of the First World War
The last ten years witnessed the emergence of new historiography which examines the origins of the First World War. The recent research gives substantial attention to the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 and its influence on the July Crisis of 1914. One of the most intriguing and controversial features of recent historiography is the concept of the ‘Balkanization’ of the Franco-Russian Alliance. The concept was most thoroughly discussed by Christopher Clark in his seminal book The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (2012). The ‘Balkanization’ of the Franco-Russian alliance refers to the mutual understanding by the Russian and French political elite after the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. It suggested that the war which would start in the Balkans would match the strategic interests of both Russia and France. The paper will examine the concept of ‘Balkanization’ and how it varies from the earlier historiographical perception of Franco-Russian relations in the prewar period. The importance of the ‘Balkanization’ of the alliance on European diplomacy, the war planning and the July Crisis of 1914 will be examined too. I shall conclude that the acceptance of the validity of the ‘Balkanization’ argument could mean a new historiographical shift in understanding the "whys" and "hows" of the start of the First World War.
