For purposes of discussion, definitional distinctions between such phrases or concepts as "socialism" and "communism" will be blurred, with the two being treated as synonymous philosophical approaches to economics and politics. The evolution of socialist thought is beyond the parameters of the student's question, and distinctions between various schools of thought would serve no purpose other than to complicate the issue at question, to whit, the role of socialism in the years leading up to World War I.
As we know, European countries prior to the outbreak of war in 1914 were overwhelmingly dominated by autocratic, monarchical regimes; in effect, they were run by kings and queens. Additionally, the state system as it exists now did not exist then, the continent dominated by empires, for example, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, and so on. All of this is relevant because the class structures and the evolution of economic systems that existed under these regimes provided the foundation for the development of socialist thought. The Industrial Revolution, in particular, played an important role in the development of socialist thought because it resulted in the migration of formerly rural farm workers to cities where factories were located, thereby creating the proletarian class the interests of which were to be served by the more equitable distribution of wealth and the centralized control, under worker collectives, of the means of production.
The main role, then, that socialism played in the years leading up to the outbreak of the war was in the challenge socialist movements, especially the Social Democratic Party of Germany, as well as the so-called Paris Commune in France, posed to established political orders. As the long-ruling monarchies of Europe, including Russia, weakened over time due to internal factors, socialist movements gained in strength, although their leaders, especially in Russia, were often imprisoned for periods of time or, in the case of Lenin, living in exile until conditions were ripe for their return home. Once war broke out following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the socialist movement splintered between those in the West who initially supported their governments in the war and those, mainly in Russia and Germany, who vehemently opposed participation in a war they deemed caused by capitalist excesses and imperial ambitions run amok.
Probably the most important role played by social movements in the period leading up the war was in Russia. From the start, the myriad socialist/communist movements in Russia were violently opposed to Russia's participation in the war, and, as soon as the Romanov Dynasty was overthrown, withdrew their country from the conflict. Czar Nicholas II had allied Russia with France and England against Germany, and his already weakened regime could not survive the organizational skills and ruthlessness of the Bolshevik movement combined with the exhausted state of a Russian populace tired of war.
One should not exaggerate the role of socialism in Europe in the years leading up to the war. Socialist movements were certainly active across the continent, but they were small and weak. They had not attracted the support of the masses as much as they desired, and nationalism, anathema to the socialists, continued to dominate popular sentiments. Socialism did, however, offer an alternative to the less-democratic systems under which most lived, and these movements were taken seriously by the regimes they sought to undermine.
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