The country also felt threatened as its neighbouring country, Russia was part of the Triple Entente and was itself building up a vast army. Keeping a strong army was important to Germany because it helped to demonstrate to the rest of the world that they were a rising power. In addition, Germany was also in competition with Great Britain. At the time Britain had the largest navy; something Germany envied. Once Britain started introducing their new battleships, named the Dreadnoughts, Germany followed suit.
Militarism is known as to maintain a strong military capability and increase in the number of armed forces. Germany and Great Britain were in a great competition. Both countries were increasing their naval spending. This arms race, or the build up of armies and navies, caused fear and suspicion and also led to a hostile relationship between these two countries. Imperialism, competition for trade and colonies, resulted in tense relationships between European nations.
Germany was 30-40 years old and wanted to have a bigger empire and navy than Britain, which had the biggest empire and biggest navy out of all of the countries. When Britain found out about Germanys plans they begun to worry. Germany was lead by Kaiser Wilhelm II. He decided to test the Entente Cordiale in 1905 when Kaiser had caused trouble with France when he attempted to turn the Moroccan people over throw their ruler Sultan. Germany was trying to gain the Moroccan land which France had already taken over as a colony.
“The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900”. How far do you agree with this opinion? Explain your answer using sources V, W and X and your own knowledge relating to the controversy. The implication that Germany’s use of an aggressive foreign policy led to the outbreak of the First World War is an extremely controversial topic, and has ultimately caused great debates amongst historians. Fischer, the provoker of this controversy, expresses this concept of German aggression by stating that since c.1900 Germany planned, and then was able to execute a war, due to their aggressive weltpolitik; based purely on expansionism.
Germany had only been a united country since 1871 however by 1914 it had built up a strong army, navy and had the beginnings of an overseas empire. As you can see, Germany since its unison had been very competitive and ambitious against the other ‘leading’ countries. I feel that this may have brought the other countries resentment, especially Britain. Britain had been known as and was the main industrial country in Europe for over 100 years but Germany had very quickly grown into a powerful country. This would have caused Britain some concern, especially because the leader over Britain was cousins with the Kaiser, this would have brought extra tension between them as they both wanted their country to be the best.
This policy, along with Wilhelm ll’s decision to create a colonial empire, caused rivalry between the major European powers, particularly Britain. In the 19th century colonialism was very popular as major European powers tried to increase their territory, resources and power. By the 20th century the British Empire had 1/4 of the world’s land surface which gave them trade opportunities and transport advantages (McCallum and Ringer, 2005, p237). Wilhelm ll, with a nation only thirty years old, wanted an empire but had missed out on the overseas colonies such as India and Nigeria which belonged to Britain. Germany’s new colonies in China and Africa made Britain concerned.
There are many events which highlight the importance of this policy no more so than the first and second Moroccan crisis. This event pronounced German military strength as the gunboat panther moored off the coast of Agadir during a minor revolt in French colony of Morocco. Consequently Germany was given land in Congo in order to pacify the growing state. He goes on to say ‘ as early as 1906, Germany had in place a plan for an aggressive war’ which suggests that Germany had planned for war in order to secure assets such as ‘lebensraum’ which would satisfy the desire of the growing pan German movement and raw materials which would satisfy the desire of the ever growing Industrial machine. Fischer strengthens this
To what extent was the Alliance System of European Countries responsible for causing World War 1? Subject: History (SL) Word Count: 1963 (Excluding Sub-headings) Contents Section A: Plan of the Investigation P.3 Section B: Summary of Evidence P.4-5 Section C: Evaluation of Sources P.6 Section D: Analysis P.7-8 Section E: Conclusion P.9 Section F: Works Cited P.10 Section A: Plan of Investigation In this investigation I will investigate the importance of Alliances in Europe towards causing World War I with the role played by militarism, the belief that a country should maintain strong military capabilities. This investigation focuses on the rivalry between Germany and Great Britain, Russia, and France, also the outcome of Balkan Wars, and the importance of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, as the event triggered the Alliance Systems. The investigation will rely on Secondary sources that contain analysis of factors that caused World War I, records of world war related historical events, and statistical records of the military and industrial aspect of involved countries, as well as the alliance treaties among participants of World War I. Providing a broader scope on the Alliances’ effects to the cause of war.
In 1914 a mismanaged Balkan crisis caused the powers to stumble into a general European war, which would have been avoided in 1908 and 1912. HFDYA? There are a number of factors to consider and understand why the events of 1914 in the Balkans caused the powers to fall into a war, when it was earlier avoided in 1912. However the situation consisted of long-term factors aswel as short term factors. The long-term factors that would have built tension and rivalries throughout Europe are the alliance systems and the arms race, whereas the short term factors would be the mismanaged crisis, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, which was ultimately the trigger of total war.
Militarism The European nations were involved in an arms race to produce the best weapons and the biggest well trained army. France and Germany had more than doubled their armies since the Franco-Prussian war in which France lost. Britain and Germany were involved in a competition to control the seas. Britain had introduced ‘the dreadnought’, the most advanced and powerful battle ship of that time. Germany quickly tried to produce battleships to counter it.