Imperialism, competition for trade and colonies, resulted in tense relationships between European nations. Britain and France formed alliances against Germany as a result of competition for colonies. Alliances were agreements among nations to aid each other if attacked. By 1907, Europe was divided. Great Britain, France, and Russia all formed the Allies while Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Italy formed the Central Powers.
In Europe in 1014 it seemed very tense, this happened to spark off a war, this was then a result of millions killed. The war was fought between rival alliances of European powers: In 1878, Germany and Austria - Hungary formed an alliance9 the dual alliance) that gave them great strength in the centre of Europe. In 1892, the French and the Russians formed their own strong alliance (the dual entente) that meant Germany had an unfriendly power on each side. Soon afterwards, Germany’s most powerful soldier, general stiffen, drew up a plan that would allow Germany to beat France very quickly in any future war. This would then free most German troops to fight Russia in the east.
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. The Balkan crisis 1908 -12 both increased the likelihood of war. As there had been tensions growing since 1912 between the Serbians and the Austro- Hungarians after their attempt to secure control. These tensions were inevitably going to cause a war; as in the words of Otto Von Bisamrck, quoted at the time, a war was going to brake out due to “some damn fool in the Balkans.” The first Balkan crisis of 1912 didn’t break out into war, however it left tensions high. As Serbia’s confidence was now at its peak, as there sized had doubled, and the army had increased to 400,000, so if the were now confronted by the Austro- Hungarians they were now willing to fight.
The war was caused by grudges countries had held against each other from previous wars. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy were the Triple Alliance. Britain, France and Russia were the Triple Entente (friendly agreement). These agreements meant that if ever war broke out you would help the country you are in agreements with. 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.
Compare and contrast the effects of World War 1 on Africa and Middle East. Although the causes for the Great War were laid down years before, but the immediate spark was the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, an Austrian hungry prince. Due to the alliances amongst the countries, the Great war which had initially started between Serbia and Austria had engulfed the whole world into the War. The main causes of the Great War were imperialism, race for arms, nationalism and the alliance system. Typically, when one thinks of Great War, they think of extensive fighting in Europe but in reality the Great War had numerous battles in the colonized states where there were clashes between Triple Alliance and the Allies.
Older ships were destroyed and replaced with newer faster ships. Countries such as Russia also began building up its army, which made Germany build up its army to an even larger size. Alliances –Countries formed alliances with one another, this was another factor that lead to World War 1. Dual Alliance was seen as both a reflection of insecurity, and a contribution towards war. This is shown when, in the late nineteenth century, nations had negotiated military alliances with each other that called for mutual protection, as some countries had too many enemies, or feared of being attacked by other countries and their allies.
The True Cause of The Great War: Who is to Blame? After World War 1 ended many historians had difficulty trying to figure out what was the main cause of the war and why it was so deadly. There are a lot of historians that figure that it was Germany’s fault because the Germans were looking to go to war and wanted conflict with the other countries that were involved, like the tension caused by the Moroccan Crisis. Although there are many historians that look at the formation of the alliances throughout Europe, like the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, were the cause of World War 1. Furthermore there are others who believe that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by Gavrilo Princip of Serbia, was the cause of the war.
First of all the first World War happened mainly in Europe while the Second World War was fought at a global scale but they both started by a threat to the balance of power and started within Europe showing the importance that took World War II. During both wars, the Americans in battle wanted the total destruction of enemy rather than a defensive strategy. They entered war because of feeling attacked, often due to a provocation (Lusiytinia during World War I and Pearl Harbor in World War II). There is a difference due to technologic advancements in the way they fought during those wars, warfare methods differed, during World War I for example, the mobility of the soldiers was very limited, they would stay in the trenches and wait for the enemy to attack whereas during World War II, it is mainly massive bombings. ‘The most decisive a weapon is, the more surely it will be used’.
For example the Triple alliance was made up of the central powers which where Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. In response the triple Entente was formed, made up of the Allies which where France, Russia and Great Britain (Doc A). The triple Entente had been rapidly increasing their armed forces spending in total over 200 million pounds which is roughly 350 million dollars (Doc C), this made Germany and its allies even more paranoid in fear of being attacked beginning an arms race (OI). Militarism also played a vital role in the amount of confidence a nation had, countries would spend vast amounts of money on their military forces to intimidate their enemies to avoid being dominated because when weaker nations heard about the large scale of funds being spent to better their enemies army it intimidated them. All these tensions in Europe between very powerful nations led up to WW1.
1067 What are the underlying causes of World War I? Christian Hernandez 1st period World History Honors 2-25-12 On July 24, 1914, World War I began causing a huge uproar in countries around the world, mostly Europe. With the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the “heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne,” (pink document) this caused the spark for the war. Once Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, Germany declared war on Russia, this lead to a massive chain reaction in the countries of Europe. This was not the underlying cause of World War I though.