Another factor, which contributed to World War I, was the increase in rivalry in Europe due to imperialism. Great Britain seemed to have been the richest and most powerful country on Earth. The British Empire was the largest in the world. Its Royal navy was also the most powerful navy in the world. Imperialist countries narrowly avoided war many times as they struggled to divide Africa among themselves in the early 1900's. Two of these countries, France and Germany, were on the brink of war several times when they argued about claims to Morocco. Between 1905 and 1911 they settled each argument with a temporary compromise that left one of the two countries dissatisfied. Germany were the dissatisfied country but had the most powerful army in Europe and wanted a more powerful navy than Britain. They therefore needed more people to fight with them. One way was to try to expand their Empire and technology or the other was to build alliances with other countries. They decided to try to build alliances with other countries. Alliances were another cause of World War I as well as the actions of Gavrilo Princip.
World War I was also caused in part by the two opposing alliances, developed by the Bismarck diplomacy after the Franco-Prussian War. In order to diplomatically isolate France, Bismarck formed the in 1872, an alliance between Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary. When the French occupied Tunisia, Bismarck took advantage of Italian resentment towards France and created the between Germany, Italy and Austria- Hungary in 1882. In exchange for Italy's agreement to stay neutral if war broke out between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary would protect Italy from France. Russia and Austria-Hungary grew suspicious of each other over conflicts in the Balkans in 1887, but Bismarck repaired the damage to his alliances with a Reinsurance Treaty with Russia, allowing both powers to stay neutral if the other was at war. However, after Kaiser William II fired Bismarck in 1890, the traditional dislike of Slavs kept Bismarck's successors from renewing the understanding with Russia. France took advantage of this opportunity to get an ally, and the was formed in 1891, which became a formal alliance in 1894. Britain was growing suspicious of Germany as they began to make their navy more powerful too. As a result, Britain and France overlooked all major imperialistic conflict between them and formed the Entente Cordiale in 1904. in 1907 after they had reached an understanding with Britain's ally Japan and Wilhelm II had further annoyed Russia by supporting Austrian ambitions in the Balkans. The Triple Entente, a formal alliance between Great Britain, France and Russia, now countered the Triple Alliance. International tension was greatly increased by the division of Europe into two armed camps. Now, all each country needed were weapons. Militarism was another cause of World War I.
The menace of the hostile division led to an arms race, another cause of World War I. Although imperialism played an important role in starting the war, militarism was an even greater factor. Militarism controlled the thinking of many European leaders before the war. These leaders thought that only the use of force could solve problems among nations. These leaders also thought that a strong military usually got what it wanted, and weaker nations usually lost out. As international rivalries grew, each nation in Europe made their armed forces stronger and larger. Acknowledging that Germany was the leader in military organization and efficiency, the great powers of Europe copied the universal recruitment, large reserves and detailed planning of the Prussian system. Technological and organisational developments led to the formation of general staffs with precise plans for mobilization and attacks that often could not be reversed once they were begun. The German ‘’ to attack France before Russia in the event of war with Russia was one such complicated plan that drew more countries into war than necessary. Armies and navies were greatly expanded. The standing armies of France and Germany doubled in size between 1870 and 1914. Naval expansion was also extremely competitive, particularly between Germany and Great Britain. By 1889, the British had established the principle that in order to maintain naval superiority in the event of war they would have to have a navy two and a half times as large as the second-largest navy. This motivated the British to launch the Dreadnought, invented by Admiral Sir John Fisher, in 1906. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 had demonstrated how effective these battleships were. As Britain increased its output of battleships, Germany correspondingly stepped up their naval production, including the Dreadnought. Although efforts for worldwide disarmament were made at the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, international rivalry caused the arms race to continue to feed on itself. This was another cause that attributed to World War I apart from the actions of Gavrilo Princip.
It is thought that the war began with the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand. However many other reasons led to this war, some occurring as far back as the late 1800's. Nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and the system of alliances were four main factors that pressed the great powers towards this explosive war. One could say that the actions of Gavrilo Princip was the trigger of the war because immediately following the assassination, Germany pledged its full support (que) to Austria-Hungary, pressuring them to declare war on Serbia, whilst France strengthened its backing of Russia. Convinced that the Serbian government had conspired against them, Austria-Hungary issued Serbia an , which Serbia agreed to apart from one item, which consequently led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia!
