Causes of the First World War

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The causes of the First World War

2006

Why do you think the Sarajevo murders ‘lit the fire’ when previous events as the Moroccan crisis and the Balkan wars had not?

During his visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia, on Sunday 28th of June, 1914, the Archduke and heir to the throne of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, was killed in company of his wife, Sophie. The one to blame was Princip, member of a terrorist group, which planned the assassination. For this, the Austrian government blamed Serbia and sent an ultimatum. Before the Serbian government could think of something to answer back, Austria declared war to Serbia the 28th of July. Not only these countries were involved, but most of the European forces, and within some days, all of these countries were part of this bloody war. Although there were previous events to the war which inclined countries to the war, the Sarajevo murders indeed “lit the fire” to start it.

In 1914, the six powerful forces of Europe divided themselves into two powerful opposing alliances: the Central Powers or Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy), united in 1882, and the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia), formed in 1907. Both were similarly equipped with weapons and naval force. All the six countries were ready to confront any other enemy attack. Germany was concerned of what she called “encirclement” which consisted of an attempt by France and Russia to surround and threaten her. There was also and old resentment with France, since Germany had been compensated with the important industrial area of Alsace and Lorraine after beating France in the Franco-Prussian. As well as the other countries, Germany was building itself a vast army. The main issue that troubled the Austrian-Hungarian Empire was the problem with the nationalities. People in the empire had its own customs and language and sought for independence. There was certainly no nationalism or patriotism. It also feared the support that Russia gave to the Serbs, but relied on its allies. The last country that formed the Central Powers, Italy, was not as strong as the others, and was not fully trusted by his allies. She joined the alliance mainly to fulfil her desire of colonies.

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As regards the countries belonging to the Triple Entente, Britain controlled the sea with her navy. Before the alliance, Britain feared France and Russia. She knew those were the most dangerous rivals. However, in 1904 she agreed with France in things related to colonies in North Africa. She also knew that Russia came from a war (Russo-Japanese War in 1904) and that she was weakened. In spite of this, Britain was very concerned about Germany. The German Kaiser wanted Germany to have a strong navy, which would later threaten Britain’s own empire and navy. When the Kaiser Wilhelm announced that ...

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