Describe the Causes of WW1

Authors Avatar by bebepreppie (student)

History Essay

Many different factors were responsible for the start of WW1. Discuss.

Which do you believe were the most important and explain why.

        Many were the causes of World War 1 and still today, people discuss about the actual real cause, but everybody has different ideas and no one has got to a conclusion. During those times, people blamed Germany for causing the war, but is that true?

        The causes of World War 1 went back long before 1914 and had set Europe in position where, if only one domino fell, all the others would have followed it pushing Europe into war. The causes were many but, we don't only have to know what happened but also how each element made war more likely.

        First of all, countries of Europe had made alliances, mainly for protection between each other. There was the Triple Alliance which was formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary was natural; they both spoke the same language- Germany -and had very similar cultures. It was easy for them to unite. Austria though, was also in political trouble in the south east of Europe, with the Balkans. She needed Germany to back her up if trouble got worse. Italy then joined in as she feared their power on Italy's borders. Germany was Europe's most powerful country, so for Italy, it would have been an obvious move. Now that the Triple Alliance was formed, each member promised to help each other if they were attacked by any another country.

        The other main alliance was the Triple Entente. Entente means “understanding”; this leads to the name of the alliance. The members of this group, Britain, France and Russia, did not promise to help one another if they were attacked but the understanding that each member would support the other. It started off because France was suspicious of Germany; she had a huge army but a poor navy. Britain instead had the world's most powerful navy and a small army, hence, making France and Britain join together.  Britain was also concerned about Germany because it was building up a new and powerful navy. The involvement of Russia seemed odd when Russia was so far from France and Britain. However, Russia's royal family, the Romanovs, was related to the British Royal Family. Russia also had a huge army and with France on the west of Europe and Russia on the east, the 'message' sent to Germany was that she had two huge armies on either side of her borders. Therefore, it was not a good move by Germany to provoke trouble in Europe - that what was the Triple Entente hoping to do by sending this 'message' to Germany.

Join now!

   Throughout Europe there were also ideologies between the people: Nationalism, Imperialism and Militarism. Nationalism was a movement which had struck all Europe leaving people to think that their country is better than the others. They believed that their own nation's needs must be met before that of other nations. These strong beliefs sometimes became obsessive as nationalists became so proud of their nation that they were desperate for it to become the most rich and powerful country.

        Imperialism was also present and it was the desire of the people to build an empire for the benefit of the mother ...

This is a preview of the whole essay