Germany were always very envious of Britain as they had the most powerful navy in the world and ruled the seas without any challenge. In 1898 Kaiser Wilhelm announced his intentions to build a German navy and Britain felt very threatened. A naval race began and Britain felt Germany’s intentions merely a competition for them. Germany didn’t have much of an empire which made Britain outraged, as they could see no reason to build one due to this, but Germany said they needed a navy to protect their growing trade.
Germany had always admired the way Britain ran their empire and had always wanted a navy like them so when Britain raised the stakes by launching the HMS Dreadnought, Germany responded by building their own. From 1906-1914 the two countries raced to build as many dreadnoughts as they could and in 1909 Germany came very close to beating them. By 1914 however, Britain had 29 and Germany had 17 Dreadnoughts.
Britain had every right to be suspicious of Germany, as they had no need for a navy. Germany was jealous and envious of Britain and wanted to be more like them so that’s the more the reason why they would want a navy. However, I believe Britain was being unreasonable as they had no right to tell Germany they could not build one as it was within their right, which was what Britain did.
Germany also had wishes for a big empire in Africa and as Britain and France both controlled some parts of Africa they both felt threatened. For France, this was not the first time as in 1871 Germany stole Alsace and Lorraine from France. They did not want this happening again. France wanted to seek revenge.
Before 1908, the Turkish Empire controlled the Balkans and when they collapsed, Austria-Hungary and Russia began rubbing their hands together; they both wanted to take control. Austria-Hungary was the more advanced and they took over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia was home to many Serbians. Russia was very annoyed, they felt they should be ruling a lot more of the Balkans as not only were they very good friends with Serbia, they had the same culture and spoke the same Slavic language. Austria-Hungary didn’t want Russia to attempt to take over so issued an Ultimatum to Russia and Serbia. They backed down as Austria-Hungary had back up from Germany and though they had France on their side, they did not yet feel strong enough.
From 1908-1912 tension was building up dramatically in the Balkans. The rest of the Balkan countries came together to form a league known as the Balkan League, but, they weren’t independent or very advanced and they began to squabble and argue between themselves over who was number one. Two main fights went between them in 1912 and another in 1913. In 1913, the Balkan League collapsed. Serbia came out the strongest country.
All Austria-Hungary needed then was an excuse to attack and crush Serbia and that excuse came on the 28th June 1914 when the heir to the Austrian throne was murdered by Bosnian-Serb terrorists.
France owned Morocco in North Africa and when their country gained independence, it appealed to Germany. Morocco was a perfect place for Germany to build their much-wanted naval base. The country had raw materials of iron and steel but more importantly it had supplies of gold. France decided to turn to Britain for help and an International Conference occurred. Kaiser Wilhelm was told to back off or they will start war. Germany’s navy at this time was not strong enough so they backed down. Here in 1905, war was avoided.
In 1911, the Moroccans turned to Germany for help as they wanted independence and Germany agreed and began to help them. Once again, France turned to Britain, accusing Germany of being the aggressor and Britain sent in its navy including its dreadnoughts. Germany once more backed down, and Kaiser Wilhelm felt so humiliated and weak that his embarrassment turned to anger, his anger turned to frustration, and his frustration made him want to seek revenge. Germany, like Austria-Hungary needed and excuse to go to war and they too, used the excuse of the Austrian murder.
On the 28th June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne; Archduke Franz Ferdinand was taking a tour around Bosnia. Bosnian-Serb Terrorists lined the route that the procession of cars was to take. They were hidden among the crowds. After a bomb was thrown at the car, injuring several people, the cars decided to take a different route. A terrorist called Princip shot the Archduke and his wife, Sophie as it was reversing due to taking a wrong turning.
It was all the six countries together who caused World War 1; jealousy, wanting for power, rivalry between countries, and the need to be number one are why the countries came together to form two groups; the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. It is true that Germany was probably the most power-wanting out of all the six countries, but the beginning of the war would not have started if it wasn’t also for Austria-Hungary, France and Britain. They all had so much hatred for each other and if it wasn’t for the fact that Germany’s navy wasn’t good enough in 1905, the war would have started back then. There wasn’t a main reason for the war to begin, it never begun just because of a murder; that was just a mere excuse to begin the attack. It is amazing to think how mans need for power can lead to a World War that will never be forgotten.