The other Great powers became increasingly worried about the strength of the Triple Alliance. Therefore, France and Russia agreed to help each other if any country from the Triple Alliance attacked them, and they signed the Franco-Russian Alliance. Ironically, this worried Germany as if it meant that France and Russia had an alliance it meant that she could be attacked from both sides. However, Britain had no allies within the Great powers, and therefore, she was isolated. Germany had approached them to join her in an alliance; however, Britain was not so keen because of the Boer War. Then, in 1904 Britain and France had agreed to sign the Entente-Cordiale to forget their previous quarrels. Three years later France had brought Britain and Russia together, and after signing the Anglo-Russian Entente the Triple Entente was formed.
Thus, due to the tension between the Great Powers, the alliance system was a prominent cause of World War One. If Germany had not allied with Austria-Hungary war might have been averted. Another example is that if Germany and Great Britain began a conflict the rest of Europe would not have become involved. Therefore,
World War One spread because of the Alliance system, even with the tension building up; it would just be another European war.
However, it is very difficult to conclusively establish a cause, and therefore, we must consider other causes.
Another reason is Political systems and economic developments. For example, Germany during the nineteenth century was renowned for successful economy and the advances in technology she had made in industries such as textiles, coal and iron, etc. As a result, this made the other powers to fear her. In addition, France had lost Alsace-Lorraine due to her defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. Alsace-Lorraine was an important industrial area because of the rich raw resources that were found there.
Colonial Conflicts and rivalries were also an important cause of World War One. An example, is the Naval Race between Britain and Germany, which began in the 1890s. Britain, since 1889 had been following the Dual Power Standard, which meant that they aimed to have a larger navy than the next two navies, combined. On the other hand, Germanys New World Policy or Weltpolitik that also aimed to expand their small fleet by the order of the Kaiser.
The colonial conflicts included The Far Eastern Crisis, which had been a contentious issue of international rivalry. The rivalry began because Britain, who had established her economy in the Far East, felt that her position was being challenged by other powers. The crisis began after Chinas defeat by Japan in 1895 and ended with Japan’s victory over Russia in 1905 at the Russo-Japanese War. The Russo-Japanese War had began after arguments over territory because Russia wanted to build a railway through Manchuria and therefore also wanted control, there, however, Japan disagreed, and therefore, war broke out. His was followed by the Boxer Rebellion an international force was sent to calm the rebellions in Manchuria. This meant that Russia could use the situation to gain more control on the territory. This worried Britain that Russia could have total control of Peking and so approached Germany to help her keep an eye on Russia and her actions. However, Germany told her that she was detached to the future of Manchuria. As a result Britain approached Japan and this resulted in the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. This resulted in Germany becoming diplomatically isolated from the rest of Europe, and also for Britain it meant that she began to move away from her policy of ‘Splendid Isolationism.’
Another possible cause of WWI was the Moroccan Crisis. The Crisis started in 1905 when France arrived in Fez the capital of Morocco to persuade the Sultan to accept a programme of reforms under the supervision of France. This worried Germany as if these talks worked it was likely that Morocco would become a French protectorate. It worried them because France would have a great deal of power economically and Germany feared that they would suffer commercially. As a result, in March 1905, the Kaiser went to Morocco and landed in the port of Tangier to speak to the Sultan that they would help them to fight against French expansion. However, this did not work and as a result Germany demanded an international conference to confer about France’s intentions. This increased tensions flared as Britain and France thought that it was their business and not Germany’s. As a result, Britain and France’s entente became stronger, the exact opposite of what Germany wanted. However, six
years later there was unrest within Morocco, and therefore France sent their troops to Fez to prepare for the establishment of a protectorate over the country. As ever, Germany interfered and sent the gunboat Panther to the Moroccan port of Agadir. The French and British were enraged and the British navy began to prepare for war. However, at the last moment Germany withdrew their gunboat Panther, and war was prevented for a short time.
The last major crisis before the July Crisis, often referred to the spark before the outbreak of war, was the Balkans, which had been a problem for Europe for over a century.
The Balkan League made up of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece main aim was to free Macedonia of Turkish rule. In October 1912, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Bulgaria, which was now fully independent, decided they were now strong enough to take over the remaining Turkish territory. Turkey was preoccupied with a war against Italy and as a result the Balkan allies made rapid progress. The war only lasted seven months and became a humiliating defeat for the Turks.
However, the countries that were victorious during the first Balkan War were now at loggerheads, and the second Balkan War began. The Serbs were furious with the dispute because they did not get the land they wanted to form Yugoslavia. Austria-Hungary did not want Russia to control these lands, as then they would be further surrounded, also they did not like the idea of more nationalist views influencing the Slavs within their country. Russia wanted to unite all Slavs together and so wanted control of the Balkans but Austria-Hungary also wished to control these states. Russia were pushed forward in doing so when Serbia became an independent state; because this helped Russia and because Russia was in support of the union of Slavs they joined in an alliance as they thought it probable that Serbia would be attacked by Austria-Hungary. If Russia were to unite with the Balkan states then it would have access to water and could then proceed to build a navy of its own. Tempers ran high in the Balkans. The only friendships that remained were the Alliances, especially the alliance between Austria-Hungary and Germany whose alliance was strengthened.
The last spark before World War One began was the assassination of the heir of the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrillo Princip a Serb nationalist and a member of the Black Hand on 28th June 1914. The motive for the assassination was that they feared that once the Archduke came to the throne he would continue to persecute the Serbs within the Austrian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian government blamed Serbia, and issued the Austro-Hungarian government a list of demands to the Serbian government, who inevitably refused these demands and denied having any part in the assassination.
Therefore, World War One broke out.
It is therefore reasonable to suggest that Alliances and Ententes were to blame for the outbreak of WWI because if countries such as Austria and Serbia did not have any allies there would not have been a World War, just a European War. Also, the countries colonies became involved. However, it must be stressed that there were other causes that eventually resulted in the outbreak of war in 1914.
