What reasons explain the outbreak of World War One- Which country is most to blame?

Authors Avatar

Cathy Lenihan

What reasons explain the outbreak of World War One- Which country is most to blame?

There are many reasons that can explain the outbreak of World War One. All the countries involved can shoulder some of the blame for the war. In this essay I will look at the different reasons for the outbreak of World War one and I will consider which country is most to blame.

        Tension had been building up between the major powers for a long time. Since 1817, the Franco-Prussian war France had hated Germany. Germany had won the war and had taken the Provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. Both countries hated each other since then. France was afraid that the Germans might attack again and were jealous of Germanys growing wealth. France felt threatened by the ambitions of Kaiser Wilhelm. There was great suspicion and mistrust between all of the major powers. Germanys leader (Kaiser Wilhelm) was very ambitious and wanted Germany to become the greatest nation in the world. This annoyed Britain, who was the most powerful nation at the time. Germany did not have a very big empire. All of the main European countries were either concerned about protecting their empire or expanding it. This lead to intense rivalry over Empires and increased tension. Germany was jealous of the British Empire and of the size of the British navy. Britain was worried that Germany would over take it as the most powerful nation in the world. Russia and Austria-Hungary were close, however they both faced problems. Russia wanted to be bigger and Austria-Hungary was a nation made up of a lot of countries, many wanted to rule themselves. Austria-Hungary hated Serbia and would fight them if the chance came. All the tension between the countries was a major factor to the outbreak of World War One, none of the countries completely trusted each other. Most of the countries felt threatened by Germany, who wanted power.

Join now!

        The alliances were also a major factor. Before 1914 all of the major European nations were suspicious and envious of each other. Because of this many of the countries would want to form alliances. The saying “Your enemies enemy is your friend sums up the alliances during this time. The first Alliance was the Dual Alliance in 1879, between Germany and Austria-Hungary. This then became the Triple Alliance in 1882, with Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany. This alliance dominated the whole of central Europe, creating more tension between the powers in Europe. France began to feel isolated and vulnerable. In 1894 ...

This is a preview of the whole essay