Why did World War One break out in 1914?

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Why did World War One break out in 1914?

There are many reasons why World War One occurred in 1914, many are complex and remain controversial which is why the matter has been disputed to this day by historians all over the world.  My theory is that a lot of those reasons and the trigger factor all links to one thing; the alliance system. The alliance system is what made countries oppose each other and become rivals making it the most significant factor. It had an impact on who supported who when Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. This was only the spark that started war in Europe; there were long term causes that contributed to the war and were the origins. This answer will explain the causes focusing on how they contributed to World War One and what the important links are between them.

The Alliances not only contributed to war breaking out; it made the war last longer and become on a much larger scale; major political disputes would inevitably cause a large conflict. The alliances caused suspicion, fear, and tension among nations. The two camps were the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary). When countries formed alliances with each other it gave them protection, if a country was threatened or under attack then the alliance would come to that country’s aid. Countries made an alliance when they both needed protection from a stronger country. When Austria-Hungary had heard about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand they went to war with Serbia which resulted in a chain reaction of countries going to war with one another, and when countries teamed up to support their attacked friends when war came, it meant that a number of nations would fight, not only the two involved in a dispute. The division of Europe also led to a number of other causes which increased tension.

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Another factor for the war was the Great Powers; countries were getting more power hungry and were starting to build up their navies and industries. The German empire was growing and the separate states had joined together to make Germany very powerful. However it was Britain that was the richest nation in the world. Past wars had an effect on who was against whom and increased the tension and competition between countries which might have been unresolved. For example, in 1870 the Germans beat the French in the Franco-Prussian war which was why both countries hated each other. The ...

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