In the end, this once defensive alliance system ended up splitting Europe into two: the Triple Entente (Russia, Britain and France) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire). All these nations had pledged to go to war if one of their allies was attacked, excepting Great Britain who did not commit to go to war over France. There was no international organization where countries could talk things out. The only way to get everyone together was to call for a conference, but they weren’t always successful since any country could refuse to go.
Another very contributing factor to the war was the Kaiser Wilhelm II. This individual had some awkward psychological issues (one of his arms was crippled, and he felt a strange relation to his relatives in the British Royal family).He was very short sighted and had a distorted sense of foreign affairs. He neglected Russia and drove her nearer to France, who very quickly and eagerly began investing in her and getting all nice and friendly. Also he attempted to “bully Britain into friendship” by congratulating the Boer leader Kruger after he defeated the English in South Africa. He began to develop the navy extensively, and Britain felt this was a direct threat to her empire; when the Panther was used in the second Moroccan crisis she was convinced of this threat and the result was that she drew closer to France.
Worth marking is that three schools of thought occupied the minds of European leaders at the time: Imperialism Militarism and Nationalism. Imperialism meant that Nations needed to have colonies overseas. The problem was that by the early 20th century there weren’t any suitable colonies left on Earth. This meant that any country wishing to expand its empire was going to have to take land of another one. Britain was very fearful of any Russian intervention in Egypt, because it would disrupt her way India. France had been Britain’s rival in Africa and had also taken Tunisia (much to Italy’s dislike). By the time Germany industrialized and Wilhelm II decided he wanted an empire, he had to start taking bits from France or little islands in the Pacific. Britain then realized that Germany’s new navy and her wishes for an empire would not nicely coexist with her “splendid isolation”.
Nationalism was a belief that became popular after the French revolution and incited citizens to believe that their country was better than all the others, and, when nationalism was strong, they tended to want to show it (and what better way to show it than militarily?). The French national honor was wounded in 1871 when they lost the Franco-Prussian war, and as a consequence the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine. From Bismarck’s era the German people had become very nationalistic themselves, and the influence of the military in the government mixed dangerously with that.
Militarism was the belief that conflicts should be resolved by belligerent ways. It also meant that the army had a lot of influence in a country’s government. Joffre in France and Hindenburg in Germany are two such examples of militaristic influential leaders.
The last two wars in Europe had been relatively short (from seven weeks to less than six months) and they had not been very violent. People had forgotten how painful wars could be and after a couple of decades of rough relations and crises, there was a general idea that war was just inevitable and they might just as well have it all over and done with. This was reinforced by the huge amounts of money countries were spending in weaponry; if these patterns continued they would only lead to either bankruptcy or war.
Thus, Although the Arms race and the alliance system played an important role as triggers of the Great War, they were really not the only ones and not the most important.
