To what extent can it be said that the WW1 was caused by the alliance systems?

To what extent can it be said that the WW1 was caused by the alliance systems? In 1914, when the First World War broke out, Europe was divided into two military alliance systems: the Triple Alliance including Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the Triple Entente that included Britain, France and Russia. The intent of the alliance system was primarily to provide mutual defence in order to maintain the power balance in Europe, but the nations eventually came to rely on it for aggressive purposes. Frictions between the groups had brought Europe on the verge of war several times after 1900, and were indirectly influential in generating a world war out of the Balkan conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. Although the alliance systems were intended to provide mutual defence, they encouraged war equally well by providing military support. As for Austria-Hungary, the German alliance allowed them to keep a more fierce policy in the Balkans, but the Balkan quarrels did not escalate into a European war before 1914 as the Germans were not prepared to give their ally a free hand against Serbia. However, when Germany changed their policy against Serbia with their 'blank cheque', they were free to do practically whatever they wanted, with the support against a Russian attack. Had the alliance systems not existed, the battle would have been confined to the Balkans, not extending

  • Word count: 854
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Business at work assignment on alliance and Leicester.

Business at work assignment on alliance and Leicester. Assignment On Alliance And Leicester For Business At Work - Unit 1 The objectives of Alliance and Leicester are: Ø To provide a wider range of mortgage investment, personal banking and insurance products [car insurance, home insurance etc], cash transmission services [making the money more accessible to the customer] and corporate banking facilities that is high in quality and competitive in price. Ø To increase the value of the stock [shares] the shareholders have in Alliance and Leicester. [To grow shareholder value]. Ø To become the most customer focused financial services organisation [To always put the customer and their needs first]. Ø To train their staff and to invest more in the training of their employees. Ø To build a more efficient and customer focused organisation. Ø To make a larger profit then in 2000. Ø To make larger cost savings by the end of 2003 based on the cost savings of 2000. Alliance and Leicester are achieving these objectives by making sure they put the customer first by making their products available through a larger range of convenient ways to their customers. Such as Internet banking, ATMs and branches. This is followed by a high quality of personal service. Alliance and Leicester have increased the number of staff in their call centres and

  • Word count: 8438
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Business Studies
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Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power.

The University of Sydney Government and International Relations International Security in the 21st Century Reading Review: Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power Stephen M. Walt Anthony Zafirakos SID: 0305028 In his article, Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power, Stephen M. Walt explores the causes of alignment. To gain an understanding of how states select their alliances, Walt defines three key areas - alliances as a response to threat, alignment between consistent ideologies and the tools of bribery and penetration - in the bipolar political world of 1985, influenced by the power of the Cold War's main actors, the USA and USSR. One of the main assumptions of this period is that most states were affiliated with or relied upon one of the two super powers for political, economic and military support, thus making alliances and their formation a central issue in Cold War politics. Causes of Alignment - What are they? Walt identifies the formation of alliances as a response to threat as the most significant factor of the three. The necessity for states to either "bandwagon" or "balance" is an assumption derived from the bipolar structure of the contemporary political world, and is a particularly realist idea, as the main motivation for creating these alliances is self-interest, pursuit of power and the maintenance of national security.1

  • Word count: 1201
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Why Did The Wartime Alliance Break Down?

Why Did The Wartime Alliance Break Down? By the end of the Second World War, there were three main victors, Britain, The United States Of America and the Soviet Union. At the start of the Second World War, this, "Big Three", had one united goal; to bring down Germany, as it was threatening both the Capitalist West and Communist East. However, even though all three leaders; Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were allies in their goal, it does not mean that their relationship was a happy one, but they had to work together to defeat the Nazi Germany regime. After Germany was defeated, The Big Three met up on several occasions to deal with the aftermath of the war. At this time, their true motives came to be shown. Even during the war, there was already underlying tensions between the East and West countries, but they were forced to cooperate in an, "Marriage of Convenience". As soon as their mutual enemy was defeated, tensions rose. When examining the reasons in why the Alliance broke down, there were a number of long term and short term causes. The East and West had two completely different ideologies, which would present itself as a issue. The West supported Capitalism, based on free elections and the freedom of speech. In contrast, the East supported Communism. This comprised of a dictatorship, led by Joseph Stalin, lack of freedom of speech and essentially the government

  • Word count: 1659
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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In order for it to succeed, must a strategic alliance be an alliance between equals?

In order for it to succeed, must a strategic alliance be an alliance between equals? In recent years collaborative partnership as a form of business operation has increased rapidly. This has been mainly due to increased levels of competition, the emergence of new markets and technological developments in todays global market. Estimates of the annual growth of strategic alliances in the early 1990's averaged between 27 and 30 per cent for industrialised countries (Anderson, 1990). An alliance may be seen as the 'joining of forces and resources, for a specified or indefinite period, to achieve a common objective' (Takec and Singh, 1992). Forming strategic alliances offers a company the chance to improve its competitive position by sharing costs, technology, resources and knowledge. The idea is that if two companies pool their resources, their joint objectives can be achieved more easily and economically (Strategic Management Journal, 1991). A strategic alliance may be vertical, between a buyer and supplier or horizontal, between two different companies at the same point in the supply chain. The main debate raised by the question is the extent to which equality between the parties is a prerequisite for the success of an alliance. Central to this debate is determining what is considered to be a successful strategic alliance. The notion of success is a subjective opinion,

  • Word count: 2862
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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This essay is a study on Laura Ashleys strategic alliance with BLS and pertinent issue that arise from such an alliance. Issues are discussed in several aspects at strategic and managerial level.

SYNOPSIS This essay is a study on Laura Ashley's strategic alliance with BLS and pertinent issue that arise from such an alliance. Issues are discussed in several aspects at strategic and managerial level. The essay begins with an analysis on strategic and operational issues, particularly LA's existing problems such as complicated organization structure, disrupted information flow, and lack of coordination among functional departments. It examines the role of logistics information system in reducing overall costs and delivering superior service levels in a cost-efficient manner to end customers. Through analyzing the nature of the strategic partnership of LA and BLS, which is an integrated contract logistics that incorporates both the physical service and the managerial functions under contractual terms, it argues that this partnership is designed to focus and develop the values of LA and BLS through leveraging their core competencies. The essay offers recommendations and rationale for LA based on the recognition of its strengths and weakness. It argues that LA should maintain a long-term relationship with BLS to create more values, improve its inbound logistics management and supervise its outbound logistics systems for potential risks. TABLE OF CONTENTS SYNOPSIS 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 .0 INTRODUCTION 3 2.0 STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES 3 3.0 THE ROLE OF

  • Word count: 2849
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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In this essay, I aim to find the most important cause of the First World War. There were four main causes. They were nationalism, imperialism, militarism and the alliance system.

In this essay, I aim to find the most important cause of the First World War. There were four main causes. They were nationalism, imperialism, militarism and the alliance system. Nationalism is the desire to achieve political independence, especially by a country under foreign control or by a people with a separate identity and culture but no state of their own. The people who lived in the Balkans, countries of Eastern Europe which had been ruled by the Turks, wanted to be independent. Imperialism is the conquering of other countries and the building and expanding of empires. In 1870, France was forced to hand over two of her provinces, Alsace and Lorraine to Germany in the peace treaty after the Franco-Prussian war and most Frenchmen wanted it back. Germany started late in the race to build colonies but was trying hard to catch up. Militarism is arms races. It is the strengthening of armed forces. Britain and Germany had a naval race. They both spent vast amounts of money creating new battleships called Dreadnoughts. The naval race was part of a general arms race between all of the big powers. The generals and admirals claimed that the only way to keep the peace, was a big modern army and navy. 'No enemy', they said, 'would dare attack a nation which had strong armed forces to defend itself'. An alliance system is an association of two or more groups, individuals, or

  • Word count: 1069
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Account for the formation of the two opposing armed camps in Europe during the period of 1871-1914. How did the Alliance System contribute to the outbreak of the First World War?

Account for the formation of the two opposing armed camps in Europe during the period of 1871-1914. How did the Alliance System contribute to the outbreak of the First World War? Answer: The "Alliance System" refers to the formation of military alliances or conclusion?? of ententes?? among the European powers during the period of 1871-1914. The Alliance System was first devised?? by Bismarck; it was one of the underlying causes?? leading to the outbreak of the First World War. The Alliance System during the period of 1871-1890 was called the Bismarckian System. In the Franco-Prussian War, France was utterly defeated??. By the Treaty of Frankfurt 1871 France was to cede Alsace-Lorraine, and pay an indemnity of 5 billion francs to Germany. To prevent the French attempt of revenge?? and the possibility of a two-front war, as well as to consolidate?? the infant??? German Empire, in 1873 Bismarck, the German Chancellor??, created the Dreikaiserbund????. The emperors of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia vowed?? to guarantee the status quo?? of Europe of 1871, resist revolutions and maintain peace in the Balkans. Yet it was only a verbal?? statement??. The Austro-Russian rivalry?? in the Balkans was unsolved. At the Congress of Berlin 1878, Bismarck placed Bosnia-Herzegovina under Austrian administration, but trisected "Big Bulgaria" to deprive?? Russia of an outlet?? to the sea.

  • Word count: 759
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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What was the Grand Alliance, and how did it come to the Cold War?

What was the Grand Alliance, and how did it come to the Cold War? The Grand Alliance was the grouping of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union during the war. They formed on account of their common goal, to defeat Germany and her allies. They decided on nothing to do with what would happen after the war, only that they would not stop until they accomplished their goal. There are many reasons as to why the Cold War started. Many believe that the United States was to blame; Soviet actions were defensive, the USA wanted to control its area of influence, but refused to allow the USSR to do the same. Some believe it was the Soviet Union; Stalin planned for a communist takeover of the whole world and the takeover of Eastern Europe was his first step in world control. While others believe that neither side was to blame; it was based on misunderstandings and forces beyond the control of both sides. The roots of the Cold War can be found as far back as the Russian Revolution of 1917. The two countries had extremely different beliefs and were convinced that theirs was right and the other's was wrong. As a result their was great hostility towards each other and in 1919 the Americans along with their allies; Britain and France, sent troops and resources to help the White Russians defeat the communist Bolsheviks in Russia. This support failed but the Bolsheviks never forgot

  • Word count: 1016
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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What is a computer system?

Hardware (22/11/02) What is a computer system? A computer system is made up of 4 things : A computer system makes up a computer and makes it run these input devices are things like a mouse and a keyboard a output devices are things like speakers a monitor and a printer. The processor is a 2-way system it can output Information and you can input information. Graphics tablet The graphics tablet is a flat pad, which the user can write or draw on with a device similar pen called a stylus. The surface of the pad is sensitive to the position of the stylus and the stylus itself is sensitive to the pressure applied by the users the stylus is moved across the pad the movement is translated to a drawing on the computer monitor. Sound sampler Sound sampler is when you can record a piece of music or voice and edit it or you can mix other pieces of music with others. Monitors The computer monitor or VDU (visual display unit) works by cathode ray tubes (CRTs) contain an electron gun at the back of the tube which fires electrons at phosphor dots coating the inside of the screen. When struck by electrons the phosphor dots glow to give colours. Computer input device advantages and disadvantage device Advantage Disadvantage Keyboards Easy to use As fast as you can Scanner Graphics can be easily put in may need to size/takes 7 seconds Digital camera Easily captures

  • Word count: 1304
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: ICT
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