Do you believe that Germany caused World War 1?

Authors Avatar

GCSE History

Do you believe that Germany caused World War 1?

In 1914, World War 1 broke out between six main countries. These were Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was what triggered off the war but I am here to discuss how there was a lot more to it than the murder of just one man. Germany did not cause the war alone, as will soon come clear.

Germany felt encircled, as there was a strong friendship between Russia to the east of Germany and France to the west. Germany felt it was their attempt to surround and threaten them and as Germany was already jealous of the huge build-up of arms in Russia, there was an immediate rivalry between them. Germany had always been very jealous of Britain too because of its good overseas colonies.

Germany got together with Italy, because they too wanted an overseas empire and they admired Germany’s growing power. Austria also felt angry due to the Serbs becoming more powerful and as Russia was friends with the Serbs, they stuck on Germany and Italy’s side. The three got together in what was called the Triple Alliance.

Britain joined France and Russia too in what was known as the Triple Entente. All the two groups really wanted was one key word. Power. They joined together so they would be more powerful and they wanted a good reputation. Jealousy and rivalry was the reason why they got back up from the other countries and formed the group in the first place.

Join now!

Germany were always very envious of Britain as they had the most powerful navy in the world and ruled the seas without any challenge. In 1898 Kaiser Wilhelm announced his intentions to build a German navy and Britain felt very threatened. A naval race began and Britain felt Germany’s intentions merely a competition for them. Germany didn’t have much of an empire which made Britain outraged, as they could see no reason to build one due to this, but Germany said they needed a navy to protect their growing trade.

Germany had always admired the way Britain ran their ...

This is a preview of the whole essay