Alliances
As well as seeking protection in the size of their armies, the countries of Europe sought protection by forming alliances. The countries of Europe thought that the alliance system would act as a deterrent to war; in fact it tied the countries together so that, when one country went to war, the others felt themselves obliged to follow. France in 1894 made an alliance with Russia, and in 1904, made an agreement with Britain called the Entente Cordiale; which means, ‘Friendly Relationship’ – not a formal alliance, but a promise to work together. In 1907, Britain made an entente with Russia that formed the Triple Entente made up of, France, Russia and Great Britain. In 1902 Britain made a naval treaty with Japan. The Triple Entente alarmed Germany, which felt itself surrounded by the France-Russia alliance.
Nationalism
Nationalism helped cause war because it made the races ruled by Turkey, such as the Romanians and the Bulgarians, and by Austria-Hungary, such as the Serbs, want to be free to rule themselves. In the Balkans this was called ‘Panslavism’ because the people who wanted to be free were all Slav races. The most nationalistic of all were the Serbs. Serbia had became an independent country by the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878, but in 1900 many Serbs were still ruled by Turkey and Austria-Hungary but Serbia was determined to rule over them all. This led to rebellions and terrorism which destablised the Balkans.
Imperialism
Countries who believed that they were superior thought it was all right to conquer and rule others. This is why countries like Britain, France, Belgium and Italy thought it was OK to colonize vast areas of Africa in the 19th century. In 1900, the British Empire covered a fifth of land-area of the earth. This led to clashes between imperialist powers. Britain was trying to conquer Africa from Cairo to Cape Town and France was trying to conquer Africa from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. In 1898 their two armies met, at Fashoda in the Sudan and almost caused a war. This led to a lot of tension when Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany decided that he wanted some colonies too.
Awful Governments
Not only were many of the governments of Europe autocracies, ruled by one man, but also many countries had stupid and corrupt governments. Very few of the countries of Europe were democracies - it is hard for a democracy to go to war because the people need to agree to go to war. In these days, there was no idea of going to war for the 'right' reasons, many people in those days thought it was alright to go to war simply to win more power and territory for the ruler.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think that the Alliances were a main cause of the First World War, because it created a lot of tension between the counties. It also meant that when one country declared war on another, it would not just involve two countries, because all the other countries involved in the Alliances would have to help. This made its more likely that a big war would break out.
