The Causes of World War One
David Reynolds, 3H
The most important reason World War One broke out is the Alliance System. The Alliance system caused other countries such as Germany (The Central Powers) to be intimidated. These Alliances caused other things to happen like the arms races and colonial rivalry. These were minor causes. The Alliances, The Triple Entente: France, Russia and Britain and the Central Powers: Germany, Italy and Austro-Hungary, were competing against each other for power. The Alliances were only meant to be an agreement to protect a country, in that agreement, from attack, not to gang up, provoke and attack other countries. That was what it was looking like as all the different countries made plans for invasion. Germany was planning to attack France and when they crushed the French they would turn and crush Russia before it was able to mobilise. This was called the Schlieffen Plan. It failed because The Russian army had mobilised as it was helping Serbia defend itself against Astro-Hungary.
