Why Did Alliances Cause Ww1

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The main cause of World War 1 is the alliance system. I know this because the alliances between countries caused countries to turn on each other which let to World War 1.

Alliances were the most important cause of WW1. Alliance means a union or association formed for mutual benefit. During the time of WW1 Europe was split into two armed camps. The Triple Alliance: consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. And The Triple Entente: Great Britain, France and Russia. Russia and Serbia were long term Slavic allies. Alliances caused the war because Serbia wanted to stay independent and they didn’t want Austria-Hungary to threaten that and as Serbia was small their alliance Russia stepped in causing Austria-Hungary to need Germany. Soon …show more content…

Militarism is the principle or policy of maintaining a large military establishment. This meant that countries were competing over the amount of military force they had. An example of militarism that triggered WW1 was the naval arms race between Germany and Britain which started in 1896 when Britain became worried after the 1896 & 1900 law said Germany could rival the Royal Navy. This caused ship rivalry in 1906. Another form of militarism is that many countries had contingency plans for war including Germany’s ‘Schlieffen plan’: which was to defeat France quickly by going through Belgium -which was a neutral country- before Russia was ready to fight, then deal with Russia as they had an alliance with France. France also had a plan called ‘Plan 17’ which was to charge straight through Champagne, Germany. Militarism caused the war because it meant countries began to favour militant actions and force leading to WW1. Militarism had an impact on WW1.

Imperialism also had an impact on WW1. Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power (or empire) and influence through military force or other means. Imperialism caused WW1 because most European nations were engaged in empire building and the majority of Africa and Asia were occupied by Europe, this caused tension when the German Empire was in Africa (1887) as Great Britain became concerned. Austria-Hungary also wanted to expand their empire in

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