Causes of World War 1

The First World War began in August 1914.

It was directly triggered by the assassination of the Austrian archduke, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, on 28th June 1914 by Bosnian revolutionary, Gavrilo Princip. This event was, however, simply the trigger that set off declarations of war.

The actual causes of the war are more complicated and are still debated by historians today. Causes of the war also dealt with such ideologies as Nationalism, Imperialism and militarism along with the prominent alliance systems and the naval race. One of the main causes of the First World War is Kaiser Wilhelm 11.

Kaiser Wilhelm 11

One of the causes of the outbreak of the war was Kaiser Wilhelm 11 ambitious aim. He had many aims but his main aim is to make Germany the superior.

The German Kaiser was extremely envious of Britain for having a larger navy than that of Germany's and ordered the production of new Dreadnought-class battleships. Britain responded to the Germans attempt to equal its navy by creating a navy so large and powerful that no other nation's navy would ever contemplate an attack. This head-to-head production period was known as the "Arms Race" and created more tension between the two nations.

Navy

Alliances

a system of military alliances was formed to provide European powers with a sense of security.

There were two rivalling alliances

The Triple Alliance consisted of the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary that had existed since 1879 when Bismarck had befriended the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the agreement, both countries pledged that they would go to the aid of the other if attacked by Russia. This was done to ensure that Germany would always have an allied nation on its border if war were to occur. Italy later joined this alliance in 1882, which remained in tact until the beginning of World War I. The conditions of the alliance changed after Italy was added and stated that countries would aid any other that was under attack from two or more countries.

The other alliance: The Triple Entente, was made up of Great Britain, France and Russia. As a result of Germanys build-up in naval resources, Great Britain was forced to abandon its isolation policy and adopt allies. France joined Great Britain in 1904. Unlike the Triple alliance, this agreement contained no promises of military support, although the two powers began to talk of joint military plans. The Triple Entente was completed when Russia joined in 1907.