The Causes of World War 1

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World War 1 (better known as The Great War), was caused by a great many elements, some long-term, some short-term and the spark. Together these reasons created a brutal war involving many countries across the globe and also killing a vast number of the world’s population. In this essay, I will thoroughly explain what started this war and which reasons made it start sooner. What in my opinion was the least important reason, for the war starting was how much richer all the countries were getting. England, Germany, France and Russia along with others, were all expanding their empires and in doing so they became a lot richer. England used their money to create a powerful navy, one that was said to be the “rulers of the waves”. Germany too was building a strong military and navy to compete with Britain’s. Countries also started building a new type of battleship called, the Dreadnought, which were stronger and faster than any other types of warship- these were created in 1906 – 8 years before the assassination of Franz Ferdinand (whom will be explained further on in this essay) and before World War 1 was declared as a state of war. This contributed to the start of the war as, these empires had the devices, ships and armies they would need for a small war, at the very least. This meant that the countries would be less scared to take part in or declare war, as they probably thought they had a high chance of winning. A more foremost reason for the beginning of this war was rivalry and dictatorship. Countries were becoming greedier and more nationalistic, wanting and thinking that they were the most powerful. By 1914 Britain had the largest Empire in history and had claimed a large chunk of the world. However ever since 1898 when Wilhel... ... middle of paper ... ...e Alliance declared war on Serbia, Serbia asked Russia for help and Russia asked England and France for help. This is the most important cause of World War 1 because it brought 5 huge Empires unnecessarily into Serbia and Austria- Hungary’s war. Also from as soon as both The Triple Entente and The Triple Alliance were formed, it became clear for all to see, who was “friends” with whom and who hated whom. In conclusion the First World War was created by many factors. Some which had been bubbling beneath the surface for some time and needed setting off and some which just so happened to occur and turned countries against each other. In my opinion, although I have expressed through this essay which reasons I think are more important, not any single reason could cause a war this big and it was only because of one element piling on top of another that it did occur.

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