Afterwards Britain declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary because of their alliance with Belgium, France and Russia. Germany’s military reliance on the Schlieffen Plan working was a serious miscalculation. The Schlieffen Plan was a German war plan drawn up before 1914. Its essence was to avoid a two-front war for Germany, by first swiftly conquering France, the western front, through Belgium and then concentrating on the eastern front against Russia. ‘The invasion of Belgium was considered an essential element of the German war ... ... middle of paper ... ...to expand into the Balkans itself and was supported by Germany.
World War I had begun. Although World War I began in the summer of 1914, the causes of this global war can be traced further back. Imperialism in Africa and the Balkans created tensions and conflict across Europe, leading to a hostile environment in Europe. The alliance systems created unalterable military plans that put more trust in armed force than diplomacy. Nationalism created an environment in Europe where nations and people were eager to gain world recognition and led to both a naval and army arms race between Britain and Germany.
The amount of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry with Germany who had entered the scramble to acquire colonies late and only had small areas of Africa. In conclusion the four M.A.I.N causes of World War One are stated right in the word. (Militarism, Alliances Imperialism, and Nationalism). Even though the assassination really started the whole war and was the first cause these four topics were causes that led to the conditions that brought Europe to the brink of the war.
The increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in confrontation that helped push the world into World War I. The resulting tensions and rivalries between the major European powers culminated in a dynamic arms race that was coming to a head by 1914. Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. If one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, the following alliances existed: Russia and Serbia Germany and Austria-Hungary France and Russia Britain and France and Belgium Japan and Britain Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia.
The Causes of World War I World War I was the result of certain countries aggression towards others and by the rising nationalism of the European nations. Economic and imperial competition and fear of war triggered military alliances and an arms race, which further escalated the tension contributing to the outbreak of war. At the settlement of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the idea of nationalism was ignored to preserve the peace. Germany and Italy were divided into states but nationalist changes and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871. Another result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was that France was left furious over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, and revenge was a goal of the French.
When Great Britain heard of the invasion of Belgium, they decided to take action against Germany. (The Twentieth Century, p. 102) Germany’s actions to this point pulled in countries that were more, or less uninvolved. Thus the alliance system started to play its role. Germany’s continual encouragement of hostility fueled the war. In addition, I believe that the fragile economic state of the world after the war can be directly blamed on Germany and its allies.
It was thought that a war would be decided in the opening phases and therefore who ever got into the field first and assembled the largest army in the sh... ... middle of paper ... ...;By 1914 the system of diplomacy in Europe had broken down. Statesmen were thinking of war as a preventative measure rather than a last resort. Lloyd George remarked that Europe “stumbled and staggered into war” (Reasons for War 3). World War 1 was a result of aggression and tension in Europe; all of Europe played a part in the outbreak of war not just Germany. World War 1 had many complex causes rather than one main one.
Another belief was that the German government precipitated a growth of the Austrian and Serbia crisis in order to launch what they believed to be a defensive strike against Russia and France. One of his other main accusations was that German aims for expansion existed over a long period of time, leading right up to the Second World War. He believed Germany longed for an eastern empire and predominance over Belgium and France. Fritz Fisher had substantial evidence to back up his beliefs. His main evidence was the 'blank cheque' - when Germany supported Austria after they sent an ultimatum to Serbia which drew Germany into the First World War.
With the introduction of weltpolitik, Germany ruined its relationships with other countries, such as Britain, France and Russia. With increased nationalism, Germany started to feel more powerful therefore they began to conquer more land in continents such as Africa. Consequently, this created conflict between powers that already had land in the colonies. This is why German imperialism, nationalism, progress in the Arms Race and increasing naval strength greatly led to the outbreak of World War I. During the years between 1900 and 1914, many European powers were in the process of strengthening their military.
WWI. also known as the Great War, was a war of conflicts centered in Europe between 1914 and 1918. The Great War ended with not only massive death and casualties, financial losses and collapsing of different powers, but also a question worth discussing about – Which Country was most to Blame for the First World War? In 1960, the German historian Fritz Fischer blamed Germany for starting WWI. He claimed that the traditional ruling classes in Germany would like to pursue a prestige policy on the world in order to distract people’s opinion from domestic tensions due to declining economy and business.