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What Caused the First World War to break out
As soon as war broke out in 1914, historians began to ask why and how it could possibly have happened. What had gone wrong? As the fighting spread and casualties mounted, the question became more urgent. To this day no one has come up with a definitive explanation. In the following text I will attempt to highlight the principle factors which contributed to the outbreak of the First World War. After studying these causes I shall then decide in my opinion which is the most significant factor.
The First World War broke out against a background of rivalry between the world’s greatest powers. These powers were, Britain, Germany, France, Russia and the USA and to a lesser degree, Austria-Hungry, Italy, the Ottoman Empire and Japan. No single power was dominant. The US, for example, had the strongest economy. Britain the most powerful navy, and Germany the most effective army. From 1870 onwards, the powers formed alliances for greater security. The Triple Entente consisted of France, Britain and Russia. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. By 1914 the US was the only power not connected to the international web of military agreements. While Germany itself was strong, its allies were not. Austria-Hungary was made up of 11 quarrelling nations including some, such as the Czechs, who wanted independence, while others, the Serbs for instance wanted union with neighbouring states. Germany’s other ally, Italy, was extremely unreliable and was desperate not to go to war. Germany was concerned by this fact and so the tension between the empires grew.
Linking with this cause was the long-standing hostility between France and Germany. Germany had become a united country in 1871, when it defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War and took the territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Germany also felt threatened and surrounded by the members of the Triple Entente, with Britain and France to the west, and Russia to the east.
The period from about 1850 to 1914 is often called the ‘Age of Imperialism’, when the great powers used their military and commercial might to seize less developed parts of the world and bring them into their empires. The larger the empire the more prosperity and prestige it brought to the country. It was extremely important, therefore, for an imperialist nation to protect and, if possible, expand its overseas possessions. This invariably led to conflict between rival powers. The British were obviously the superior imperialists. Their empire occupied one quarter of the world’s land surface. Many other countries in Europe held colonies all over the world. Before the entente with France (1904) and Russia (1907), these powers had posed the greatest threat to the British Empire. By 1900, however, things were changing. A major reason why Britain settled her differences with France and Russia was that there was a new and aggressive player on the imperial board – Germany. During the Boer War in South Africa (1899-1902) the Germans supported the Boers against the British. The British regarded German imperialism as a direct threat to [next page]