Alliances and Ententes Were to Blame for the Outbreak of World War One (WWI)

Alliances and Ententes Were to Blame for the Outbreak of World War One (WWI)

In August 1914, World War One broke out. The main cause of the war has

never been established and has been among the many debates among

historians studying this period. Many historians have conflicting

views about what caused war to break out in 1914, and many believe

there is not one cause to blame but was the result of many conflicts

and disputes between different countries over a long period.

There are also other causes for the outbreak of World War One

including Political systems and developments, Colonial Conflicts and

rivalries, The Moroccan Crises, The Balkan Wars and the July Crisis.

In my opinion, Alliances and Ententes was to blame for war to break

out in 1914. The main reason for this is that after Archduke Franz

Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire was shot by a

Bosnian Serb nationalist. Therefore, Austria-Hungary issued Serbia an

ultimatum, which they had chose to ignore, and as a result Germany,

who was their ally persuaded Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia.

Russia, who supported Serbia, began to mobilise. This began to

escalate and France, Germany and Britain consequently got involved

because of their alliances or ententes. The question is without these

alliances and ententes, would war have broken out in 1914?

Due to the built up tension of Militarism, Nationalism and Imperialism

the Great powers were worried of being attacked from rival countries.

As a result, alliances and ententes were beginning to form. In 1879

Germany had made a secret alliance with Austria-Hungary, and Italy

joined three years later to create...

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... 1914. The motive for the assassination was that they feared that once

the Archduke came to the throne he would continue to persecute the

Serbs within the Austrian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian government

blamed Serbia, and issued the Austro-Hungarian government a list of

demands to the Serbian government, who inevitably refused these

demands and denied having any part in the assassination.

Therefore, World War One broke out.

It is therefore reasonable to suggest that Alliances and Ententes were

to blame for the outbreak of WWI because if countries such as Austria

and Serbia did not have any allies there would not have been a World

War, just a European War. Also, the countries colonies became

involved. However, it must be stressed that there were other causes

that eventually resulted in the outbreak of war in 1914.