World War 1 Causes

The Cause of World War I

There were many factors that contributed to the cause of World War I. However, the three underlying causes include imperialism, alliances, and militarism. Imperialism refers to a nation wanting to expand its power. In contrast, alliances refer to two or more nations combining their forces or having a mutual agreement. Militarism is the prioritization of military power in a country (such as a country’s Navy or Army). These core causes not only created tension between the nations but small conflicts that escalated ultimately resulting in the first World War.

In the time leading up to World War I, there were two main alliances which included the Triple alliance and the Triple Entente. The Triple Alliance included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. It’s opposition the triple Entente, includes France, United Kingdom, and Russia. Germany was worried, if they did go to war, they would have to fight two fronts. In addition to this, in 1915, Italy left the Triple Alliance scarring Germany, and Austria-Hungary. This left the two countries vulnerable, in that it meant they were out-numbered three to two.

In the 1900’s, Great Britain was a large empire and was surrounded by water.

This water surrounding Great Britain restricted its expansion which caused Great Britain to build additional colonies and spread out throughout the world. This is reflected by Great Britain’s Navy, which was one of the largest at the time. Germany thought of itself to be just as strong as Great Britain. However, Germany only had a fraction of the land in comparison to Great Britain’s when it came to colonies. This resulted in Germany wanting to colonize and expand. These imperialistic desires are what fueled Germany’s tension with Great

Britain.
Leading up to the first World War, the military power of the nations in both alliances grew exponentially. Germany was worried that if it went to war, with the triple entity, it would be attacked from two fronts. It was evident that they would have to increase their military power to be effective. This is reflected by Germany’s armament growth from 1890 to 1914. Out of all six nations, Germany had the largest military armament by 1914. Germany’s fruition manifested itself at the beginning of World War I, resulting in Germany getting attacked from two fronts.
Alliances, imperialism, and militarism all came together to create a chain reaction which led to the first World War. The recent surge in military and armament created tension between the nations for war. Austria’s conflict with Serbia and Russia’s recent promise to assist Serbia created conflict between the nations. Once Austria declared war on Serbia, the chain reaction began. War with Serbia resulted in Russia going to war with Austria. Austria’s alliance with Germany resulted in Germany going to war with Russia. Russia’s alliance with France and Great Britain resulted in war with Germany. The alliance between Germany and Italy resulted in Italy going to war with Great Britain and France. Now, the European super-powers conflict resulted in the first World War.
Although the Austria-Hungary alliance lit the fuse that would essentially lead to World War I. The tension between the nations was strong and if it was not Austria-Hungary’s conflict with Syria, it would be another factor that would have brought about this historical war. Such as Great Britain’s imperialistic drive to grow and expand or Germany’s militaristic motivator.