preview

 to What Extent Was Naval Rivalry the Main Cause of the First World War?

Decent Essays

❖ To what extent was naval rivalry the main cause of the first World War? One of the main causes of World War I was the Anglo-German naval race. Britain, as an island empire, always had the navy as one of her top priorities. A key event in Britain’s naval expansion was the 1889 “Naval Defense Act” that established the "two power standard": Britain considered necessary to have a navy that was not only the largest in the world, but also equal to or greater than the sum of the world's second and third largest navies. On the other side of the channel, also Germany saw naval expansion vital and as the only way to succeed in the acquisition of overseas colony; therefore, the “official” aim of Germany’s naval expansion was to reinforce their …show more content…

The attack was planned from a group of six young Bosnians, even if their first plan to kill Franz Ferdinand failed, Gavrilo Princip, one of them, was able to approach the car and shot the Archduke and his wife. The assassination was the perfect pretext for Austria to start military actions against Serbia, and after gaining Germany’s support Austria-Hungary finally mobilized her troops against Serbia on 25 July. As a reaction Russia mobilized against both Germany and Austria, Germany declared war on France and Britain declared war on Germany for violating Belgium neutrality. In conclusion none of these causes can be defined as the only cause of war. All of them contributed to create hostility between European powers and to create the basis for a World War. The Naval Rivalry was probably a result of the pre existing tensions but certainly increased the hostility between Britain and Germany. Anyway the presence of such a great navy and army do not implicate a war but should be a deterrent since large scale destructions would be inevitable. It’s also true that the possession of a great and expensive navy and army pushes to use and test them. The overwhelming impression is that the long term causes made a conflict inevitable and that the short term causes such as the Balkan and Moroccan crisis just helped to increase the tension; while the Franz Ferdinand’s assassination was just the excuse

Get Access