Causes of World War I: Germany Essay

As the 20th century began, all the countries were looking to upgrade their arms. The more the countries divided the more the need to increase armed forces became important. Between 1870 and 1914, the armies for France and Germany doubled, and sea master was constantly changing between Britain and Germany. It seemed that each country was coming up with different plans to attack their enemies. (World War One- Causes, 2014)

The nations had spent millions of dollars on building their army and navy. Germany in 1890 had spent around 30 million in British pounds, then by 1910 they had spent around 60 million in British pounds. (Document C) All of these countries had spent so much money into their armaments, there was a lot of tension building up between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente that either one was ready. The countries also had lots of colonies with territory by the other nations. No one wanted to get in each other’s way, but it became too close for comfort. (Document D) This proves how Militarism was a cause of

World War I, also known as the first World War, or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe the began on the 28th of July 1914 and lasted until the 11th of November 1918. World War I was a war that was fought between two sides with a few of the World’s greatest Nations of that time. The two sides were Triple Entente which included Britain, France, and Russia, and the Triple Alliance which was consisted of the countries Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. World War I left a mark on history as we know it, what could have possibly led to that war?, What were the underlying causes of World War I?. The major causes of “The Great War” or WWI consist of four long-term causes and one short-term cause. The common acronym that’s used for the four long-term causes to help students remember the causes of WWI is M.A.I.N; the acronym stands for Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism,and the short-term cause The Assassination of the ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914. To put all of this in a simpler way the five major causes of WWI was Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism, and the assassination of the ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand. Each of topics played a significant role in the reasons why WWI would begin.

World War I, a war that started out locally in Europe between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that later ended up including thirty two different nations. This war has been around for almost a century and yet the causes of it are still being debated. There are many different scenarios that have been considered. Some of the key reasons that were believed to have instigated WWI were nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and an arrangement of treaties. Also the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was believed to be one of the immediate causes.

A major build up of armies in main countries resulted in the Naval Arms Race which was another main contribution to the war as it increased tension and more rivalry. The armies of Germany and France had more than doubled but it was Germany and England who were about to compete for the most powerful navy in the world the tension between the two nations had risen. Wilhelm’s dream of being an imperial ruler was about to come true, he had put his plans into practice and had built several powerful ships. The British saw this as a threat. In

to be more like them so that's the more the reason why they would want

Great War, also known as The First World War, lasted for four year (1914 to 1918). It brought a huge development of war technics and weapons. More number of countries had been involved in the Great War than any previous war. It involved the mobilization of the whole nations, not just an enormous army that turned the war into a “total war”. (Clare 6) However, historians are still arguing about the major cause of the World War I. The major cause will be one of the four long-term causes of WWI, which are Militarism, Alliance, Imperialism, and Nationalism. In my opinion, the two major causes would be Alliance and Nationalism. Alliance is an association between two or more countries for mutual benefits that formed with different treaties, while

Militarism was felt very strongly in 20th century Europe. Between 1890 and 1914, the countries involved in WW1’s armament growth was tremendous. Germany’s army and navy rose

From 1890 to 1914, there was a drastic increase in the amount of money nations began to spend on their navy and army advancements. In fact, as the war began to approach, Germany raised the amount they spent towards armaments from 30 million to 120 million pounds and the Triple Entente raised their total money spent to 225 million pounds in 1914 (Document C). The presence of more armaments created an environment ready for war. Their existence meant that the countries are more likely to use them, which only discouraged time to cool off. Additionally, as one country built up their armies more, the others felt they had to do the same which increased tensions. Britain who increased its colonial empire to the largest in the world since the Romans’, caused an arms race where the nations were competing only to have more armaments than the others. Being an island, they began spending more money on their navy, needing to defend its waters. On the opposing side, Germany did not want to get their own feet tramped by any foreign power, fearing to become the anvil rather than the hammer. Bernhard von Bülow, the German Chancellor, said the only way to “keep ourselves at the fore if we realize that there is no welfare for us without power, without a strong army and a strong fleet” (Document D). Using the idea of survival of the fittest, individual countries became stronger in the fear of being destroyed by the aggressors. Clearly, having arms was a

Count Brockdorff-Rantzau, leader of the German delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference, describes it as this: “In the last fifty years, the imperialism of all European states has chronically poisoned international relations. Policies of retaliation, policies of expansion, and disregard for the right of people's to determine their own destiny, have contributed to the European malady which came to a crisis in the World War” (Document 5). This means that all of the countries of mainly Europe, more specifically ones that were not in alliance with one another, only grew pressure in between. This grew a ‘poisoned’ sense of nationalism for these countries, resulting in an eventual declaration of war. In the book, Origins of the World War, Sidney Bradshaw Fay states that the European war broke out as “in each country [of Europe] political and military leaders did certain things which lead to the mobilization [of their armies for war] and [finally] to the declarations of war, or [these leaders] failed to do certain things which might have prevented [the war]” (Document 6). This defines the fault in the growing sense of nationalism, as political and military leaders then only grew this stress. An example of this is the German propaganda which brought the idea to German people that Germany was idealistic, and that they should answer the call to war. However, this led to Germany

One underlying cause of World War I was Militarism. In 1890 Germany and Austria- Hungary spent together about 40 million pounds, and in 1914 increased their spending to 150 million pounds (Doc C). As well as that Great Britain, Russia and France spent 100 million pounds and increased spending to 225 million pounds (Doc C). This shows that a buildup of arms was an important underlying reason for the war. In a speech before the German Congress Bernhard von Bulow spoke about how worried he is about England, France and Russia based on their acquiring of colonies around the world and how he does not want to “Step on the toes of any foreign power” (Doc

The decisions of Bismarck and Wilhelm were significant to World War I because each of their methods were so different. While maintaining most of the same goals, their approach to solving these methods caused World War I. For example, Wilhelm’s attempt to isolate France did not go as well as he had hoped and gave a completely opposite effect than what he was aiming for, as well as angering the other countries. His fumble in Morocco caused him to gain more foes and give France more allies, as well as give him a bad reputation. Additionally, by adding a naval force, he came off as a threat to the other countries. Bismarck did not want to establish a naval force, but Wilhelm’s thirst for power blinded him to make inadequate decisions. People began to develop a distrust and fear of Germany, which was what Bismarck worked to prevent (“German”). Bismarck’s and Wilhelm’s decisions on foreign policy and its execution were some of the key factors that lead to this war. Who they chose to become allies with, and who they caused others to become allies with was one of the major causes of World War I (Dobbs).

As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period. Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved to war.

     Although in the Treaty of Versailles Germany was to accept full responsibility for World War 1 this in not necessarily the case. Many factors have to be taken into account when considering the cause of World War 1. Germany may have been primarily responsible for the war but the other major powers must accept some of the blame for failing to prevent it. The conflict resulting from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinard should have been local and confined but due to a series of factors, militarism, the alliance system, nationalism, this one incident led to the greatest war Europe had ever seen. As a result of underlying hostilities the assassination led to a chain of

World War 1 (better known as The Great War), was caused by a great many elements, some long-term, some short-term and the spark. Together these reasons created a brutal war involving many countries across the globe and also killing a vast number of the world’s population. In this essay, I will thoroughly explain what started this war and which reasons made it start sooner.