Wars and conflicts among states were one of the main designers of International Relations and the international system in general. War is something that’s unavoidable and eventually happens. World War One (WWI) was a time of struggle for Europe. Many factors lead to tensions within Europe -- sparking the need for war. The war occurred between 1914 until 1918 and was mainly fought between the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary) and the Allied Powered (Great Britain, France, and Russia). Eventually, countries such as the US joined in. Before WWI, these tensions brewing in Europe were for competing for land and power; it was a matter of time before war broke out. There are perspectives that examine the origin and the explanation to …show more content…
This brings back to pre-WWI, 1914 was the expansion of European power between the “two ambitious empires -- Germany & Russia -- forging alliances with established and weakening powers creating two major alliances”: Germany and Austro-Hungary, and Russia, France, and Great Britain. Ultimately, what started the war was Germany and their concerns about Russia’s expansion. The Russian Empire was building a railroad going into Europe; the German Empire figured that the Russian will eventually “cross the outer edge of the Russian Empire and sections of Romania and Poland”. What worried the Germans was the sections will be “in striking distance of Germany”. Therefore, they decided that they needed to form an attack, but they can’t have Russia directly. Germany wanted to find a way to draw Russia out, so they decided to attack France. Since France is Russia’s allies, if the Germans invade France that means Russia will come marching over to come help France, which will give a chance to strike them. Austro-Hungary joined the war with Germany after an assassination of a next-in-line king which “allowed Germany to come to the defense of its ally, attacking France as well”. This prompt a reaction from Russia which therefore war was started. Britain joined the war as well -- allying with Russia, which Germany didn’t expect. They thought
World War I, otherwise known as the Great War, started in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and lasted until 1918, forever changing the map of Europe and ending the lives of nearly 8 million young European men. The congress of Vienna had successfully created an atmosphere of peace that lasted for 100 years, however in the years leading up to 1915, rising tensions among European powers would create a “powder keg” that required only the slightest event to set off a world war. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand provided the spark need to destabilize Europe and send the nations of Europe into the first modern war, although conflict had been stirring for the past 50 years. In the end, systems of alliances, imperialism,
“In the last fifty years, the imperialism of all European states has chronologically poisoned international relations” (Doc 5). Due to European imperialism and many countries arguing over what land they wanted tensions were formed between them. So many countries sought alliances for security. The alliances played a big role in the outbreak of war because once one country got into a fight their allies had an obligation to help. (Doc 2) shows a map of Europe and the alliances before WWI. The alliances were split up in two groups, Central Powers and Allies. Some of the countries switched sides when they thought the war was changing courses. The alliance system is important to learn because you can see the domino effect from when one country first entered a war. “The two armed camps alarmed eachother, and each grew heavy with multiplied incidents, which spread East”(Doc 7). This quote proves that the war going to happen at some point. The tensions were already high between France and Germany, so when the Archduke was killed that was just the spark that officially started war. With Britain, Germany, and France colonizing and expanding, tensions began to build between the countries over what land they wanted. All the effects of European Imperialism led to the outbreak of
The most anticipated war in history, World War One, started off with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand. As a result, Austria-Hungary gave the killer’s country, Serbia, an opportunity to take ownership and apologize to A/H’s government. Without a response from Serbia, A/H declares war, launching the July Crisis- one of many of Europe’s fighting frenzies. Countries were declaring war on each other, gathering secret alliances, and building their armies. The Crisis continuously built its longevity until declared as a Great War, a nickname for World War One. Knowing which event pushed the world to arm themselves, historians had asked what the underlying causes for the war were. Causes for the war were alliances, imperialism, nationalism, and most destructive, militarism.
After a prolonged 43 years of peace in Europe between the major powers, things went sour. Tensions between the major countries arose, and the peace was destroyed by one of the most brutal conflicts in the world’s history: “The Great War”. The main countries entered The First World War because they were motivated by four things: militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. Each of the major power countries will enter the war for one of these reasons.
First of all, nations were pulled into the war for many reasons including: competition, alliances, patriotic enthusiasm, and propaganda. Competition is illustrated as a reason for war in Map 23.1: Europe in 1914. This map shows competition between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente for controlling the Balkans, which will lead to great conflict. Also alliances
What is war? War is a state of armed conflict between different nations, states,or different groups within a nation or state(google.com).World War I, known as The Great War before WWII , was a deadly altercation that involved nations all over the world. The Great War was first sparked with the death of Austria-Hungary’s royal couple (Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife) were assassinated on Serbian land. Austria soon declared war on Serbia, causing alliances of both sides to join in on the conflict ,adding more fuel to the fire. There were many alliances formed throughout the war, but the main two groups were the Allied Powers (Great Britain, France,Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany, Ottoman-Empire, and Austria-Hungary.)
The start of the war was because a serbian assassin which no one knows who it was. After that Austria-Hungary was sure that it was the serbian government but they did not want to start a war until they knew that Germany had their back. The only problem with declaring war on serbia was that Russian supported them so the Russian allies such as Britain and France they soon would be involved in the war as well. On August 4, 1914, German troops crossed the border into Belgium. This would spark the first battle of the war, as they assaulted the city of Liege.
“The Cause of War” is a book written by Australian author Geoffrey Blainey. The book is a collection of studies from wars since 1700’s and it analysis the relation of rivaling nations. The book is divided in four parts it starts discussing the weakness behind the current theories of peace, it then moves to talk the “ingredients” which are key for a nation to determine whether they will go to war or not. Third part of the group is about some misleading theories of war, and the last part just deals with the variety of war.
The purpose of this essay is to inform on the similarities and differences between systemic and domestic causes of war. According to World Politics by Jeffry Frieden, David Lake, and Kenneth Schultz, systemic causes deal with states that are unitary actors and their interactions with one another. It can deal with a state’s position within international organizations and also their relationships with other states. In contract, domestic causes of war pertain specifically to what goes on internally and factors within a state that may lead to war. Wars that occur between two or more states due to systemic and domestic causes are referred to as interstate wars.
German historian Fritz Fischer argues that Germany 's desire for world power was the reason that for the outbreak of WWI. Germany had plans for a war before the crisis that occurred during 1914 and used the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as an excuse to put the plans into effect. Germany also encouraged Austria and its war plans to provoke a crisis in which it can solve the problem that Germany would face if they went to war. This problem is called "encirclement" and Germany would face this problem if it went to war with France and Russia. By having Austria doing so it would allow Germany to dominate and expand its territories. France and Russia signed a full military defensive alliance in 1892-1895 which allowed the possibility of a two-front war. With Germany 's geographical position being between these two great powers, it would cause Germany to lose the war at an instant. In addition to this, France felt bitterness towards the defeat of 1870-1871 and the taking
tensions and political rivalries that generated and were in turn fed by imperialist expansionism, one cannot begin to comprehend the causes and consequences of the Great War that began in 1914. That conflict determined the
In 1914, Germany thought that war with Russia was likely. If war did break out, Germany assumed that France would also attack, as they were part of the Triple Entente. This would mean that if one country was at war, the countries that are also part of the Triple Entente would have to help. Furthermore, France was keen for revenge for her defeat in the Franco-Prussian war.
On August 3rd, 1914, after Russia refused to demobilize its forces that were protecting Yugoslavia, Germany declared war on France, saying that they had infringed upon Germany’s territory. Germany proceeded West, taking over Belgium and mobilizing its forces on Frances eastern border. England entered the war because of the invasion of Belgium and eventually other nations followed as their interests were attacked. On November 11, 1918, the War was officially over with the signing of an armistice.
I agree with the quote that “Wars between states can be explained by the distribution of power and capabilities in the international system.” Power distribution among all the great powers plays an important role for the stability and economy of the state. I believe that war determines who will govern the international system, and whose interests will be primarily served by the new international order.
The causes of war have been long looked at by many historians down through the years. These studies have left people to believe that war will come in time, and those same people know and understand it will come with a great price to all. One does not look up one day and find that there is war. However, there are lingering effects of some other things not properly taken care of at the time of war or conflict. Some of the problems left from the wars in the early and late 1800’s would prove to do just that. At the end of the “Franco – Prussian” war in 1871 “Germany annexed the province of Alsace and most Lorraine from France” (Gorman). Two World Wars were fought for almost the same motives; unfinished