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Was World War 1 Inevitable

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In terms of sheer numbers of lives lost or disrupted, World War I was one of the most destructive and devastating wars in history: an estimated 10 million military deaths and 20 million more crippled or severely wounded. Yet, what were all these deaths really worth? Was the Great War necessary or could it have been avoided? It is commonly, but not universally, accepted that World War I was inevitable. The underlying causes that led up to it made war seem imminent, but it certainly did not guarantee when it would happen. Thus, the question remains, what triggered it? Although no one person or nation deserves to be blamed for the entirety of the war, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was undoubtedly responsible for its outbreak. …show more content…

His death at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist with ties to the secretive military group known as the Black Hand, led to Austria’s declaration of war on Serbia. Austria blamed the Serbian government for the attack and wanted to punish them for encouraging terrorism.
If two countries went to war, most of Europe went to war. This was due to the military alliances that had been formed during that time period, particularly the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. Everyone in these alliances promised to defend each other if either were attacked. This resulted in countries with little involvement being dragged into war.
Formed in 1822, the Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. The Triple Entente formed in 1907 consisted of Britain, France, and Russia. After Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28th, Serbia called on her old friend Russia, with whom they had diplomatic relations with, for help. Austria had a military alliance with Germany and the German government agreed to join the fight against Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war. The chain continued until the major countries were all involved and the tenuous peace

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