World War One was a period of struggle for Europe. There were several factors that lead to tensions in Europe which ultimately caused World War 1. The war occurred in 1914 until 1918 and it had many famous and bloody battles, such as The Battle of the Somme. The war killed up to 17 million people and caused 49 million casualties of not just soldiers, but civilians as well. The war was fought between members of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and members of The Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, and Russia). Eventually, countries such as the USA joined in. Rivalries between countries, arguments over empires and an arms race were among the causes of European tensions that lead to war. Although …show more content…
These alliances were formal political, military or economic agreements between two or more nations which also “contained promises that in the event of war or aggression, one signatory nation will support the others.” There were two major alliances of countries throughout WW1: The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and The Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, and Russia). After the assassination, Austria-Hungary threatened war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary gave Serbia some very harsh demands that they had to meet. Serbia did not meet these demands so Europe was at the brink of war. Germany sided with Austria-Hungary, while Russia sided with the Serbians. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia with the back-up of Germany on July 28 1914. As Russia was partnered with the Serbians, Germany took that as an excuse to declare war on Russia. Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, and then France on August 3, as France was allied with Russia. Germany was the main aggressor in the lead up and throughout WW1. On August 4 1914, the German troops marched on France via Belgium. Since Britain had agreed to maintain the neutrality of Belgium, they immediately declared war on Germany. British and German forces first fought at the Battle of Mons in Belgium. This was the first of many battles between Britain and Germany on the Western