Another name that historians tend to call it is the total war. It is called total war because it caused the full mobilization of entire societies, including the industrial capacities of the nations involved. German general staff mobilized on August 1st, then Nicholas II ordered mobilization in defense of the Serbs, which was Russia’s Slavic allies. Then because Russia had declared war France had too also to aid its ally Russia. Britain entered the war when Germany violated Belgians neutrality on its way to invade France. This is how the pre-war alliances played a role in the start of the war, it was a domino effect because of the alliances one country declared war and the rest had to …show more content…
There were many causes to it, but the three most important causes of the war were the rising tensions, assassination of Ferdinand, and the pre-war alliances. The rising tensions were happening for many reasons and only got worse as people fought to compete. One of the causes of rising tensions came from the advances and building up of the military and weapons. By 1914 there was long-range artillery that could hit targets as far as six miles away. Long-range weaponry was a threat and so others responded by building up their available weaponry or the navy that they had to make them seem bigger and stronger than they were. Another cause of the rising tensions came from leaders wanting more territory and some even trying to find a way to get it. Expanding territory and the country’s power are known as imperialism, which is the reason Germany backed Austria. The pre-war alliances were another major cause of the war, countries that might not have joined the war otherwise felt the need to because of their