To what extent was the alliance system the main cause of the First World War?
The First World War, often referred to as the ‘Great War’, started in July 1914 and ended in November 1918. There are a number of complex interlinked causes for this devastating international conflict, and this essay will compare five of them to determine whether the widely believed notion that the alliance system, a series of agreements between the major powers at the time, was the main cause. Other suggested causes of the war that will be analysed in this essay are German foreign policy, nationalism and the existence of old rivalries, Serbia and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and finally the reaction of Russia on the last few days before Britain …show more content…
In 1895 the British government tried to overthrow the Boer president in South Africa. The British were defeated after an embarrassingly long war and Kaiser WIlhem II congratulated Kruger, the Boer president, on successfully maintaining Boer independence. The British were angry- the Kaiser was purposefully provoking them, and this created hatred among the British people for Germans that would lead into a war without opposition. The second event that caused the formation of an alliance between Britain and Russia starts off less friendly- in 1905 Russia wanted to control trade in China- this was problematic as Britain was especially invested in trade in this part of Asia. Japan intervened, as Russia had also been threatening its own interest Korea, and the Anglo-Russian Entente was formed under the terms that Russia would no longer be ‘interested’ in Asia. With conflicting interests no more, the Anglo-Russian Entente evolved into the Triple Entente with France also. To conclude, these events were important in the creation of background to the events that caused the First World War- had these events not happened then the War may not have been between so many countries as the alliances and rivalries would not have been formed. Nevertheless they were not the main cause of the war, other events did happen that created unsettlement and alliances between
The First World War, often referred to as the ‘Great War’, started in July 1914 and ended in November 1918. There are a number of complex interlinked causes for this devastating international conflict, and this essay will compare five of them to determine whether the widely believed notion that the alliance system, a series of agreements between the major powers at the time, was the main cause. Other suggested causes of the war that will be analysed in this essay are German foreign policy, nationalism and the existence of old rivalries, Serbia and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and finally the reaction of Russia on the last few days before Britain …show more content…
In 1895 the British government tried to overthrow the Boer president in South Africa. The British were defeated after an embarrassingly long war and Kaiser WIlhem II congratulated Kruger, the Boer president, on successfully maintaining Boer independence. The British were angry- the Kaiser was purposefully provoking them, and this created hatred among the British people for Germans that would lead into a war without opposition. The second event that caused the formation of an alliance between Britain and Russia starts off less friendly- in 1905 Russia wanted to control trade in China- this was problematic as Britain was especially invested in trade in this part of Asia. Japan intervened, as Russia had also been threatening its own interest Korea, and the Anglo-Russian Entente was formed under the terms that Russia would no longer be ‘interested’ in Asia. With conflicting interests no more, the Anglo-Russian Entente evolved into the Triple Entente with France also. To conclude, these events were important in the creation of background to the events that caused the First World War- had these events not happened then the War may not have been between so many countries as the alliances and rivalries would not have been formed. Nevertheless they were not the main cause of the war, other events did happen that created unsettlement and alliances between