Major Causes of World War 1

Major Causes of World War 1

Causes of World War 1
There were a number of causes to World War 1 which occurred over a four year period starting from 1914, ending in 1918. It was a global military conflict consisting of the world’s great powers with two opposing sides; the Triple Entente & the Triple Alliance. The Triple Entente was made up by Russia, France & Great Britain while the Triple Alliance was Germany, Italy & Austria-Hungary. At war with each other, these two opposing sides created one of the deadliest conflicts in history. It was a chain of events that had started this war which consist of key features such as Alliances, Imperialism, Militarism, Nationalism & the Crises. This essay will discuss these key features and how individuals, groups, ideas & the changing patterns of life contributed to the outbreak of the war.
Before World War 1 had even begun, mutual defence agreements were already created throughout Europe. This meant that if one country was attacked or was to ever go to war, then their allied countries would have the duty of defending them or entering the war with them. The first agreement was made in 1879 called the Dual Alliance. This was between Germany & Austria as Germany wanted protection from a possible Russian attack and had agreed with Austria that each would help the other if either were attacked. Three years later, Italy joined this alliance creating the Triple Alliance to stop Italy from taking sides with Russia. This alliance had caused fear in both France & Russia as they were afraid of being beaten by three powerful countries as one force. Eventually in 1892, France & Russia agreed to help each other out when needed, creating the Franco-Russian Alliance; easing the fear out of both countries. Later on in 1904, Britain was taken out of its “splendid isolation” when a fourth agreement was made called the Entente Cordiale consisting of Britain & France. This was because Britain had concentrated on building up her...

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