The Causes of World War One
World War One or ‘The Great War’ and its causes are still a hotly debated subject till today. There are many important causes and reasons for the war, some more important than others. Not only did the war cause a lot of disruption, chaos and death, it also set the scene for other wars to take place, which is one main reason why it was so significant in History. Many of the causes link and relate to each other and have different relative importance, when compared, to contributing to the outbreak of a war.
One of the first and long-term and extremely important cause to the outbreak of World War One starts back in 1870 with the Franco-Prussian War. During the long and pressuring Franco-Prussian war, France lost to Germany which led to France gaining a mutual hate and lust for revenge against Germany, for grabbing a great stretch of French land ‘Alsace-Lorrain’. Once the war was over it lead to the forming of the triple Alliance which was one of the main alliances during the First World War. The Triple alliance was made up of the countries - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and it was first formed because Germany needed help to guard Alsace-Lorrain from France as France wanted to get it back. This alliance caused and led to a lot of tension and pressure between neighbouring countries, splitting Europe apart and resulting in the eventual formation of the Triple Entente, the joining of Britain, France and Russia as major allies.
The second long-term origin of World War One was Weltpolitik. Weltpolitik was a policy invented by Kaiser Wilhelm the second, who believed that Germany had a right to become a global imperial power and should develop an army and navy to support its colonial objectives. Kaiser Wilhelm's personality and his policy of Weltpolitik were seen as greatly contributing to international tensions. This policy led Germany to construct a huge navy which in turn caused domestic problems as the navy cost substantial amounts of public spending. It
One of the first and long-term and extremely important cause to the outbreak of World War One starts back in 1870 with the Franco-Prussian War. During the long and pressuring Franco-Prussian war, France lost to Germany which led to France gaining a mutual hate and lust for revenge against Germany, for grabbing a great stretch of French land ‘Alsace-Lorrain’. Once the war was over it lead to the forming of the triple Alliance which was one of the main alliances during the First World War. The Triple alliance was made up of the countries - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and it was first formed because Germany needed help to guard Alsace-Lorrain from France as France wanted to get it back. This alliance caused and led to a lot of tension and pressure between neighbouring countries, splitting Europe apart and resulting in the eventual formation of the Triple Entente, the joining of Britain, France and Russia as major allies.
The second long-term origin of World War One was Weltpolitik. Weltpolitik was a policy invented by Kaiser Wilhelm the second, who believed that Germany had a right to become a global imperial power and should develop an army and navy to support its colonial objectives. Kaiser Wilhelm's personality and his policy of Weltpolitik were seen as greatly contributing to international tensions. This policy led Germany to construct a huge navy which in turn caused domestic problems as the navy cost substantial amounts of public spending. It