Why did world war 1 break out in 1914

Why Did The First World War Break Out in 1914?

Well there are many reasons why the First World War broke out in 1914. Firstly the war began when someone shot 1 bullet and then the whole war started. In this essay I will be talking about why the world war broke in 1914 and what are the causes of this war. The answer to this question is that the war began because of Militarism, Imperialism, Nationalism, Alliances and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. It was like a domino effect. (Source 5)

In that time Europe’s Alliances broke Europe into two armed camps. The Triple Entente (1907) and the Central Powers (1882). The Triple Entente contained the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria and on some occasions Italy. This was because Italy was always switching sides. The Central Powers contained the United Kingdom, France and Russia. The UK had the largest Navy in the world and had the most land; approximately ¼ of the world was owned or ruled by the UK. These armed camps were formed secretly to ensure that the other camp does not know. The European Nations thought that by making these camps would reduce the result of war, but in fact this led to an increase of the chances of war. Both of the Alliances had a large number of securities to in a way ‘Spy’ on the other alliance to see what they are up too. This created fear and distrust. If one attacked it was like everyone had attacked. There was still some time to stop the war. (source 1)

The UK and France had created a massive empire by 1914. This had Africa, Asia, Oceania, and North America. They created a massive empire because they had the benefits of wealth, Taxations, raw material, man-power, and trade markets. The Central Powers would get most of its wealth by taxes that Africa, Asia, Oceania, and North America had to pay. They would also get raw material which Europe doesn’t have, they would get man power for the war and they would also have trade routes to new countries. The military power would come from the troops and the military power of the colonies that they have. All of these things showed the Triple Entente how prestige they were, all their strength, and the greatness of their nation. They were the powerful ones. This made war more likely because Anglo-German Rivalry, Kaiser Wilhelm had spoken a speech his people in 1901. This speech was called ‘The Place in the Sun.’ (source 2) this speech mainly just said that Germany will not back down; instead they will keep their head up and fight for their country. When the UK heard about this, they were threatened. When a new country was colonised; there was a more chance of war. Two of the nations wanted to colonise the same country, which was he Moroccan crisis of 1905. Kaiser Wilhelm wants Germany to be a great nation and Imperialism makes it possible. The Moroccan crisis of 1905 was when France wanted Morocco to be their colony but then Kaiser Wilhelm said a speech against France. This aggravated the sense of war would happen. UK and Russia was supporting France and had forced Germany to stay out of this matter. When this happened, it humiliated Kaiser Wilhelm.

From the 1880’s to the 1914, the militarism spending had tripled, this was because the two armed alliances wanted lots of manpower, a really good navy and good firearms. The standing armies itself was massive. Germany had the largest with over 2.2million people ready for war. This was mainly because in Germany when you reach 18 years of age you will automatically get sent to army training and once you have finished that course you could do whatever you liked. But if there was war the people would be ready. Russia had the second largest with over 1.2 million people. Next was France with 1.125 million people, then Great Britain with over 975,000 people and lastly with the smallest standing army was the Austria-Hungarian Empire with over 810,000 people. The two alliances also had a lot of reserve troops; Germany having 8.5 million people, Russia having 4.4 million people, France having 3.5 million people and Austria-Hungary having 3 million people. The British had the largest navy in the whole of the war. They had made a battleship that would conquer the seas. This was called the HMS Dreadnought.(source 6) The Germans also had started to make this Dreadnoughts but they took so long to build that the Germans only made 18 battleships and the UK made a massive 28 HMS Dreadnoughts by the 1914’s. The result of this was that there was a lot of tension and HUGE spending’s. There was no turning back from this point. Each nation had made battle plans; Germany had made the ‘Schlieffen plan,’ France had ‘plan XVII’ Russia had ‘Plan G’ and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had plans ‘R&B’

By 1914 Europe’s two alliances had become very powerful; this UK had made a motive saying that the Britons will never become slaves. Germany also made a motive that was partly from the national anthem of Germany saying that weather we are attacking or defending, we will always keep our shape and fight together. Alsace-Lorrain was a French territory in the north east of France that was taken by the Germans. This had humiliated France and the French said that this territory is worth fighting for. Posters of France with French soldiers were made to represent that France has not backed down in other words propaganda was made by the French. (Source 3) This made all the French people want the territory back. The Balkan is when Bosnia is an independent Slavic nation but Serbia wants a part of Bosnia. The Russians are supporting this act. This was mainly because they wanted slaves. This then was the Bosnian Crisis of 1908. Germany and Austria was threatened for war. This then turned to be that Serbia and Russia backed down which meant that they were defeated and they were humiliated. In the end Austria gets the nation. Tsar Nicholas II was furious and quoted ‘We will never back down again!’ and Kaiser Wilhelm was proud of standing by Austria. A blank cheque was given. Austria was assured that Germany was standing by them; this led to more confidence in the Balkans.

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand had started the whole war with one gun shot. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the successor to the Austro-Hungarian Kingship. He is heir to the throne. On the 28 of June 1914 Franz Ferdinand and his wife were visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia. Franz Ferdinand was wearing 7 lucky charms each preventing different types of evil. On top of that he wore a ‘bulletproof’ jacket. The main assassin was Gavrilo Princep. In total there were 7 members of the gang, the gang was called ‘The Black Hand.’ Franz Ferdinand and his wife were celebrating their anniversary and they were travelling in a convertible car. The terrorist were equipped with guns, grenade and a poison to kill themselves after their attempt. The car was travelling along a main road where the terrorists were located. The first terrorist attempted by throwing a grenade at the car but the driver quickly stepped on the gas and went faster. The grenade bounced off the back of the car, and landed on the road where it exploded about 10 seconds later. The terrorist had forgotten that the grenade had a 10 second delay. He quickly drank the poison and jumped into a river to ensure that he died. The police got him and he was still alive; the poison was expired and only made him puke, and the river was about 4 feet deep, but he did not say that if anyone else was with him. Franz Ferdinand and is wife were safe. Gavrilo Princep was eating a sandwich when suddenly the car was going to pass him, he quickly took his gun out and 2 shots were taken, he then drank the poison. One of the shots had hit his wife and the other had hit Franz Ferdinand in the neck (source 4). They both died, and this was how the war began.

World war one broke out in 1914 mainly because of the alliances. This could be the root to why the war broke out. If the countries of Europe had not divided itself into two armed armies this war would not have started. It could be also because of imperialism, because of the alliances wanted more countries to colonise. But it actually started if one single gunshot. And this is why the war broke out in 1914