Why There Were Tensions Between Countries in Europe in 1914
I’m going to explain why there were tensions between countries in Europe and why they led to war in 1914.
For years before 1914, tension had been building in Europe. One cause of tension was overseas colonies. For example Germany and France clashed over in Morocco, between 1905 and 1911. This started by France who wanted to have more colonies in Africa. As Germany disliked this idea and wanted to test the “alliance” between France and Britain, he decided to support Morocco’s independence. His only intention was to bother France and to test him, as he thought that the alliance France had with Britain was just a paper. France was angry with Germany’s ideas. He thought that Germany hadn’t anything to do in their affairs. At an international conference in Algeciras, in 1906, Germany was humiliated by France and Britain in front of the whole world and he was treated as inferior. This made Germany bitter. This proved that this two old rivals, France and Britain were now seemed very close and that it was more than just a paper. In 1911 France tried to take over Morocco again. They said that they were ready to compensate Germany if trade suffered as a result but in response, Germany send a gunboat to Agadir. Britain disliked this action taken by Germany because he feared that he could take control over the Mediterranean. So another conference was called where Germany, for the second time, was humiliated. As a consequence, France finally could take over Morocco while they tried, with Britain, to defend the Mediterranean in case Germany did something. As finally we can see that Germany’s ideas of the alliance between France and Britain were wrong and that the one that left hurt was Germany.
Another cause of tension was the arms race on land. While Britain and Germany built up their navies, the rest of the European powers in were also building their armies. This meant that war was bound to come and that countries felt in economic and financial problems in order to build
For years before 1914, tension had been building in Europe. One cause of tension was overseas colonies. For example Germany and France clashed over in Morocco, between 1905 and 1911. This started by France who wanted to have more colonies in Africa. As Germany disliked this idea and wanted to test the “alliance” between France and Britain, he decided to support Morocco’s independence. His only intention was to bother France and to test him, as he thought that the alliance France had with Britain was just a paper. France was angry with Germany’s ideas. He thought that Germany hadn’t anything to do in their affairs. At an international conference in Algeciras, in 1906, Germany was humiliated by France and Britain in front of the whole world and he was treated as inferior. This made Germany bitter. This proved that this two old rivals, France and Britain were now seemed very close and that it was more than just a paper. In 1911 France tried to take over Morocco again. They said that they were ready to compensate Germany if trade suffered as a result but in response, Germany send a gunboat to Agadir. Britain disliked this action taken by Germany because he feared that he could take control over the Mediterranean. So another conference was called where Germany, for the second time, was humiliated. As a consequence, France finally could take over Morocco while they tried, with Britain, to defend the Mediterranean in case Germany did something. As finally we can see that Germany’s ideas of the alliance between France and Britain were wrong and that the one that left hurt was Germany.
Another cause of tension was the arms race on land. While Britain and Germany built up their navies, the rest of the European powers in were also building their armies. This meant that war was bound to come and that countries felt in economic and financial problems in order to build