Introduction
The Great War is actually another name for world war one. World war one happened between 1914 and 1918. The most cause agent that led to the begging of the Great War was due to the assassination of Ferdinand Franz who was an Archduke, though it is believed by historians that Germany and Austria were the main perpetuators. This war led to the death of many civilians and soldiers and also there was so much loss in terms of property destructions. There are a number of background reasons that led to the Great War, such reasons include the alliance systems, militarism and Balkan trouble among others.
Background causes of the Great War
The Alliance Systems
Before the beginning of the Great War, Europe power was divided into two armed alliances. These alliances were the triple alliance which included Germany, Austria, and Italy and the duo alliance which included Russia and France. The triple alliance had formed a secret agreement among the allies involved. Reason for Italy joining the triple alliance was because it had lost North Africa to the French hence wanted support from the allies. The allies agreed to give each support in case of an attack by any other great power. Therefore, Germany and Austria were ready to give support to Italy in case of an attack by France. Therefore the main reasons why there was need to form the alliances was for defensive issues. The reasons behind the rivalry among nations that led to formation of the two alliances is that there was a disagreement between Germany and France over Alsace found on the northern part of France. Russia had disagreed with Austria over the Balkans therefore each of the nation had to seek an alliance with the nations with same interest and same threat. Therefore, both alliance lived in the tension with the fear of one the nation will be attacked by its enemy or attacked by alliance.
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Militarism
Militarism is where military men dominate over civilians and subdue them to accepting military demands and emphasis on military considerations. Towards the great war most of the European countries were under militarism. For instance, in Germany the politician and the parliament were controlled by the military; it reached point where the military was called a state within a state. No one could go against the military policies and actions. This led to rise in military expenditure due to more people getting into military. Therefore, reason for increased in militarism in European nations was due to rivalry between different countries. For instance, there was a naval rivalry between Britain and Germany to who controlled them in terms of military gears. Germans increased battleships from nine battleships to twelve battleships. Whereas Britain built a first armed ship which was armed and was known as Dreadnought which literally meant fear nothing. Therefore, due to increase in naval rivalry and increase in militarism in these nations the war was being brewed. Hence, due to armaments race all the involved nations were ready for war by 1914.
Conclusion
These activities were sure sign of an upcoming war; the problem was time. Each nation had a reason why they wanted to get into the war. Germany wanted to show its dominance in the sea while Italy wanted to reclaim its colonies. France wanted to maintain their part of the territory which Germans were interested in. Therefore, the outbreak of the Great War was driven by a brewing rivalry between different countries. Also, stress and tension caused these nation get into war because they were not sure when will their enemies attack.
Works Cited
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization: A Brief History; Since 1500 . Volume II; Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning, 2017.
