WWI began in Europe on the 28th of July 1914 and lasted until the 11th of November 1918. This war was a significant and dramatic event that was sparked by a number of long term and short term causes. Each of these causes had its own impact, some more important than others.
Militarism is the belief of a government or people that a country should keep and maintain a strong military that is capable and prepared to defend their nations or attack their enemies. “Militarism was one of the main causes of WWI. From 1891 to 1919 there was a number of arms races including when Germany decided to expand their naval forces which alarmed Britain. This then started an arms race between Germany and Britain trying to have the largest navy possible which was a very costly competition building so many dreadnought class ships. And because of the rivalry between the two countries, war broke out. …show more content…
Many alliances were formed during the time leading up to WWI such as the triple entente and the triple alliance. These were the two major alliances prior to WWI. The triple entente consisted of Great Britain, France and Russia. This alliance was formed to counteract the triple alliance which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. However at the beginning of the war Italy is not part of the triple alliance because Italy decides it will be best to wait and see what unfolds during the war. These alliances made it quite easy for war to spark as someone might declare war on another country which then ends in other countries coming to help their allies in combat. This is exactly what happened when the war started. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated which then leads to Austria invading Serbia and Russia coming to help Serbia. Germany then helps Austria and attacks Russia as well as France which leaves Belgium threatened and Britain is allied with Belgium so Britain ends up stepping in as