Was militarism the main reason for causing WW1?
Was militarism the main reason for causing WWI?
Samuel Lo 8A (16) Was militarism the only reason for causing World War 1? It is not the only reason, but militarism is probably one of the most apparent and obvious reasons World War 1 broke out. Militarism means a belief that a country should have a strong army and use it aggressively to protect themselves. Firstly, being the 3 main powers in Europe, the relationship between the leaders of Germany, Russia and England were not good. For example, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany had a huge rivalry with his cousins, the king of England and the Tsar of Russia. They virtually competed on everything—how beautiful their wives were, how large their armies were and stuff like that. This led to their armies growing bigger and bigger, all believing that the opponent was preparing for war, increasing the tension between them and other countries, especially the ones that were allied to either one. This could potentially cause the other countries to prepare and build their armies to prepare for a sided war, and who to help. Secondly, the inventions of new and better firearms also worsened and deepened the tension between all the countries. Examples include improved heavy artillery, improved machine guns, barbed wire and battleships, which greatly improved the firepower and strength in sea battles. Their navies were also one of the more important things that Kaiser Wilhelm and his cousins competed on. In order to catch up to England’s huge navy which had been existing for long, he ordered for a lot of battleships and submarines to be built. As a result of the above two points, most of the countries in Europe were ready for war when it did start, causing more deaths. But militarism was not the only reason World War 1 started. There was also imperialism and a lot of different alliances that were made a few decades before World War 1 started. For imperialism, it means increasing your country’s resources by means of conquering
Samuel Lo 8A (16) Was militarism the only reason for causing World War 1? It is not the only reason, but militarism is probably one of the most apparent and obvious reasons World War 1 broke out. Militarism means a belief that a country should have a strong army and use it aggressively to protect themselves. Firstly, being the 3 main powers in Europe, the relationship between the leaders of Germany, Russia and England were not good. For example, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany had a huge rivalry with his cousins, the king of England and the Tsar of Russia. They virtually competed on everything—how beautiful their wives were, how large their armies were and stuff like that. This led to their armies growing bigger and bigger, all believing that the opponent was preparing for war, increasing the tension between them and other countries, especially the ones that were allied to either one. This could potentially cause the other countries to prepare and build their armies to prepare for a sided war, and who to help. Secondly, the inventions of new and better firearms also worsened and deepened the tension between all the countries. Examples include improved heavy artillery, improved machine guns, barbed wire and battleships, which greatly improved the firepower and strength in sea battles. Their navies were also one of the more important things that Kaiser Wilhelm and his cousins competed on. In order to catch up to England’s huge navy which had been existing for long, he ordered for a lot of battleships and submarines to be built. As a result of the above two points, most of the countries in Europe were ready for war when it did start, causing more deaths. But militarism was not the only reason World War 1 started. There was also imperialism and a lot of different alliances that were made a few decades before World War 1 started. For imperialism, it means increasing your country’s resources by means of conquering