Central Powers (Triple Alliance) vs. Allies (Triple Entente): Who belonged to each? -Central Powers: Germany and Austria-Hungary. They were known as central powers because their location was in the heart (center of Europe). Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire joined later -Allies: Great Britain, France and Russia. Japan and Italy joined later, although Italy was part of the Central Powers first. -Reason for rivalries:
What were the main rivalries between them?
-Otto von Bismark (Prussia) wanted to maintain peace by isolating France by making sure it did not have allies because he thought they were still bitter about the Franco-Prussian war. No allies, no war.
In 1879, Bismark created an alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungry, which Italy joined later. Bismark took another possible ally away from France when he made a treaty with Russia
-In 1890 when Germany’s foreign policy changed Willhem II (Ger. Ruler) forced Bismark to resign because he did not want to share power with anyone and wanted to glorify the german army
-this caused germany’s treaty with russia to lapse which caused russia to form an alliance with France
-in order to glorify his army to its maximum potential, he began a program to make the german navy equal to the British fleet which alarmed Great Britian to make an alliance with france and russia (tripple entente)
The technology of WWI-how was the war different from previous wars?
-in this war poison gas, machine guns, tanks, and submarines were 4 new weapons of war.
-these new and improved weapons helped the soldiers and the military kill more people at a faster rate
What were the basic causes of WWI? -Nationalism; The devotion to ones country. -Nationalism can serve as a unifying force with in a country, however, it can also cause intense competition among nations each seeking to overpower the other -Competition for materials and markets -Territorial disputes