Three Primary Causes Of Ww1 Essay

The three primary causes for the outbreak of WWI were imperialism, the money used for weaponry, and most importantly the formation of alliances. During this time, the European leaders believed that in order to keep the peace, there needed to be a balance of power. They thought this system would ensure that no single country, or group of countries could dominate the rest. However, conflict between the countries and within the countries began to rise due to ethnic issues. After a Slavic terrorist group, known as the Black Hand, assassinated the Archduke of Austria, a spark was lit, and WWI became inevitable. Imperialism was one of the causes of WWI. The bigger the population of a country, or band of countries is, the more powerful it can become. Since Great Britain’s population of colonies was 400,000,000, it was the dominant imperial power. Also, France, who was its ally, was the second dominant imperial power. The partnership between Great Britain, France, and Russia intimidated the opposing countries. The goals of both the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente was to

With the increase of armaments comes a stronger military force. Germany alone spent around 110,000,000 pounds for weapons in 1914. In 1899, Bernhard von Bülow stated, “In the coming century the German people will be a hammer or an anvil (Doc D).” However, by 1914 the Triple Entente could deploy 2.23 million men, while Germany and Austria-Hungary could only deploy 1.2 million men. Since the countries could mass produce weapons and were more technologically advanced, they looked to force and violence to solve their problems. The countries were also in a race with each other to see who could supply their armies with the best and most weapons. The amount of money spent on weaponry, which could have been used elsewhere, is what created economic struggle for the countries, therefore contributing to the causes of