What Were The Underlying Causes Of World War 1

In the early 1900’s, europeans believed that their lives were grand. Even though Europe was the smallest continent in the world at that time, it controlled great empires around the world. Other countries were jealous of Europe's culture, technology, and high standard of living. Less than twenty years later, this all had changed. By the end of 1918, Europe had been in war for four years. Millions of soldiers had died or were wounded, and once mighty empires were now reduced to rubble. One underlying cause leading to World War I was that leaders in Europe believed creating power balances would prevent large wars. Leaders believed by balancing power no one country could overthrow the rest. The chancellor of Prussia, which was between France and Russia tried to create an alliance with either France or Russia. The chancellor tried this so that if war broke out, he would not have to fight both counties. Prussia could not form an alliance with France or Russia, so it aligned with Austria-Hungary and Italy. Britain, France, and Russia formed their own alliance in response. (DBQ project: What Were the Underlying Causes of World War I?, 2010)

Leaders developed battle plans just incase a war was started, and countries began increasing the numbers of guns, soldiers, and military vehicles. The citizens in the countries became excited about the potential for war. Many believed that war was necessary for countries to be successful. Many people also felt that fighting a war was better than waiting for one to start. These people believed that countries with strong armies would be conquerors rather than getting conquered by other countries. (DBQ project: What Were the Underlying Causes of World War I?, 2010 documents 1 ,2 ,7, &