Discuss The Causes Of World War 1

Although there were many past disputes between many of the European powers, it is not justifiable to say that the First World War was solely caused by the Alliance System, but rather that the following major factors: the Alliance System, militarism, nationalism and imperialism all acted as the underlying causes of the war and contributed to the tension that ultimately led to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and eventually, the outbreak of the first ever world war.

Though there is much controversy over what ultimately caused the war, most historians agree that it was the assassination of the Archduke that sparked the start of World War 1, or the “Global war” as it later became known. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

These smaller countries amassed by the powers would then be referred to as colonies. Imperialism contributed to the start of the war as the contention between the powers grew thin due to the fact that there were not many locations/ countries in the world left to colonise, meaning that countries would be forced to compete for the existing colonies that remained in order to expand not only their influence and power but their empire as well. The decrease in colonies also meant that other countries would resort to expanding their borders with neighbouring powers which would no doubt also lead to war. An example of how Imperialism helped cause the war would be the Second Moroccan Crisis of 1911 when France sent their own troops into Morocco to assist the Sultan Government. Viewing this as a threat to Moroccan independence, Germany decided to send their very own SMS Panther, a German gunboat which arrived on July 1st at the port of Agadir. With the excuse that they were protecting their own trade interests, Germany demanded compensation from France, stating that they wanted the whole of the French Congo however later ended up receiving pieces of it due to Britain stepping in and supporting France, thus forcing Germany down (much to Germany’s shock as they did not anticipate Britain would support France) and humiliating them by proving that they were weak against the Entente. Germany’s imperialist feelings and desires for a large empire were all but a reality as the truth of the matter is they entered the scramble for Africa and race for colonisation much too late, most countries already conquered and colonised by Britain and France. Imperialism led to war because many countries were left in the predicament that if they