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What Was The Main Cause Of World War 1 Essay

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The main cause of World War I is hard to conclude. The topic has been target to discussion for decades and with the development of historiography and the availability of new sources, understanding of the impacts of historical events and decreased bias nourished by nationalism we are now able to comprehend the roles of each country to the outbreak of the war and the extent of the influence of underlying forces. Among an infinity of theories ranging from Sydney Bradshaw Fay defending a imperialistic, nationalistic and militaristic mindset as the main cause to the tradition belief Germany was the one to blame, it is necessary to understand different viewpoints During the epoch when the war broke out, Europe had an attitude towards foreign policy which praised militarism and saw war as a logical response to conflict. All countries had massive navies and armies, especially Germany and Britain, with 2.2 million soldiers and 97 warships, and 711 thousand soldiers and 185 warships respectively. As some countries grew their armies, such as Russia …show more content…

Germany 's Kaiser Wilhelm II, for example, grew up a resentful child as his family tortured him as an effort to compensate for his disabilities and hid him from public attention. He had a particular obsession for warships, when declared Emperor in 1888, decided to build a navy as strong as England, announcing Germany would construct dreadnoughts of their own. The Kaiser constantly took political decisions having in mind his envy for his British cousins and his desire to prove himself as an honorable king, contradicting his family 's shame of him. Many historians who defend the outbreak of war being caused by Germany consider the Kaiser 's emotional instability and lack of political preparation as one of the factors which influenced the nation turning the tension in Europe into a global

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