Causes of World War 1

Militarism 

• Conscription was adopted by all the major European powers except Britain. In the span of 1900-1914, all the powers had increased their arms, strategic railways and military forces. Countries even developed large reserved armies that was made up of a large number of trained men prepared to fight. 
• Britain and Germany naval arms race. Long term shipbuilding programme in Britain and German Naval Law doubled German battle fleet. Germany built nine Dreadnoughts while Britain built 18 in the years 1909-1911. Germany opened up the Kiel Canal between the Baltic and the North Sea to allow the strategic movement and placement of the Dreadnoughts. Britain also built new naval bases for the increased number of dreadnoughts In Scotland. When one country increased its arms, others felt obligated to do so as well as to maintain a balance of power
• The idea that the country with the most arms would have the most power in international relations. With an increase of colonialist pursuits and the nationalistic aims to expand, diplomacy was ignored while militaristic views became the norm. 
• By 1914, most countries had the military strength necessary to fight in a war. Germany felt that a war was necessary if it were to become a world power.

Alliances:
     The alliances of World War 1 included:
            Triple alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
                They had the mutual agreement to give military aid in the event of war
            Triple Entente: Britain, France and Russia
                 Although they didn't have any official military agreements, they were all allied by word.                        They recognized Germany as the enemy that needed to be stopped. France originally made an agreement with Russia in 1894 and an agreement with Britain in 1904 called the Entente Cordiale (Friendly Relationship) as a promise to work together. 1907 the triple Entente was formed when Britain allied with Russia. Britain also made a naval treaty with Japan in order to secure the Pacific region. The finalization of the Triple Entente between the three countries surprised Germany who felt surrounded by the countries.

     Were these alliances a cause of war?
Within the Balkan Affair, Austria was given a 'blank check' from Germany that essentially reinforced their aims. With the help of Germany, Austria grew confident enough to invade Serbia. Now because of Germany's military pact with Austria, Germany was forced to mobilize against Serbia as well. This triggered Serbia's pact with Britain and France and forced the Triple Entente into the war as well. This increased tensions dramatically and war seemed inevitable. Alliances didn't deter war, instead it forced countries to join the war. When one country went to war, those that were allied felt obligated to help.
    In contrast, these alliances were usually loose verbal agreements. Germany didn't have to support Austria Hungary when Serbia was attacked, and why would Britain help Serbia when its isolation was maintained. The Triple entente had no military obligations to each other. They were not required to attack especially as both alliances were created to defend and not to take on an aggressive stance.

Nationalism: 

     Every country seemed to have nationalist aims to expand, to colonize or to elevate their country to a supreme status. Minority races in countries such as Turkey and Austria Hungary sought to develop their own countries. 'Panslavism' in the Balkans was the nationalistic attitude of the Slav races. Serbia stood out as one of them. They become an independent country, but there remained a high Serbian population in Turkey and Austria Hungary, so naturally, Serbia began to rally their people. Rebellions and terrorism polluted the Balkans and tensions increased.

     The Balkan Crisis (1912-1913)
The Balkan League was made up of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro. They sought to free themselves from any Turkish influence and to gain independence. War broke out between the two sides with the Balkan League emerging as victors. Turkey was driven out and divided by the Balkan League. The division of the resources brought conflict into the League as Austria attempted to establish an Albanian state and to exclude Serbia from the Adriatic coastline. Bulgaria tried to rid Macedonia of Serbian and Greek Forces and this led to the Second Balkan war
The Balkan war increased political tensions throughout Germany and France. France wanted to develop relations with Russia instead of restraining her. France agreed to support Russia if Germany attacked or if conflicts with Austria Hungary escalated. Germany showed political unease and made military preparations for the future.

     German Nationalism:
The slogan 'A Place in the Sun' became the prominent goal of the Germans. They had a desire to colonize in Morocco which led to the two Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911
The Kaiser of Germany had made public declarations in 1905 that recognized the Sultan of Morocco as independent. He also tested the British and French agreement over the colonial status of the Moroccan territories. He hoped to weaken Anglo-French relations and inadvertently to elevate Germany's status in international affairs. However, Germany was humiliated when a conference was called between the three countries and Germany was reminded of France's dominance in the Moroccan area.
The second Moroccan crisis

Imperialism
The years 1895-1905 was the peak of colonial expansion. Rivalries, understandably, began to develop as European countries began fighting for certain territories. Many European powers had such colonies in Africa. Conflicts indirectly led to the formation of alliances with Italy allying with Germany and Austria after losing Tunis to France. Russia joined the British as they developed similar fears of Germany expansionist aims in the Balkans. The entente was formed in 1907 partly due to the aggressive, imperialist state of Germany in both the Moroccans crises.
The rivalry found in colonialism seemed to intensify the arms race. During the Moroccan crises, war almost resulted. Germany found that they needed to build a strong army in order to establish respect for themselves and a navy to find power in the waters.
Between 1905-1907, Britain, France and Russia had solved most of their disagreements and therefore had come to terms regarding colonial rivalries.

Events leading up to World War 1:

First Moroccan Crisis (1905):
Kaiser Wilhem proclaimed that the Sultan of Morocco was independent in speeches made in Tangier, Morocco. He also weakened the agreements made by the British and French Anglo-French regarding the status of the Moroccan territories. The British had agreed that France would conquer Morocco as stated in their Entente cordiale of 1904. An international conference was held by the major powers in Algeciras to decide the status of Morocco. France gained support from Britain and Russia and Germany, who was isolated except for the support of Austria, was forced to submit to France's. Germany was forced to stay out of Morocco. Overall, military tensions did not rise, but political tensions did. The French became furious with Germany. Britain saw the crisis as another German attempt to build Germany's empire and to threaten the British status as the world's greatest power. This led to the Triple Entente in 1907 as all three countries were alarmed at the German aggression.

Telegraph Article (1908)

The Telegraph Article outlined some of Kaiser Wilhelms aims for the future. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he claimed that he wanted to ally with Britain. He also thought the British were 'mad' and that the Germans hated them. Finally, he even stated that Germany would build a powerful naval fleet to protect their interests around the world. Britain's world renowned fleet felt threatened and they became convinced that Germany was challenging British power.

Bosnian Crisis (1908)
The diminishing status of Turkey had left many Europeans fearing a power vacuum. When a revolution broke out in 1908, it left Austria-Hungary the chance to annex the Bosnia, one of the Turkish states. Serbia, who had many of their Serbs in Bosnia, was outraged as they had also hoped to rule their people. Serbia immediately called for the help of Russia who also expected support from Britain and France. Britain and France, however, decided not to support Russia, which humiliated Russia and they were forced to step down. It was here that Russia vowed never to back down again, which would later cause conflict in the July Crisis of 1914.

Second Moroccan Crisis (1911) (Agadir Crisis):
The Agadir Crisis began with a revolution in Morocco in which France sent an army to resolve the situation. In doing so, they also decided to take over the country. By taking over the country, France had broken the Act of Algeciras that was made after the first Moroccan Crisis. Germany reacted by sending the gunboat Panther to Agadir. This move by the Germans angered the British and French who feared that the Germans had violent intentions. Germany was once again forced to remove the gunship and was given a piece of the Congo as a consolation prize. German resentment, understandly, increased as they were determined not to lose the next time around.

Balkan Wars (1912-1913):
Turkey's continuous fall resulted in the creation of the Balkan league which was made up of Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria. The league attacked Turkey and managed to capture most of the Turkish possessions within Europe. Britain tried to arrange a peace conference, but war quickly broke out again in 1913. Together, Britain and Germany brought the war to an end. Germany saw British cooperation as a sign of weakness and that Britain would surely cooperate again if there was another crisis. Throughout the wars, Serbia became the most powerful Balkan state. Their revitalized confident led them to believe that they had a chance to challenge Austria.

July Crisis of 1914:
On June 28th, 1914, a Serbian terrorist assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian Throne. Firstly, Austria asked for a blank cheque from Germany as a promise to support them when needed. Secondly, Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23rd with impossible terms. Serbia instead accepted almost all of the ultimatum save one point, yet Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28th.
Russia: Russia, as an ally to Serbia, had to mobilize in order to maintain any influence in the Balkans and to remain an ally to the French. Although they did not want war and although they felt that a war would destroy Russia, they still decided to mobilize (especially following the let down of the Bosnian Crisis). Russia moved its forces to the southern borders of Austria as well as Germany since the two were allied. The Tsar Nicholas tried to prevent war against Germany by assuring the Kaiser that the Russians had not intended to fight Germany, but Germany still retaliated by declaring war on Russia on August 1st. Russia was not obligated to take an aggressive stance. Instead a defensive position could have been their aim, but the German's Schleiffen plan forced Germany to attack for fear of a two front war. Germany could not simply allow an army to sit at their doorsteps so they established the Schleiffen Plan. The Schleiffen plan was used if both Russia and France happened to attack Germany.
France: Considering that the Germans saw France as weak they would quickly wipe out Paris before transporting the German army to the Russian front to face the Russians. At the time France didn't seem to be mobilizing against Germany, hence the Schleiffen plan would be rendered useless. So Germany, claiming that France had been bombing Germany towns, declared war on France on August 3rd. With the mobilization of German troops towards France, they also declared war on Germany on August 4th. Britain: Originally, Britain had tried to maintain the peace between the countries but had failed. Ultimately they were called into war on August 4th following the Germany invasion of Belgium. The German Schlieffen plan called for the invasion of France which required the German army to cross through Belgium. The Kaiser asked the Belgians for permission, but they refused so the Kaiser had no choice but to invade Belgium as well. The British were obliged by a treaty to help Belgium in the event of war and so Britain was drawn to war against Germany as well.