Causes of WWI

The Alliance System refers to the two armed camps or rival gangs which Europe was divided into by 1907. The two were the Triple Alliance, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the Triple Entente, consisting of Britain, France and Russia. Each country had its own interests and reasons for distrusting other countries in Europe.

For example, Germany wanted to be a world power, having overseas colonies and an empire like what both France and Britain had. The Kaiser in Germany also ordered the building of a large navy and a vast army. Germany also felt threatened by the surrounding France and Russia as they had very close friendship. Britain also had its own reasons for distrusting other countries. It distrusted Germany as the Kaiser had made it clear that he wanted Germany to have its own empire and navy, and this was a threat to Britain’s own empire and navy.

Thus, Britain began to co-operate with France and Russia. All these created tension between the countries. The Alliance System hence brought war nearer for several reasons. Firstly, a dispute between one of the members of each camp could well involve the other members. This would turn a war between two countries into a major war between all six. Secondly, relations between France and Britain drew much closer between 1904 and 1914. They even planned together how to fight a future war against France.

However, there are other factors that lead to World War I. One of these is the Moroccan Crisis in 1905. France had wanted Morocco to complete her empire in North Africa. However, the Kaiser interfered. He visited Morocco and made a speech showing his support for the independence of Morocco. He did this to weaken the bond between Britain and France as he thought that Britain would not stand by France over that issue. He also did not want France to further extend her North African Empire. This angered France as it did not want Germany to interfere in their affairs. They agreed to hold an international conference to discuss the future of Morocco.

However, instead of cooling things down, the conference made things worse. The Kaiser was humiliated at the conference. Britain and France stuck together to oppose him. Germany was alarmed by the closeness of the two old rivals. This Moroccan Crisis increased the tension because the Kaiser had suffered an embarrassing defeat. He blamed this defeat on the British and their support for France. Additionally, he had managed to achieve exactly the opposite of what he had hoped for. He had strengthened the friendship between Britain and France.

With so much tension between the countries, it was inevitable for war to break out. Only a spark was needed to light the bonfire. This spark came in 1914 when the Archduke of Austria, Franz-Ferdinand, and his wife were assassinated on a visit to Serbia. Austria declared war on Serbia shortly after and, only after six weeks, almost all of Europe had been dragged into the war.

All of these were reasons to the breakout of World War I. However, I think that the Alliance System was the most important and significant factor. It was because of the Alliance System that much tension was built up between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. If a country felt threatened by a country in another rival gang, it would more likely go to war as it had the support of the countries in its own rival gang. Most of the bonfire was already built and ready to be lit.

The Moroccan Crisis, on the other hand, was not that important in causing the war. If there was no Alliance System, it could not have caused the war. It did contribute to the growing tension between the countries, but not as much as that built up by the Alliance System. The trivial event of the murder of the Archduke could not cause war in itself. It was merely the spark that lit the bonfire. Even if it had not occurred, other such sparks might have started the war just as well.

Thus, I conclude that the most important cause of World War I was the Alliance System.