Main Causes of World War One :
Militarism
In the 19th century Britain was the greatest sea power in the world
In 1906, a new, all improved battleship was released by Britain, the HMS Dreadnought.
In 1908, Germany launched a similar battleship called the Nassau
A naval race was underway
Germany announced she was going to build 12 more Nassau over the next 4 years
Britain built 8 new dreadnoughts in 1909
By the time war broke out, Britain had 22 dreadnought
By the time war broke out, Germany had 15 Nassau
Germany also developed other aspects of their military, having the best trained and best equipped army of 2.2 million men
Despite his, they still feared Russia's vast reserves of Manpower, the 'Russian Steamroller'
Alliances
In the decade before war, many treaties were signed
This essentially creates two rival alliances of great powers in Europe
Triple Entende (1914)
Triple Alliance (1907)
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy
Russia
Britain
France
Sense of protectionism and alliance to Serbia and other Slavic speaking countries, due to pan-slavism
Italy backed out of triple alliance before war started to maintain good relations with France
Increasing fear of 'encirclement' and having to fight a war on two fronts against France and Russia
Feared further attack to their eastern frontier, due to having been invaded by Germany in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871
Existence of two great rival alliances increased security fears for every country
Imperialism
Some European countries had vast, wealthy empires, while others wanted to create empires
Britain had the largest empire: New Zealand, India, Australia, Canada, and much of Africa
Germany felt it had missed out on the scramble for Africa, and wanted Germany to build an empire and be recognized as a major power
These expansionist policies and imperial rivalry lead contributed to further tensions in Europe
German Kaiser also made a speech stating that he wanted to expand his navy prowess and ensure that 'our place in the sun shall remain undisputed"
Nationalism
Strong Nationalism in the Balkans, as many wished to be free from imperialist rule by the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Man Slavic groups wished to break away and have their own nation- Panslavism
German Nationalism was a new sensation
This sentiment strong in Serbia
In the Russian empire alone, there were 80 minority groups
Result of the unification of Germany in 1871, obsessed with imperial expansion, and emulating the British empire