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WORLD WAR I: CAUSES AND ALLIANCES - Coggle Diagram
WORLD WAR I: CAUSES AND ALLIANCES
Causes of the conflict
In 1914 after a period of great economic prosperity
due to the Second Industrial Revolution
World War I
broke out in Europe
There were several root causes
Nationalist rivalries
Two of the biggest industrial powers
France and Germany
remained hostile
because during the process of German unification
the Prussians had defeated France
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seized the territories of Alsace-Lorraine
there were great nationalist tensions in the Balkans
Imperialist ambitions
In the partition of colonies
Germany had been left at a disadvantage
relative to France and Great Britain
at the start of the 20th century
the Second German Empire was Europe’s main
industrial
power
economic
and it claimed its own colonial territories
An aggressive diplomacy
Each power tried to protect its interests
by seeking alliances with other nations
No forum for debate or international organisation
was created to discuss
conflicts between states
This was the ‘Armed Peace
The arms race
atmosphere of rivalry
and imperialist ambitions
and diplomatic initiatives designed to
prepare for war rather than to avoid it
led to the rearmament of states
due to
technological
industrial
progress
countries started the industrial manufacturing
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Weaponry
The Great War
was the most devastating military conflict
that history had ever seen
Technological advances in the weapons industry
largely contributed to this fact
It was the first war
in which aviation played a fundamental role
following the manufacture
of the first metal aeroplane
by the German company Junkers in 1915
Other inventions
of enormous destructive power were
tanks and armoured vehicles
German Zeppelins and airships
machine guns
lethal mustard gas
The Alliances
Two blocs of alliances were created
The Triple Alliance (1882)
It was formed by
Germany
Italy
Austria-Hungary
Italy later abandoned this bloc
but
the Ottoman Empire (1914)
joined once the war started
Bulgaria (1915)
The Triple Entente (1907)
formed by
France
Great Britain
Russia
Italy abandoned the Triple Alliance
because of its rivalry with Austro-Hungarian Empire
once the war started
ended up joining the Triple Entente
Other countries participated
but very unequally
Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro
were invaded by Germany and Austria-Hungary
suffered greatly during the conflict
United States
entered the war in 1917
played a decisive role
Romania (1916) and Greece (1917)
joined due to developments
on the Balkan front
Japan declared war on Germany (1914)
due to its imperialist ambitions in
Asia
The Pacific
Its goal was to seize German concessions
in China and the Pacific islands
that the German Empire had acquired
from Spain in 1898