Causes of WWI

The Alliances

The triple Entente: This alliance (Britain, France and Russia) was formed in 1907. The British had
been ruling the world for a long time (you know that Britain had the biggest empire in the world,
with lands in many different continents) and, even though they had had problems with Russia and
France in the past, they were now so afraid of the threat of the growing German empire that they
signed a number of agreements to protect one another in case of war. Their biggest concern was
GERMANY.

The Central Powers: This alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) was formed in 1882. The
Germans were getting more and more powerful and they wanted to have a big empire with
colonies all over the world, as the British had. They felt threatened by the Russians and by the
French, whom they were enemies with because of a war that had taken place in 1870, in which
the French had lost two important industrial provinces (Alsace and Lorraine). The French were
afraid of the growing German army, and they were afraid that the Germans would attack them
first, which actually happened. Austria- Hungary was an empire with lots of different peoples*
(different ethnic groups), and they were particularly afraid of a country in the Balkans area: Serbia.
The Serbs were friends with the Russians and they knew that, if the Austrians attacked them, The
Russians would stand up for them. Italy was the weakest empire and they joined the wrong side
because, as we all know, The Central Powers eventually lost the war.

*Check how to use the word PEOPLES in the plural.

Anglo-German naval rivalry:

The British were the masters of the sea at the beginning of the XXth century, but the Germans
were building more and more warships that they said they needed to protect their growing trade.
This turned into a competition so both empires built more and more ships. This is one aspect of
the so-called “arms race”. This arms race employed lots of people and was vital for the economies
of many countries. But the problem is that they would finally USE all the weapons that were being
built.

The Balkans

This was a very unstable area mainly because of geography. In this area (formed by different
countries with different customs) there´s the Dardanelles Strait, which is a strait that gives access
to the Mediterranean Sea and is therefore important in strategic terms. Both The Russians and
The Austrians wanted to control this area, and they wanted to control it badly. They were willing
to fight for this control.
Self-determination

In one of the main empires of Europe, Austria-Hungary, there were different people from different
ethnic groups that wanted to have countries of their own and free themselves from the claws of
the Austrians. There were Czechs, Slovaks, Germans and Serbs. They all felt that they should have
the right to rule themselves because they believed in the principle of self-determination. The same
happened in the Balkans area. The fact that these minorities wanted their independence added to
the political and military tension in Europe.

The Moroccan affair

Morocco was a French colony in North Africa. Many Moroccans wanted their independence from
France. The Kaiser (the leader of the Germans) visited Morocco and in a way encouraged the
Moroccans to go on fighting for their independence. The French believed that the Kaiser was
interfering with their national affairs (and they were right).

Self determibnation

Franz Ferdinand is assassinated

The Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was visiting Sarajevo. Many people hated him there
because they hated the Austrians. He got killed there by some teenage terrorists. This was the last
straw (that broke the camel’s back). From now onwards everybody will declare war on everybody
else. This is the beginning of one of the bloodiest events in contemporary history, the First World
War.