At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe consisted of 6 Great Powers.

These were Great

Britain, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and France. The Great Powers had different ambitions
and goals, but they had similar purposes, such as economic development and military dominance.
This created suspicions between the Great Powers and often found themselves in competition.
This led to the formation of the alliance system. This increased tensions as the Great Powers found
common enemies and targets, which resulted in the Arms Race. In the Arms Race, each nation
tried to increase its military might, which reflected the nation’s ambitions. The Arms Race
increased the ideology Imperialism and Nationalism within the population, which encouraged the
community to be aggressive to their nation’s rivals. It was these factors that built up tensions until
the war broke out in 1914.

Military development was seen in different perspectives by the nation’s rivals. For the enemies,
military growth and the increase of arms was seen as a direct threat. Since Germany’s unification
in 1871, German politicians and the population wanted Germany to be healthy and powerful.
There were different methods for achieving this goal. One way was acquiring overseas colonies.
Overseas colonies were used by many of the Great Powers to import raw materials, labor and
were the markets for goods produced by European Powers that governed them. To acquire
overseas colonies, Germany needed to build a navy that can be strong enough to challenge the
Royal Navy. In 1898 and 1900, Germany passed the Navy laws, which permitted to build 16
battleships and then increased the number to 46. Germany also built 60 cruisers. By 1905,
Germany rapidly started building more battleships and cruisers. Great Britain saw this as a direct
threat to their navy and their overseas colonies. As Great Britain was an island nation, Germany’s
navy could easily challenge the security of Great Britain itself. This increased tensions and
pressured the Royal Navy to respond against Germany’s naval development. Great Britain
responded with the best battleship ever built in the period, the HMS Dreadnought. Launched in
1906, HMS Dreadnought was so advanced that it made other battleships obsolete and outdated.
This began the Naval race between Germany and Great Britain as each nation tried to get a better
navy than the others. German Politicians saw the Naval Race as Great Britain getting in the way of
Germany becoming a dominating European Power. This also pressured Germany to build a
battleship to challenge the HMS Dreadnought. They made the Rheinland, their version of the HMS
Dreadnought. Admiral Fisher, chief of the Royal Navy, immediately ordered the building of a
‘Super-Dreadnought’ known as HMS Neptune. The Naval Race showed Germany that Great Britain
will always have the advantage in the sea, which angered many German Politicians as they could
not gain the Naval Supremacy against Great Britain. As one of them tried to develop their military,
it was a threat to others. This severely increased tensions between the two nations, which dragged
their allies into their rivalry. The arms race made Europe a dangerous place but did not
immediately lead to war.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Great Powers found themselves in competition while
increasing their opportunities to trade and their military might. There were two main alliances, the
Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. The Triple Alliance initially started with Germany and
Austria-Hungary. Germany was looking for allies against France and Russia. After Germany had
won the Franco-Prussian Was, as part of the peace treaty Germany took Alsace-Lorraine from
France. Alsace-Lorraine was a significant industrial and mining area of France. German Politicians
were afraid that the French might retaliate to retrieve Alsace-Lorraine back. Austria-Hungary was
facing problems throughout the empire because of the different nationalities within the empire.
The Serbs within the empire wanted to join Serbia, a newly founded country on the borders of the
empire. Russia supported this cause, which created a rivalry between Russia and Austria-Hungary.
Italy was a newly established country in 1861. It wanted to join an alliance to make itself more
powerful. When it entered the Triple Alliance in 1882, it became an anti-Russia and anti-France
nation. The Triple Entente included Russia, Great Britain, and France. Great Britain and France
were allies because of the development of Germany. The German Kaiser had shown that Germany
wanted to have an empire, a strong navy, and acquire overseas colonies. This was a direct threat
to France and Great Britain as they already had large overseas empires and Great Britain’s naval
dominance. Russia and France were allies as Germany could invade their countries. France had lost
the Franco-Prussian War and was afraid that Germany might attack again. Russia was concerned
that Germany might expand into Russian territory in Central Europe, and the Russian army was
underdeveloped to challenge the Germany army. So in 1907, the three nations formed the Triple
Entente with their main rival as Germany. The alliance system was supposed to increase rigidity
between the Great Powers. Still, it just raised suspicions and tensions in Europe as the Alliance
system reflected the alliance’s goals and rivals. The alliance system made countries nervous about
a war, which increased tensions between rivals, which led to small conflict, which built-up tension
in Europe. These small conflicts initially included one nation against another, but with the alliance
system, it had many countries against each other.

Imperialism was another factor that increased tensions between significant Great Powers such as
Germany and Great Britain. Imperialism is the policy for nations to extend their power through
colonization, military force, and other means. The ambitions of acquiring overseas colonies
were seen in countries like Great Britain, France, and Germany. The British Empire nearly
took up a quarter of the world’s surface land area and population. Any push by a European
power for more overseas colonies would challenge Great Britain as the most powerful
country in the world. Germany wanted to have a large empire with multiple overseas
territories. If overseas colonies were to be acquired, then a strong navy was essential. This
is why imperialism made Great Britain and Germany the main rivalry in Europe. Great
Britain regarded German ambitions as threatening to the already established British
Empire, and in Germany’s perspective, Great Britain was getting in the way of Germany
becoming a world power. Imperialism was a primary factor for starting the arms race and
alliance systems between the Great Powers.
Finally, another significant factor was nationalism. Nationalism is the love for one’s
country, which is considered to be positive. However, nationalism could also resort to
violence and conflicts. The supporters of a state become aggressive about other
nationalities, and this will lead to international disputes. Before World War 1, most
Europeans believed that their nation had cultural, economic, and military supremacy
compared to other countries. Germany was fueled by nationalism as they challenged the
might of Great Britain’s economy and military. After the unification, Germany began to
industrialize very quickly. German manufacturers improved and modernized and
manufactured the same goods but more efficiently compared to the British. By 1980,
Germany started to dominate European markets with their interests, and eventually,
Germany took over the economic lead. This encouraged Germany also to oppose Great
Britain’s naval supremacy. Nationalism was the cause for Germany to challenge Great
Britain and France. This increased the tensity between Germany and Great Britain, which
affected the rest of the Great Powers.
In conclusion, many factors increased tensions in Europe before the beginning of World
War 1. The arms race made Europe as a dangerous place, with countries holding
weapons for war. Additionally, alliance systems in Europe made local conflict quickly result
in an intimidating global conflict. Imperialism and nationalism encouraged the development
in the arms race and economic competition. This also motivated developing countries to
challenge the power of firmly established nations, which sparked conflicts and violence. By
1914 Europe was a tense and dangerous place, and it was only one last conflict that
started World War 1.