Ww1 M.A.I.N Causes - 1180 Words

n the latter half of the 19th century an arms race began to Develop , this in itself was causing tensions In Germany the Kaiser Wilhelm II had rid himself of Bismark and his conservative foreign policy of diplomacy and avoidance of conflict, with a rash and belligerent quest for glory. The facts that the rulers of Great Britain , Germany and Russia were first cousins did nothing to reduce the levels of tension. National security was a critical issue for all the major states, the developing tensions meant that no single nation felt secure by itself and every one of them needed allies on whom they could depend . In 1879 , Germany ,Austria-Hungary formed an alliance . They were joined by Italy because of it`s historic antipathy towards†¦show more content†¦In example of a nationalistic cause in the war, Austria-Hungary was getting apprehensive when the Slavs in northern part of their empire wanted to unite with Serbia Although Francis Ferdinand’s assassination had sparked the beginning of the war, this however was not the main cause.. Many different factors led to the start of the First World War .Like many other historical occurrences, one thing led to another and all of these factors came together to start World War 1. The main causes were militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism, but many more other causes also helped spark the war. The rulers of the countries were all first cousins, with a lot of power that was in need of testing. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked rivalry between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The Schlieffen Plan and growing militarism cause pressure between the countries as each knew the other’s capabilities for war. Nothing really started the first world war, but many things lead to it. Tension had already started to build up between certain European countries before the war. Many countries had already started building up armies and ordering ships. There was also a fair amount of competition between the countries, as the rulers of Great Britain, Germany and Russia were all first cousins. As you could imagine, they would want to compare their armies,