Causes Of WW1

Looking At The Main Causes Of World War One On its Centenary.

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Never had the machine-gunners such straightforward work to do nor done it so unceasingly. The men stood on the firestep, some even on the parapets, and fired exultantly into the mass of men advancing across the open grassland. As the entire field of fire was covered with the enemy’s infantry the effect was devastating and they could be seen falling in hundreds.

German Regimental Diarist, after the Battle of Loos, September 1915

(in the Battle of Loos 8,246 British soldiers - out of nearly 10,000 - were killed or wounded in just three hours)

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Overall...

So, overall in WW1 Britain won against Germany, a very big achievement, leading them to the next world war. Out of  all of the causes of WW1, i think the most important cause is the arms race, this is because the arms race was the main event which caused jealousy, anger and a lot of tension between the different countries, therefore causing WW1, however i think that even if the arms race didn't occur WW1 would have still happened, but i don't think it would have been as bad, or violent.

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Some English soldiers in the trenches after they had won WW1, they were going to see there family, something they thought would never happen again.

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‘It takes 15,000 casualties to train a major general.’

Ferdinand Foch

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Alliance Rivalry

Before WW1 rivalry was already developing between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, one of the reasons for this was that Austria-Hungary had already tried to take over Serbia, so Serbia didn't want it to happen again, so that was there reason for war. Another reason was that Germany and France had already been fighting over land, so war was already an option for them, and also Britains Navy had ruled the seas for many years and Germany tried to challenge them by building up their own supply of Navy dreadnoughts, however they lost and were quite embarrassed which made them want to fight Britain.

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The most amazing thing happened on 25th December, 1914. The English and the Germans held a truce on Christmas Day, and exchanged gifts and played football together, the next day the war continued and the soldiers returned to their trenches.

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This is a war to end all wars.

American President Woodrow Wilson

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The Shooting Of Franz-Ferdinand

The shooting of Franz-Ferdinand was definitely a cause of World War 1, however it wasn't the main reason but definitely caused conflict and tension between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Franz-Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip (blackhand) because Austria-Hungary were trying to gain control over Serbia, so they retaliated by killing the Archduke Franz-Ferdinand. This overall was a minor cause to WW1 because Serbia shot Austria-Hungary's archduke, causing the alliances to kick in, forming sides ready for war.

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Australian soldier carries a wounded comrade on his shoulders in 1915.

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When our new armies are ready it seems folly to send them to Flanders, where they will chew barbed wire, or be wasted in futile frontal attacks.

British Prime Minister Henry Asquith, 30th December 1914 

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Building An Empire

At the start of the war Britain owned 1/4 of the globe, and Germany were jealous of this, France also felt the same way because they wanted an empire as strong and big as the British one. This led to the war because it caused lots of conflict which then got other countries involved, which made the whole situation much bigger and with lots of tension between different countries from the two allies. 

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Soldier going ‘over the top’ this is where the soldiers would stand at the bottom of the trench wall, and at their sergeants command, they would climb the wall and run into no mans land towards the opposing trenches.

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The Alliance System

Austria-Hungary caused battles and conflict between them and Serbia because of the assassination of Franz-Ferdinand. This caused war because both Austria-Hungary and Serbia have allies, and their allies are there to support each other, so thats what happened, forming sides, ready for the war. Austria-Hungary were in the Triple Alliance, and Serbia were in the Triple Entente.

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"This war is really the greatest insanity in which white races have ever been engaged."

German Admiral von Tirpitz, in a letter to his wife, October 1914

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A picture of several of Britain's dreadnoughts, sailing on English seas, the dreadnought include two revolutionary features: a big gun, and several smaller guns, to attack opposing ships.

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The Arms Race

A very key part to WW1 was the arms race, this was a race between England and Germany for who could build the most dreadnoughts (battleships). By the start of the war in 1914 Britain had 29 and Germany had 17. This made Germany jealous, causing tension and eventually breaking out in war.

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This is a flooded trench, just part of the hell the soldiers of WW1 had to go through, though they are still smiling!