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Why War Broke Out in 1914

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Why War Broke Out in 1914
Why War Broke Out in 1914

War broke out in 1914 for a multitude of reasons. One reason was due to the Naval Race, this caused a sense of competitiveness and ensured readiness. Another cause of War was the Alliance System that broke out, this ensured that is war arrived a large number of countries would get involved. A further reason was imperialism, countries were looking to expand their territories and this caused a considerable amount of resentment. A growing sense of nationalism was another cause of War; countries were keen to protect their own county and others.
One of the first reasons that war broke out in 1914 was because of the Naval Race. The Naval Arms Race was an attempt for Britain and Germany to outdo each other. It all started in 1889 when Britain signed a ‘2 Power Standard’. Having a two Power Standard meant that Britain would have a bigger Navy than the largest and second largest navy’s in the world combined. At the same time Kaiser William II of Germany wanted Germany to have great power and a massive empire. In order to get this Germany would need a strong navy, but it would’ve been almost impossible for them to have a strong navy because Britain had the ‘2 Power Standard’. Britain wanted to protect their ‘2 Power Standard’ so both countries set out to build more and more ships. In 1906 Britain launched the HMS Dreadnought. Launching a Dreadnought caused a massive leap forward for British naval power. By 1914 Britain then had 29 Dreadnoughts compared to Germany’s 16.

Another reason for war to break out was because of the Alliance system. The alliance system was when countries in Europe started to look for allies. The initial alliances were formed between Germany and Austro Hungary. They formed in 1879 and were called the Dual Alliance. Italy then joined in 1882 to then form the Triple Alliance. The Triple Alliance was an agreement between countries involved to protect each other if any other countries tried to attack. Other counties in

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