The Origins of the First World War - Essay Sample

Introduction

World War one is among the greatest tragedies that human beings had to suffer through. The war began in 1914 and led to the deaths of millions of people from all parts of the world. The war went on for four years and effectively came to an end in November 1918. The war had several causes, most of which are attached to specific major powers ("4 M-A-I-N Causes of World War One in 6 Minutes"). All of the countries that took part in the war did so as a way to prove their superiority to other countries. Since most of the warring nations were developed, having possessed gun-power (Jens and Flora 43), the consequences were devastating for those who took part. Though there are many causes of the war, they have been narrowed down to specific activities in history, all of which are attached to particular countries. The major parties that are to blame for the start of the world war one are Germany and Britain.

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At the time, the two were the most powerful countries in the world. Therefore competition on superiority based on population and country size was expected. The animosity between the two resulted in tension coming up between other countries that were in an alliance with either Britain or Germany. Britain and Germany continued to have animosity and disagree on different matters, which would eventually affect the countries around them ("Debate on the Origins of the First World War"). The tension ultimately resulted in the breaking out of the First World War. Historians have held various positions on precisely who is to blame for the world war. The paper will attempt to show how difficult it is to pinpoint a specific country showing that it is solely responsible for the First World War.

Germany

After reviewing different sources of information on the First World War, one can see that Germany was the most liable for the breaking out of the First World War. This is because as Germany tried to build a bigger empire thus tried to expand into Morocco (Van Evera 12). The expansion did not succeed as Germany was given alternative land in the central parts of Africa and effectively had Morocco taken away. Though Germany attempted to defend its position in Morocco twice, Germany lacked the opportunity, thus being humiliated on a global scale. The loss of Morocco resulted in the creation of militarism and nationalism (Cox 8). Other countries that were in alliances with Germany felt that this was not right, thus fueling the tension that eventually led to the catastrophic First World War.

Germany also got into an alliance with Austria-Hungary after Fran Ferdinand was assassinated. The decision did not bode well with other countries such as Serbia. As per the agreement made, Germany gave Austria-Hungary unconditional support which made it easy for Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia ("BBC - History - World Wars: The Origins of World War One"). The decision was one made with a tactical agenda since after the attack on Serbia and the failure of Germany to withdraw their support showed that Germany supported the attack. Countries that had alliances with Serbia had to come up and offer their support to Serbia which effectively began an onslaught of wars between different countries. As a Serbian group was responsible for the assassination, Austria-Hungary felt the need for revenge on the country thus Germany had to stand by its agreement with Austria-Hungary. The war between Serbia and Austria-Hungary grew to include their allies ("Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum to Serbia English Translation"). The situation resulted in the eruption of many wars between different countries, leading to Germany declaring war on France a close ally of Britain. The outcome resulted in Britain declaring war on Germany, which effectively began the First World War.

Germany is also responsible for the rise in imperialism before the First World War began. At the time, Germany was not as big a power as Britain and France. To rectify this situation, Germany started to expand into new territories, especially in Africa. The rapid expansion began to raise tensions around the globe as other countries felt threatened by the rate at which Germany was expanding (Levy and Mulligan 740). The expansion led to other countries wanting to expand their territories, to rank them higher on the scale of dominant players in the globe. As most states were expanding into large spaces, the areas for expansion became limited, resulting in conflicts regarding boundaries. The conflict on borders eventually led to the First World War since the competition was very high and each country wanted to prove itself to the rest of the world (Hewitson 2). Such factors are the reasons why Germany can be pinpointed as the country responsible for the First World War.

Britain/England

Britain was another key player in the First World War. Britain was among the most significant world powers in the nineteenth century, therefore held great control over global issues. After Germany forged an alliance with Austria-Hungary and supported Austria-Hungary's war against Serbia, many countries joined the fight, each helping the country that they were allied. However, the greatest war was triggered when Britain declared war on Germany after Germany had declared war on France. France which was fighting an ally of Germany (Soroka and Bourne 43), encountered numerous small wars that were underway. The declaration led to different countries forging alliances that were centered on Germany and Britain, thus leading to the creation of two major alliances, the Triple Entente which comprised of Britain, Russia, and France against the Triple Alliance, composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Had Britain not declared war on Germany, the two major alliance would not have been formed; thus in effect, the First World War would not have taken place (Bourke 4).

Britain felt threatened once Germany began its expansion into Africa, which resulted in the two countries competing for economic power. The state that possessed the most economic power would be deemed more powerful than the other. The scenario resulted in the scramble and partition of Africa, with Germany and Britain competing to have the most colonies, which would be considered expansions of the colonizing country (Mahoney, 202). The competition for economic prosperity between Germany and Britain is also considered as a major source of the First World War. Britain was also part of the deciding countries when Germany had Morocco taken away from their possession, thus fueling the animosity between the two countries. Britain sided with France in both conferences, and Germany did not have the opportunity to defend their position. As this happened twice, there was animosity that further developed to tension between Germany and Britain.

Conclusion

After considering the different countries that are held responsible for the First World War, once can effectively conclude that no single country can be held responsible for the breaking out of the First World War. Each country that took part in the war had a reason, such as Austria-Hungary taking revenge on Serbia for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand (Mulligan). Other countries were after economic prosperity such as retain while others went into the war to support their allies. Each country that took part in the First World War has a portion of the blame for the eruption of the First World War. Though some point towards specific countries as having caused the war, various effects through history are linked to the eruption of the First World War.

Works Cited

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"The 4 M-A-I-N Causes of World War One in 6 Minutes." YouTube. N.p., 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2018.

"The Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum to Serbia (English Translation)." World War I Document Archive. N.p., 30 June 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2018.

"The Debate on the Origins of the First World War." OpenLearn - Open University. N.p., 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2018.

Bourke, Joanna. "Shellshock during World War One." BBC News. BBC (2011).

Cox, Ashley. "A man for all seasons: Woodrow Wilson, transatlantic relations and the war against militarism." Journal of Transatlantic Studies (2018): 1-19. Print.

Hewitson, Mark. Germany and the causes of the First World War. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.

Jens, Alber, and Peter Flora. "Modernization, democratization, and the development of welfare states in Western Europe." Development of Welfare states in Europe and America (2017): 37-80. Web.

Levy, Jack S., and William Mulligan. "Shifting power, preventive logic, and the response of the target: Germany, Russia, and the First World War." Journal of Strategic Studies40.5 (2016): 731-769. Print.

Mahoney, James. "Process tracing and historical explanation." Security Studies 24.2 (2015): 200-218.

Mulligan, William. "The Historiography of the Origins of the First World War." 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War 30 (2016).Soroka, Marina, and Dr. Bourne. Britain, Russia and the Road to the First World War: The Fateful Embassy of Count Aleksandr Benckendorff (1903-16). Abingdon: Taylor and Francis, 2016. 1-333. Print.

Van Evera, Stephen. Causes of War: Power and the roots of the conflict. Cornell University Press, 2013.