Causes of World War 1 Assessment

In this assessment, I will explain why relations between

the Triple Entente countries and Triple Alliance
countries grew worse in the years 1905-1914 and how
this triggered WW1.
The first main reason why WW1 started was because of
the arms race. The arms race is the name given for a
competition between countries, where they each try
to be superior to one another. At the beginning of 1891,
an arms race between Germany and Britain began.
Germany had begun building up their navy and this
made Britain suspicious of them. Germany had a
considerably small coast line in comparison to Britain,
so why would they need to build up their navy? Britain
began fearing that Germany were planning to declare a
war, so they too began building up their already large
and powerful navy. Other countries noticed what was
happening and felt threatened, so they too built up
their navies in fear of war. This caused WW1, because
the tension between countries began growing so much
that everyone wanted to prove how powerful they
were, and a war would be a great way to do it.
The second reason why WW1 started was because of
the Schlieffen plan. The Schlieffen plan was the German
armys plan to go to war with France and Russia. It was
created by Alfred von Schlieffen, who was a German
field marshal, which meant he was the highest officer in
the German army. Schlieffens plan stated that if they
were to go to war with France and Russia, France would
attack from the left, and Russia would from the right,
meaning that Germany would be going to war with both
countries at the same time. The plan also stated the
France would be easy to beat, as they would be weak,

and that Russia was strong but would take a while to

prepare their troops for war. Germany began to build
their army in preparation for war with France and
Russia, which triggered the arms race to begin. The
plan began to go wrong in late July 1914, because
Russia had begun preparing for war and France hadnt,
so Germany then had to create an excuse to declare
war on France. Things got even worse because Britain
got involved, as they had signed an agreement with
Belgium to protect them, as Belgium was feeling
threatened by Germany. Germany werent expected for
Britain to get involved and so their plan fell apart. This
caused WW1 because the France and Russia felt
angered towards Germany, and so did surrounding
countries of Germany including Belgium, as they felt
threatened.
The final reason why WW1 started was because of the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Franz
Ferdinand was an Austrian Archduke who was heir to
the throne, however on June 28th 1914, him and his wife
were both shot and killed. The plan to assassinate Franz
Ferdinand was conducted by the head of Serbian
military intelligence, who was known as appy/the b.
Appys aim was to have the archduke killed, so Serbia
could have their independence back, as they were fed
up of being ruled over by the Austria-Hungarians. June
28th 1914 was a day in Serbia where they remembered
their independence. This was also the same day that
Archduke Franz Ferdinand would visit Serbia. The
Serbians felt offended by this and a local terrorist group
named the black hand gang, who were assisted by
Appy, planned to assassinate the Archduke. Their plan
was successful, and both the archduke and his wife
died. This angered the Austria-Hungarian empire and

caused extreme controversy between them and

Serbians. This caused WW1, because the tensions
between the two countries had grown so much that a
war was bound to break out some time or another.