An analysis of the long and short term causes of world war 1 - Essay Example

People believed their state to be superior and when this feeling entered the negotiations between rival countries, reaching to peace was near impossible. The crisis also came because of long series of diplomatic and military treaties between countries. When one country was supported by other countries it considered itself on the winning side in the war. This meant that when these great powers met opposition from one of the rivals, they were ready to fight a war rather than back down from it. The Triple Entente made up of France, Russia and Britain, was strong enough to fight against The Triple Alliance (Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary), The Balkans and The Ottoman Empire.

Historians also believe imperialism to be the reason to start the war. The increasing tension between world empires to acquire as much trade and colonies as possible led to conflicts between them. Fights over trade route and foreign resource had started much before the Great War. By controlling foreign territories and markets, France and Britain had accumulated large wealth. On the other hand, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy all wanted to attain this economic advantage, resulting in greater tension between these empires.

Common interest between some of these countries led to further and stronger alliance. Each country believed itself to be right and tried to follow a policy to extend its authority over foreign countries and colonies. The hostility between the world powers over this authority is significant in the Berlin-Baghdad Railway. This would have given Germany access to Iraqi oil and trade to Persian Gulf. Britain knowing the importance of the issue created a blockade to the Persian Gulf, excluding others from it.

The arms race and presence of militarism in the large empires of the world made them confident of their victory in case the war was declared. The belief of Europe that the war would be “over by Christmas” shows the level of their confidence over their strength. Also, the feeling that a war was impending and inevitable, gave countries a strong reason to build up their military forces. This led to an increase in an arms race, where each country tried to be prepared to strike before the other did.

In planning to begin mobilization before others and avoid the defensive position, military planning became a priority in most countries, resulting in an increased fear of war. The immediate cause of the war however was the ‘third Balkan crises. The Balkan and Morocco crisis occurred one after another and so led to a devastating result-the World War I. Serbia and Russia fought against Austria-Hungary for territory and influence in the region. After the Balkan wars, near bankruptcy and during a political crisis, Serbian military leaders trained and armed three Bosnian students to assassin the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

On 28 June 1914, he was shot dead along with his wife. The political motive behind this assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces and combine them into a Greater Serbia or a Yugoslavia. In retaliation, Austria decided to end the South Slav separatism. It also issued an ultimatum of forty-eight hours, which asked for Austrian officials to be allowed to collaborate in the investigation and punishment of the assassinators. The ultimatum contained several very severe demands.

Although both United Kingdom and Russia sympathized and agreed