Pourquoi la Première Guerre mondiale a-t-elle éclaté en 1914? (document en anglais)

Essay: Why did First World War broke out in 1914?

The First World War happened in between 1914-1918. It was a war with millions of deaths and awful conditions of living for the soldiers. It may have broken out because of several reasons but one little detail that might have started everything is the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. The alliances, the naval and arms race and the imperialism all played a big role in the start of World War One.

The alliances played a big role in the breaking out of the First World War. There were two different alliances: The triple entente which was France, England and Russia, also the triple alliance which was Germany, Austria – Hungary and later Italy. They played a big role before and during the war because Germany felt encircled; if they attacked on one side they could be counterattacked on the other which made them more vulnerable. The triple alliance was very threatful because of the growing power and colonies they wanted. The triple entente was very powerful for the simple reason that they had Britain and France which were very important in these times. The alliances simply created tensions just off being scared of one another.

The naval race was very important in World War one Britain could only be reached by ship so did the colonies in Africa. The fact that Germany was building lots of ships scared the triple entente just because the growing naval power could be harmful to them. By 1914 England had built 29 ships and Germany was at 17. It was a normal thing that England had more naval power because the only way they could get anywhere was with ships. The arms race was also a big factor in the start of world war one because Germany had more than two million soldiers ready to fight and Austria – Hungary ready to fight with them. As if the British had seven hundred thousand in the arms race they were really weak.

Imperialism in the 1900 was something very important to show the strength of your country. Britain and France had lots of colonies in Africa which made the Germans a bit jealous and made want to conquer more land. Germany might have wanted colonies for cheaper labor and cheap raw materials. This helped the breaking out of First World War because it created tensions in between the big powers. It made them race for a stronger country.

The First World War broke out because of several tensions in Europe. These tensions were created because of alliances, naval and arms race and finally imperialism. The real start is the assassination of Franz Ferdinand but all these tensions are factors too.

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