World War I - Paper 5

The World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918. It involved two opposing alliances in Europe- the Triple Entente which included France, Great Britain, and Russia, and the Central powers, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Also known as the “Great War”, it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, killing over ten million soldiers. Why was this war fought? There are many reasons that caused the outbreak of the World War I. There are underlying long term causes that led to the First World War and immediate causes that made the war inevitable.
The World War I was caused by many reasons that built up over a long period of time. These long-term causes included militarism, the creation of alliance systems, imperialism, and nationalism. Firstly, militarism was one of the causes because the buildup of military strength in each country as well as the development of advanced weaponry added to the warlike mood and led to paranoia and hostility among them. New weapons included machine guns, tanks, poison gas, and submarines. According to Document 1, Great Britain, France, and Germany increased the amount of money spent on weapons from 1870 through 1914. Great Britain’s expenditure per capita increased from $3.54 in 1870 to $8.23 in 1914. France’s expenditure increased from 2.92 to 7.07, and Germany’s expenditure increased from 1.28 to 8.19. Great Britain and Germany were also in a naval competition. Britain built battleships and Germany built submarines also known as U-Boats. As more and more countries began to mobilize, there was more paranoia and hatred against each other. Secondly, the creation of alliance systems was another cause of the war. In Document 2, the map shows the members of each alliance system. The members of the Triple Alliance also called the Central powers, included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Members of the Triple Entente were France, Great Britain, and Russia. These nations stated that their...