World War 1 - Paper 3

World War I was a tragic event in history. Many people died both soldiers and civilians. Therefore someone needed to be punished, Germany. With Germany taking the blame in the Treaty of Versailles in section 231, much of their land was taken and the allies had Germany by the throat. Although history cannot be rewritten Germany cannot be still blamed for the events that conspired that lead to World War I. Economic rivalries between countries lead to arms races and contributed greatly to the starting of the war. Alliances and Ententes played a key role in the war, no one could trust each other and this caused a great deal of suspicion. Mounting tensions between countries did not help too much either, Germany was already on a collision course with France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the verge of war with the Serbs. This all lead to the starting of the war and cannot be blamed on one single country.
The Great War was a great economic upset, before and after the war. Germany was on an economic race with Britain. In 1900 Britain was the leader in coal production and could out produce France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy combined, but by 1914 Germany alone rivalled Britain’s coal production.   Politicians also made things seem worse than they were with German conflicts, and caused the people to believe a war was on the verge of happening anyway. Germany was also in a naval arms race with Britain, and rivalled the British navy. This alarmed the British, and caused tensions between the two countries. Germany was thriving before the war economically and this threatened surrounding countries, especially Britain. This rising threat would lead to another key instrument in World War I, Alliances and Ententes.
Alliances are an agreement that entitles one country to fight with the other in event of an attack or declaration of war. While Ententes are generally the same idea, but it does not entitle the two countries to fight together it almost certainly meant that...