What Caused WWI, and Who was to Blame?

What Caused World War I, and Who Was to Blame?

A: Alliance System

-the alliance between France and Russia
-the suspicions hightened between France and Russia and Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia thought war was the only answer to make peace

B: Colonial Rivalry

-Germany wasn't happy with not gaining more land in Africa and the Far East
-Germany wanted more

C: Naval Race

-German laws enabled them to build up their navy
-at first Britain didn't see it as a threat, but then Germany started building it up quickly
-Britain tried to stop Germany from building their navy even more
-Britain built the Dreadnought, which enabled Germany to build battleships similar to the Dreadnought
-before they couldn't because then Britain would worry and be more suspicious of Germany

D: Economic Rivalry

-Germany wanted war with Britain because they wanted to be the economic master of the world
-Britain owed half the world's tonnage of merchant ships in 1914
-Germany wanted to be a strong economic power, like the United States today

E: Russia Supported Serbia

-Russia backing up Serbia made them more reckless in their rioting against Austria-Hungary and their government
-Russia took action first with their army to aid Serbia
-Russia's mobilization provoked the mobilization of Germany
-Russia thought that they could possibly gain control of the Dandelles Strait, which would give them a warm water access for trading

F: Germany Backing Austria at Crucial

-at first Germany wouldn't back up Austria in 1913, but then in 1914 they said they would
-Germany gave Austria the choice to declare war or not and Germany would back them up either way
-Germany provoked war with Russia, Britain, and France with this move
-Germany wanted war because they felt encircled and because everyone was coming closer and closer to war

G: Mobilization Plans

-Germany made the Schlieffen Plan where they would make a fish hook into France, conquer Paris, and move on to Russia
-it didn't work in reality
-Germans said that the Schlieffen Plan is the reason why they lost the war
-Russia had a plan and mobilized it before Germany could get to the east front
-it was one of five supposed plans, and was last on the list

H: A "Tragedy of Miscalculation"

-it is the theory that many of the countries miscalculated their predictions and made bad mistakes
-Austria thought that Russia would not back up Serbia but they did
-Germany made a bad mistake by promising to support Austria with no conditions attached
-Germany and Austria therefore risked a major war
-In Russia politicians believed that Germany's mobilization wouldn't mean war but it did
-and most of the countries believed that it would be a quick and easy war, but it was far from it (they believed that they'd be back by Christmas and that the other countries would be easily conquered).