Factors That Led to World War 1
... that conflicted with the others’. For example in 1871 France was defeated be Germany and therefore lost two provinces: Lorraine and Alsace. Because of this loss the great ambition of France since 1871 was to return both its provinces, and to restore its national pride, and there was no other way than war. Germany on the other hand, being a rather newly established country in Europe, wanted to prove it was strong, and wanted more territories. No country would give its territories willingly, and the only way to obtain them would be by war. (http://www.thecorner.org/wwi/national.htm) Because of such rivalries each of the powers felt the need to increase its manpower, and firearms because a bigger and stronger army meant that their requests, needs, and ultimatums would be accepted. A stronger army equaled a bigger power. For example from 1913 to 1914 Germany increased its forces by an additional 170 000 troops, France extended the duration of military services from 2 to 3 years. The increased military rivalry led to the opinion that war was coming, and the military presence in the civilian governments increased as well, and this can’t help to prevent the war so it helped starting it. (http://www.thecorner.org/wwi/military.htm) Another important factor causing WW1 was the ignorance of the nations. Because no major war has been fought in Europe for ...