Factors Leading to World War I
...hey possessed. Tensions existed between France and Germany over France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War(1870). France wanted to regain its lost territory and national pride. Russia believed it deserved and ice-free port on either the Baltic Sea (through German territory)or the Mediterranean Sea(through Austria-Hungary). Slavs in Austria-Hungary wanted their own country. Italy wanted to regain parts of Austria-Hungary where Italians lived. Poles wanted independance from Germany. Fueled by industrial profits, European military expenditures increased by 300% between 1870 and 1914. Great Britain, the strongest naval power in the world, employed a "two power standard",their navy must be larger than any two other countries combined. When Germany tripled its expenditures on warships, to try and catch up to Britain, the English increased their spending too. This fueled the arms race mentality. Similarly, when Russia began to mobilize...