World War I was one of the severest, largest, and most grievous warfares in the history of humanity. The war occurred between July 1914 and November 1918 and became one of the deadliest ones, resulting in millions of murdered people. The immediate cause of the war’s outbreak was considered to be an assassination of the heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by Serbian irredentists.
Nevertheless, the murder of Franz Ferdinand was a relatively superficial cause, a spark that provoked subsequent events leading to war and forcing all the parties to participate. In reality, the tension was created far earlier, and imperialism, militarism, alliances, and nationalism were the main generally accepted by scholars as causes of World War I (Martel, 2017). It is impossible to assess which of these rooted origins was the main one. Instead, the war was caused by the interflow of mentioned reasons. Martel (2017) states that imperialism, nationalism, and militarism “are the most prominent of the ‘underlying’ causes of war that historians have investigated in their attempts to go beneath the surface of the events that led to war in 1914” (p. 8). However, if it were not for alliances, doubtfully, the conflict would have spread this globally, resulting in the world war.
An alliance implies an agreement between two and more nations formed to serve particular purposes. Essentially, countries within one union make arrangements related to trade, politics, financial support, supplies, and mutual defense in case of a war outbreak. Due to complicated European geopolitics, the alliance system was substantively developed on the eve of World War I, and within alliances formed between 1970 and 1914, two were the most significant ones (Martel, 2017). The Triple Alliance initially included Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy and The Triple Entente consisted of France, Britain, and Russia. The complex network of European alliances led to the division of the great powers of Europe into two camps when the conflict occurred.
The binding between allies was one of the crucial points in spreading the confrontations that led to World War I. One month after Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, on 28 July, “Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia” (Martel, 2017, p. 5). Considering that Russia and Serbia were also allies, Tsar Nicholas II started mobilizing his forces the same day to support Serbia in the war against Austria-Hungary. This event appeared to be a point of no return: European countries began mobilizing their armies, and war became inevitable. On 1 August 1914, after unsatisfied order to stop helping Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. Martel (2017) claims that “there would not have been a war in 1914 if Russia had declined to support Serbia” (Martel, 2017, p. 94). France started preparing its army the same day to confront the invasion of German troops. After France declined to stay neutral, on 3 August, Germany declared war on France and the following day started invading Belgium, which was allied with France (Martel, 2017). Considering mutual defense and protection agreements with France and Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany.
Although the alliance system was not the only underlying cause of World War I occurrence, it contributed to the rapid spreading of the confrontation between European countries. Alliances were a powerful tool of balance, keeping peace and maintaining stability after a series of conflicts throughout Europe before World War I. Nevertheless, they acted as a catalyst, involving more countries to enter the war to defend and support their allies.
Reference
Martel, G. (2017). Origins of the First World War (4th ed.). Routledge.