Franco Russia Alliance example essay topic

"Competing alliances caused the eventual outbreak of World War I.".. Do you agree with this statement? Argue your case. Yes the competition between all of the countries in Europe and the alliances that were between them eventually led to the outbreak of WWI. The alliance systems were as follows. The "dual alliance" was between Germany and Austria-Hungary.

The idea was that if either Germany or Austria-Hungary were attacked by Russia, one would come to the other's aid. This became the triple alliance when Italy joined with them. The re-insurance treaty was between both Germany and Russia, it promised neutrality if attacked by a third power. It lapsed in 1890. The Franco-Russia alliance was a defensive agreement in response to the triple alliance between both France and Russia. The Entente Cordiale was established in 1904 between France and Britain giving the French support from British troops and naval fleet.

In 1907 the Triple Entente was formed with Russia entering into the Entente Cordiale. From the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) in which Prussia defeated France as a part of the process of unifying Germany under Prussian leadership, a system of secret alliances developed in Europe. These alliances eventually split Europe into two hostile sides. Because so many different powers were involved in mutual defence agreements, it involved nearly every country of Europe. Because of the alliances, some powers were forced to support policies and actions followed by their partners, which they didn't really agree with. The secret alliances led to suspicion and the belief that far more secret agreements existed.

The competition for colonies was another source of international antagonism. The great powers divided Africa among themselves, established regions of influence in China and sought protectorates elsewhere. Sooner or later the rush to gather new territories was bound to cause disagreements over boundaries of control between the world powers. All the countries within the hostile camps were building large armies and navies during the pre-war years. As a side effect, a class of professional and powerful military officers developed and began to dominate the civil authorities. In addition, before the conflict happened, the armies of each country had drawn up complete plans for mobilization.

These plans only awaited the signal to go ahead. Strong feelings of nationalism turned France against Germany and Russia against Austria - Hungary. Speeches (especially in Germany) hastened the war by painting it as the best test for proof of their overall -superiority. These general causes created an atmosphere in Europe, which made war a probability, not a possibility.

The event which transformed these underlying problems into a frenzy of hostilities happened in the Balkans. In 1911 Germany attempted to block French influence in morocco (a French protectorate), but nationalism in the Balkans provided the spark for war. The Ottoman empire was weakening rapidly. Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania and Greece all wanted to add to their existing territories at Turkish expense. Russia had an interest in the area because of Pan Slavism (links of race, language and religion with Serbia and Bulgaria). Because of these links Russia saw itself as a protector of it's fellow slavs and it had a desire to control the exits from the Black sea.

Nationalism of the Balkans posed threat to Austria-Hungary since the Serbs wished to break away. On June 28, 1914, Francis Ferdinand (Archduke) of Austria was assassinated while visiting Serbia. At first, it appeared to be another Balkan crisis that might pass without a major disturbance, but a month later, Austria severed relations with Serbia, a move that was only a few days before the outbreak of war. Germany supported Austria's actions, while Russia stepped forward to defend its small Balkan friend. Despite frantic efforts by peacemakers to localize the war, it spread rapidly, involving France, Belgium, and soon Great Britain. As the world looked on, Europe erupted into a mighty war, almost overnight.

In conclusion there were many reasons for the outbreak of WWI, but the main reason was the competing alliances between practically all of Europe. If there was trouble between two countries, instead of having a relatively small scale war between the two of them, the whole of Europe was dragged in to fight because of the commitments they made while making the alliances.