European Tensions leading to WWI

Claim @KBhHIST201PalmerCh17

Throughout the early 19th century, Europeans believed that their technological innovations would defuse conflicts and bring overall happiness due to the fear of fighting. Owning to this, they maintained huge standing armies due to fears of internal conflicts and to keep peace.

These are quite powerful armies — a la… Britian, for instance – which had one of if not the largest navy on the planet at the time.

German unity brought boom in industry in especially the Germanic states but also all of Europe => Germans wanted street cred ("a place in the sun") for all their industrialization. Their actions directly added pressure to the cause of WWI.

See KBhHIST201WWIStartWRTGermany

At this point! Two camps began to form: the German-Austrian-Italian alliance vs. the Frenco-Russian alliance: each having touch feelings about the other.

Sprints of cross-floor coopreation did occur but unstable and rare.

*Everyone was looking at Britian because what they did determined how the BOP will be constructed/disrupted. They prided themselves on isolation and the lack of alliance, but when Germany supported Boers in Boers vs. Britian, conflict began to brew.*

CLAIM (@KBhHIST201PalmerCh17) Britian's move here is critical and probably caused a war. Because germany supported against Britian, they triggered Britian to become allianced with the others against it.

Of course, pissing Britian off is not a very good thing. Namely, you probably want a good navy so that you could at least fight a little. So Germans did just that. See KBhHIST201WWIStartWRTGermany

At this point, the three nations (E, F, R) of the "Triple Entente" were acting together against the "Triple Alliance" (G, I, A).

Kaiser William II attempted to test the relationship between France and England (the Entente), so Germany did a few things.

1. Kaiser William making a speech directly against the French claim in Morocco. Britian backend the French side, and because of this tactic, the two strengthed relationship in fear of the common Germanic enemy.
2. A gunboat appeared in Agadir and demanded that the French give up some of the congo. British cabinet David Lloyd George protested this.