The Causes of WWI: Alliances and Rivalry

By 1914 the great powers of Europe were tied together in two rival alliance blocs. This division did not appear overnight — it built up over three decades as each power tried to make itself safe and ended up making everyone less safe.

The system began with Germany. After defeating France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck wanted to keep France isolated so it could never take revenge. In 1882 he built the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy.

Bloc	Members	Key dates
Triple Alliance	Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy	1882
Triple Entente	France, Russia, Britain	Franco-Russian Alliance 1894; Entente Cordiale 1904; Anglo-Russian Entente 1907

An entente is looser than an alliance. The Entente powers agreed to cooperate and settle their differences, but were not all bound by a firm promise to fight. This distinction matters: Britain was the least committed member of its own camp.

Bismarck's careful system fell apart after he was dismissed in 1890. The new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, let Germany's treaty with Russia lapse. This was a serious error, because it pushed Russia straight into the arms of France.

In 1894 France and Russia signed the Franco-Russian Alliance, a military agreement to support each other if attacked by Germany. This is why the AQA course begins in 1894: the alliance ended France's isolation and created Germany's worst nightmare.

Germany now faced the danger of a war on two fronts — France to the west and Russia to the east — at the same time. Every later German war plan, including the Schlieffen Plan, was designed to solve this single problem.

Exam link: the two-front threat is the reason the Schlieffen Plan existed. Knowing why Germany feared encirclement helps you explain the outbreak of war and the plan's aims in later questions.

For most of the 19th century Britain followed Splendid Isolation, staying out of European alliances and relying on its navy and empire. What ended this was Germany itself.

Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted Germany to be a leading world power, not just a European one. His policy of Weltpolitik ("world policy") meant:

• Building a large overseas empire to rival Britain and France.
• Expanding German trade and industry across the globe.
• Above all, building a powerful navy to protect and project this new empire.

Colonial tensions followed. Germany was a latecomer to empire and resented that Britain and France had already carved up much of Africa and Asia. Wilhelm's aggressive, unpredictable diplomacy alarmed his neighbours and made Germany look like a threat to the existing balance of power.

The single greatest source of Anglo-German tension was the naval race. Britain was an island that depended on its navy to defend its trade and its empire, and it followed a "two-power standard" — keeping a fleet at least as large as the next two navies combined.

Germany's Admiral Tirpitz set out to build a battle fleet that could challenge the Royal Navy. Then, in 1906, Britain launched HMS Dreadnought — a battleship so fast and heavily armed that it made every existing warship out of date. This reset the race to zero and let Germany try to catch up from scratch.

Year	British Dreadnoughts	German Dreadnoughts
1906	1	0
1909	around 7	around 4
1914	around 29	around 17

Figures are approximate and vary slightly between sources; the point AQA rewards is the trend — a frantic build-up on both sides. Britain kept its lead, but the race itself convinced the British public that Germany was the enemy.

The naval race turned Britain from a neutral bystander into a rival, and helped drive it toward France and Russia.

Between 1905 and 1911 a series of international crises repeatedly strained the alliances. Each one ended peacefully, but each also hardened the divide and made the next crisis more dangerous.

Crisis	Date	What happened	Effect
First Moroccan Crisis	1905–1906	Wilhelm II challenged French control of Morocco; the Algeciras Conference (1906) backed France	Germany humiliated; Britain and France drew closer
Bosnian Crisis	1908–1909	Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia (1908), angering Serbia and Russia; in 1909 Germany backed Austria and Russia was forced to accept it	Russia backed down but felt humiliated; Balkan tension rose
Second Moroccan (Agadir) Crisis	1911	Germany sent the gunboat Panther to Agadir to pressure France	Britain firmly backed France; Germany again forced to retreat

The pattern is clear. Twice Germany tried to break the Entente apart and twice it only pushed Britain and France closer together. The Bosnian crisis, meanwhile, was resolved in 1909 when Germany's backing for Austria forced Russia to accept the annexation. That humiliation left Russia determined not to back down again the next time — a resolve that would prove fatal in 1914.

The alliance system did not, by itself, start the war. There was no automatic switch that dragged everyone in. But it created the conditions in which one local dispute could explode into a general European war.

• It divided Europe into two hostile camps that saw each other's gains as their own losses.
• It meant a quarrel between two countries (Austria-Hungary and Serbia) could pull in their allies, and their allies' allies.
• Combined with the arms race and the naval race, it created a climate of fear where many leaders believed a great war was coming sooner or later.

Historians debate how much the alliances caused the war rather than simply spreading it. A strong answer treats the alliance system as a long-term cause that made war more likely and more widespread, working alongside nationalism, imperial rivalry, and the crisis in the Balkans.

1. Confusing the Triple Alliance with the Triple Entente

The Alliance (1882) is Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The Entente is France, Russia and Britain. Learn the members and dates cold — mixing them up undermines a whole answer.

2. Treating the alliances as an automatic cause

The alliances did not force war to happen. They made a local war more likely to spread. Say that they created conditions and pulled powers in, not that they "caused" the war on their own.

3. Forgetting why the course starts in 1894

The Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894 is the starting point because it ended France's isolation and created the two-front threat. This date is easy marks if you know it.

4. Ignoring Britain's late and looser commitment

Britain was in an entente, not a binding alliance, and only abandoned Splendid Isolation because of Germany's naval and colonial policy. Explaining why Britain changed side is stronger than assuming it was always committed.

5. Listing crises without explaining their effect

Do not just name Morocco and Bosnia. For each crisis, state what it did — usually to push Britain and France closer and to leave Germany or Russia humiliated and more willing to risk war next time.