World War One
Most historians today accept the idea of shared responsibility for the outbreak of World War I in 1914. ... Although all the major European powers had reasons for wanting war, Germanys aggression was the main cause of World War I. It was Germany that threatened Britains naval supremacy, planned to invade France and actively encouraged their ally Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. The Germans foreign policy was aggressive because Germany was prepared for war and began to treat it as an eventuality that would advantage them, not a last resort to be avoided at all costs. This aggression was part of Germanys desire for expansion of territory and world power that was the underlying cause of the first world war. ... There was great tension between France and Germany because of the recent defeat of the French in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871, which saw Germany annex the French territory of Alsace Lorraine. ... Germany had set itself on a course that would could only end with a war with Britain on one side and Germany on the other. ... Had Germany not forced Britain to join the alliance against it, then war could have been averted. All these tensions, however, would not have resulted in war if it had not been for the creation of the alliance system.