The outbreak of World War One was reliant on a number of factors. These include the alliance system, the sense of nationalism sweeping Europe at the time. The imperial and colonial rivalry resulted in the naval and arms race. When Germany's role in these causes is examined it is possible to come to the conclusion that Germany, whilst not entirely to blame for the out break of World War One, certainly deserves a fair share of responsibility. Its share of responsibility lies in its involvement in the alliance system, its role in the arms race and the nationalistic policies of its government.

At the end of last century Europe was dominated by five powers: Germany; Great Britain; Russia; France and Austria-Hungary. The relationships between these powers was precarious and unsettled. Europe was still coming to terms with the industrial revolution and each world power had internal problems to deal with. At the same time, a sense of nationalism was sweeping Europe. This created additional problems for the leaders of some of the nations. Austria-Hungary, a patch-work empire, was troubled by civil unrest. The ethnic groups within Austria-Hungary were demanding that they be

Although all the powers were involved in the arms race, the statistics suggest that Germany was the most aggressive, increasing its spending on armaments by 350% between 1872 and 1912. Germany made massive economic and military preparations for war. This willingness to fight a war has been seen by many as an indication of the amount of responsibility Germany owes for the outbreak of the war.

There was also a race to prepare for war on land. Each of the great powers possessed detailed military plans. The general staff from each of these powers believed that the best defense policy was to attack. The main flaw with these war plans was that they were based on the assumption that the Alliances would prove to be binding. The inflexibility of the German plan meant that a Russian mobilization would produce an invasion of France via Belgium. Each of the military plans involved the movement of enormous numbers of soldiers, supplies and equipment and was reliant on precise timing and logistical perfection.

allowed to form their own nations, free from the rule of the Austrian Empire. They was also tension between France and Germany as a result of Prussia's defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. French morale was low and the population was bitter over the loss of the territories of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany. Throughout Europe the economic and political climate fueled nationalistic ideology.

From looking at the build-up of Germany's army and its fear of encirclement, one may consider that the paranoia of Germany's neighbors led to the increasingly hostile political climate that followed, and that Germany was simply looking after its own best interests without bothering the others. But to say this would ignore the third reason that Germany was creating so much tension in this region. The imperial and colonial race.

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Approximate Word count = 1321
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)