preview

World War I And The Great War

Good Essays

Annie Poll
Period 3 AP European History
Free-Response Essay
31 March, 2016

World War I is often called “The Great War”. This was because it was the first war to affect such a large geographical area and involve so many countries. These countries’ governments had complicated relationships with each other and even the people who they governed. This war was largely unavoidable because of these complicated relationships and diplomacies. The first example of these relationships were the ones countries at this time had with each other: alliances. An alliance is an agreement between two or more countries in which they promise support to each other, this support often relating to military. There were two major alliances that faced off in World War I: the Central Powers and the Triple Entente. The Central Powers were not always called the Central Powers; when the Prussian general Otto von Bismarck united Germany in 1871, he was fearful of the vulnerability of the new united country, and knew he needed alliances. He knew France was not an option because of the resentment harbored by the French government after Germany annexed the French province of Alsace-Lorraine, and Britain was not a viable option because of their policy of “splendid isolation”. So, Germany looked instead to the east and formed the Three Emperors’ league with Russia and Austria-Hungary. After the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, Russia decided they were dissatisfied with the terms and removed themselves from

Get Access