the explanations of the origins of the First World War given by Michael Howard and T.G. Otte Which factors were the most important in causing the outbreak of the war, according to these authors? Which factors do you consider to be the most important and why?

According to T.G. Otte, in 1900 the five Great Powers were able to mobilize around 10 million men.One should finally take into consideration the factor of competition, which has been covered to an extent in previous passages. One can trace the tendency for colonization (take France, Britain and Germany), showing the will to predominate in the world. Furthermore, the rivalry between Germany and Britain demonstrates how technological and military advances can affect interstate relations. The German Empire made it its goal to develop its fleet. The Imperial High Seas Battle Fleet was supposed to reach two thirds of the British fleet, which posed a threat to Britain, with its fleet being the major source of income and power in the world.3 The Rival AlliancesThrough the course of time the two major diplomatic alliances were formed, namely the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. Otto von Bismark had foreseen the tension between Empires, namely Germany and France, so he was the one, who started the process of alliance-forming. Eventually, the Triple Alliance consisted of three members: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. On the other side there were at first France and Russia, which were afterwards supported by Britain. As a matter of fact, Britain and Germany had not been enemies and had no specific claims against each other. However, due to the lack of diplomacy from the German side, as well as the navy race, the relations between these two empires became colder and more rigid.1911 was the year when the whole world thought war to be inevitable, mainly due to the British-German confrontation. However, the outbreak happened three years later on the Balkans.4 The Way to the WarThe infamous assassination of Habsburg Archduke Franz-Ferdinand in 1914 had its precondition. The Austria-Hungary’s intention was to facilitate its control over the premises of the Balkan provinces, so in 1908 there happened the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which caused the creation of terrorist groups, mainly the “Black Hand”. After the following two Balkan wars against the Ottoman Empire, Serbia was facing troubles. Austria, however was simply frustrated by the fact that its power in the region was almost inexistent. Thus the July crisis 1914 gave a firm resolution for Austria to eradicate its Serbian enemies. They issued an ultimatum that would, if accepted, have turned Serbia virtually into a client state of the Dual Monarchy. This act was done to provoke Russia, so Austria obtained ‘a blank cheque’ from Germany, assuring them of German support in the event of war. Germany had its own reasons for the war to begin sooner. As the events had taken place, Russia’s influence had been diminished by the lost war in the East, as well as troubles in the domestic policy. The first Revolution had already shaken the ground, and the Empire was not capable to be substantially involved in a war. Despite that, the Russians, as well as the French (who had recently had the Agadir crisis) were determined for war. Britain, however, had no enthusiasm of getting involved, yet it could not afford Germany’s victory and World Power.ConclusionTo sum up, one can see, that the World War I might have been avoided, if not the abovementioned factors, namely the arms race and the competition. We agree on the fact that such factors as technical advances in weaponry production and the demographic explosion had their impact on the war situation, however, we consider them to be mostly an aid to the war, rather that the cause. The tension between countries, as well as the ambitions of militaristic Germany towards the World Power, appeared to be the main reasons for the drastic event.References1 Howard, Michael, The First World War: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), Ch. 1-2.2 Kennedy, Greg, Dorman, Andrew M., War and Diplomacy: From World War I to the War on Terrorism (Washington: University of Nebraska Press, 2008), Ch. 1.