What was the purpose of World War 1?
1 Answer
The purpose in the view of the combatants was to resolve regional conflicts and ambitions of empires.
Explanation:
Before World War I started the 1800s and early 1900s had been a time of Empire building. European nations had established colonies and empires throughout the world. Large Empires had grown up as small political enities had been absorbed into large nation states, and empires. These Empires and nation states were rivals and in competition.
World War I became an opportunity to achieve the ambitions of the Empires and resolve long lasting conflicts. The point of World War I in the minds of the combatants was to resolve the conflicting ambitions by conflict.
The Austrian Hungarian Empire and the Russia Empire were in conflict over which empire would control the Balkans and the Slavic populations of the nations like Serbia, and Bosnia.
These specific rivalries were the spark point of World War I with the assignation of a Austrian prince by a Slavic Serbian radical, aligned to Russia.
The Russian Empire was also in conflict with the Ottoman Turkish Empire over control of the Caucasus as well as the Black Sea. A war fought in 1878 had forced Turkey out of the Balkans and given Russia more control over the Caucasus, This conflict was made more intense by the religious conflicts between the Orthodox Russian and the Muslim Ottoman Turks. At the beginning of World War I the Ottoman Turks attacked Russia in the Caucasus.
The German Empire of the Prussians was in conflict of with the Russian Empire for control of the Baltic nations, Poland, and Finland. At the start of World War I Russian Armies invaded Poland and the Baltic nations, the Germans responded by attacking Russia.
The German Empire was also in an arms race with England. Germany was building a modern navy to challenge the control of the oceans, which was key to the British Empire. Germany was also in competition with England over control of Africa, and colonies in the Continent. One of the little known parts of World War I were the battles fought between the Germans and the British in East Africa.
The German Empire and France had been engaged in a long simmering conflict over the regions between the two nations, the Alasac Louraine , and Ruhr Valley. A war between France and Germany, the Franco Prussian War had been won by Germany in 1870. World War I was seen as an opportunity by France to reverse the results of that earlier war. The long lasting battles around Verdun were a repeat of the German French War.
The point of World War I was to achieve the ambitions of the Empires.
