Alliances, a union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations. European leaders in the late nineteenth century thought that by creating a balance of power they could prevent large wars. Their idea was that if major powers of Europe were balanced in strength than no one country could dominate others. The alliances in World War One were known as the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente. The Triple Alliance was a secret agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, and the Triple Entente was an agreement between France, Russia, and Great Britain. These alliances were …show more content…
Many people during this time liked the idea of war, proof of this is from a personal account given by Bertrand Russell.He said “During this and the following days I discovered to my amazement that average men and women were delighted at the prospect of war” (DBQ: “What were the Underlying Causes of World War One”.2010.p.Doc 2). Many people thought this because they thought the war wouldn't last long.Militarism was an arms race. Countries wanted a large army, so they competed for it. They would draft in more soldiers and expenses fell on civilian populations. Almost all of the major powers doubled the size of their armies. Therefore having a larger army made them more prideful and made other countries