Abstract World War One is considered by many to be the greatest war the world has seen. World War One was the first war of worldwide magnitude and its effects on the world are still reverberating today. This paper explores whether the foreign policies of European governments before 1914 contributed to outbreak of the war. The investigation covers the foreign policies of all major European powers, including Germany, Austria-Hungry, Russia, France and Britain.
From the Paper "Rivalry between Austria-Hungry and Russia was very evident, and could escalate into conflict easily. The breakup of the Ottoman Empire led to both Russia and Austria-Hungry seeking to profit through the expansion. The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 was not only a disaster for the Ottomans but for the Austrians as well because enemies such as Serbia had raised an army of 200,000. 4 Serbia desired to unite all Serbs including the 7.3 million Serbs who lived in Austria-Hungry with the 3.3 million who lived within the boundaries of Serbia. Serbia had the support of Russia in freeing the Serbs from oppressive empires such as Austria-Hungry. In 1908 the Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ended Austro-Russian collaboration and opened an era of suspicion and antagonism."
