Did Alliances lead to the Great War?

💥Play Supremacy 1914 for FREE on PC, iOS or Android: 💥 s1914.onelink.me/TX2k/KingsandGeneral and Receive an Amazing New Player Pack, only available for the next 30 day

At around 12:15 I really like the detail of Norway splitting off from Sweden, even though it has nothing to do with the actual topic at hand (Norway and Sweden were neutral in the 1st World War), it just goes to show the attention to detail which I really appreciate.

Britain and France: conquer a combined 1/3 of the Earth Germany: Can we also get in on this colonisation business? Britain and France: They’re trying to take over the world!!!

The German Empire on the map looked like a dragons head about to eat warsaw

Blackadders "How the did war begin" scene basically sums it up perfectly

Japan is kinda scared of Russia, and you'll never guess who's also scared of Russia : Great Britain. So, they form an alliance to be a little less scared of Russia.

We also can't forget the role that technology had to play in the triggering of this war. The prevailing (and correct) military doctrine of the time was that the first to mobilise would have a huge advantage, since entrenchment was such a powerful defensive move and railroads allowed for the almost immediate reinforcement of a front line. This lead to the great powers mobilising sooner rather than later, not waiting for diplomacy to resolve the situation. If they had have waited, they would have lost a lot of territory early on, which would have been hard to regain. It was called the seminal tragedy because there were so many things which could have prevented it. It was just the right time with the combination of the alliances which had formed across Europe, the technology of the day and the state of world politics. Let's hope we never see its like again.

I was gonna say something about alliances and pieces of domino, however the real reason for ww1 is that everyone was ready for it after years of peace and prosperity. The quote: "You don't know what you've got until it's gone" seems rather fitting.

Not mention of Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia in 1908 and the Balkan Wars in 1912? Those were the points where WW1 was strengthened and facilitated by the Great Powers (particularly Austria and Russia) over influence in the Balkans.

I think Blackadder said it best "The real reason for the whole thing was that it was just too much effort not to have a war"

Good thing this was the war to end all wars right? We don’t need a sequel

When Bismarck forced to resign, thats the beginning of the end of peace visioned by Bismarck.

Can I just say how much I appreciate this channel. So many channels like the take, watchmojo, wisecrack, old college humor and so many others when they getting and hire more people for more regular content it really goes to Shit. But you guys are putting out content that feels like your original stuff just with great polish, you guys are out here putting out rad content multiple times a week. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for staying yourselves. Also want to say you seem to have followed the same track as, first getting into battles and military but quickly falling in love with social and political history which provides the necessary context for the battle. Other channels skip it but you always explain it great

The biggest problem regarding the 'Alliances' precipitating the War wasn't so much that they existed but rather the fact that most of them were secret, hidden and downplayed. Almost every major power went into the War w/ blind spots regarding at least one or two missing facts about their enemies' alliances. If each power had bothered to advertised to one another better before the fact then it'd changed the calculus greatly. This was a lesson learned after WW2 about alliances when they made certain to tell the world about the formation of NATO, etc.

Now all I need is a Total World War 1.

Sir Devin has such a warm VOICE. I would love to listen it when I go to bed.

If only Family is stronger than alliances, then the World Wars would’ve been avoided.

UK: I hate you! France: I hate you as well! Germany: Hey guys I'm gonna be a great power you don't mind right? UK: What you say froggy about a Alliances? France: Oui doggy that sounds great

Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Austria and Germany: Plotting and undermining each another. Switzerland: Sits back and chill

I think this should have started with the Crimean war, since Austria's refusal to aid Russia then is the reason why these two would become hostile. Before that war, it was Austrian policy to be allied to Russia since centuries before, both to prevent an attack's by Prussia, as well as to keep Russian expansion in the Balkans under control. Russia allied itself to Austria to check Prussian expansion. One can imagine how the world would have been different if Austria kept their alliance with the Russians.