To what extent was the alliance system mainly responsible for the outbreak of war?

World War 1 was a result of numerous causes, one of them being the alliance system which was a direct cause of mistrust and hostility in Europe. It can be argued that the alliance system is a very important factor. The alliance system began as the Dual Alliance in 1879 between Germany and Austria-Hungary. The treaty aimed to prevent Germany being isolated in the event of a Franco-Russian alliance causing Germany to be at an increased risk of a 2 fronted attack. The alliance came across as anti Russian and its secret nature caused suspicion, fears of war came about and tensions increased which led to the outbreak of war in 1914. This dual alliance later became the triple alliance with the addition of Italy which was seen as hostile. The triple alliance led to the outbreak of war as it forced Russia and France to ally out of fear of isolation in case war broke out, their alliance grew with the addition of Britain and now a European divide had been created which caused unnecessary rivalry and competition. The Franco Russian alliance was made in 1894, Germany became anxious and developed the schlieffen plan in 1895, this indicates that Germany feared Russia and France therefore tensions increased between these powers, this shows the alliance system led to war as it caused other to prepare for war which caused others to do the same. Without this Franco Russian pact, the schlieffen plan would never have been made, neutral Belgium would never have been invaded and Britain would never have been forced to join the war through its old treaty of London. By the summer of 1914, Europe's major powers had been divided into the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. The alliance system did cause WWI to the extent of the size of the war by bringing and pulling countries in to the war. Without it the war would have merely been a dispute between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The alliance system is arguably the most important cause of war because it created a divide and forced powers into a conflict which could well have stayed within the Balkans. There are other causes besides the alliance system. Another cause was the assassination in Sarajevo; the assassination was carried out by Serbian extremists fueled by nationalism in July 1914 and was a short term cause of ww1. The assassination gave Austria-Hungary the chance they were looking for to halt Serbias expansion which threatened Austria Hungary integrity and were looking to start a preventative war to reduce the Serbian threat. This hostile attitude towards Serbia increased tensions between Russia and Austria-Hungary as Russia considered Serbia to be a satellite state, these tensions eventually led to war when Russia was eager to defend its own in the July crisis. Austria-Hungarys declaration of war on Serbia alerted Russia and they declared war on Austria-Hungary which then looked to Germany. This is a valid causation of war however this is not as significant as the alliance systems role in the build up to war as without the alliance system, Sarajevo would have been retained within the Balkans. The assassination only released previous tensions and didnt significantly add to them. Another cause was colonial rivalry. Colonialism created competition between the powers , an example of this would be the Moroccan crisis of 1911 where Germany was identified as a threat to Britain and France due to Germanys intimidating approach to the situation. Germanys naval expansion also created Germanophobia and helped lead to war as this German threat led to Britain handing over far eastern naval influence to Japan in the Anglo-Japanese pact of 1902, this gave Japan confidence to compete with Russia for colonies in Manchuria and led to the fall of Russia in 1905 in the Russo-Japanese war. Decline of Russia tipped the balance of power in Germanys favour and gave Austria Hungary ability to push for annexation in 1908 without threat of Russia. This caused tensions to rise and led to war in 1914. Russian ambitions in the Balkans allowed Serbia to grow which led to Serbia becoming a threat to Austria Hungary. This resulted in Austria Hungary using the assassination as a means to reduce Serbian threat which resulted in war. Colonialism was a more significant cause of war than Sarajevo as colonialism created competition due to nationalism and caused greater tension as it gave many powers a reason to declare war on others whilst Sarajevo only gave Austria Hungary a reason to declare war on Serbia. The alliance system was more significant than Sarajevo as alliances created European tension whilst Sarajevo created localized tensions.

The ottoman collapse also led to war. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire led to Serbia trying to fill the void in the Balkans left by the Turks. Serbia, fueled by Russian support went on to expand into Macedonia in the first Balkan war of 1912. Serbian expansion threatened the Hapsburg empires security and resulted in Austria Hungary creating an excuse for preventative war with the ultimatum, therefore led to war. Austria Hungary were able to expand into the Balkans in the Bosnian crisis of 1908 due to Russias defeat in 1905 against Japan which came about due to colonial aspirations. Russias defeat allowed Austria Hungary to annex Bosnia without fear of Russian resistance and allowed Austria Hungary to reduce Serbian influence when the ultimatum was issued which led to war. The collapse of the ottoman empire is more significant than the Sarajevo assassination and colonialism as the collapse was a long term cause with many powers all wanting different outcomes so was always going to cause dispute and tension, it also produced other short/medium term causes which mounted tensions e.g. Balkan wars. However it isnt as significant as the alliance system as the Ottoman Empire collapse only affected a small amount of powers around the region and not all of Europe, the collapse alone would not have dragged others in and divided Europe.