Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I think there were also hopes for strengthening and expanding influence in the Middle East for England. When the Ottoman Empire started to crumble, Austria-Hungary, Russia and England all started to compete for who would control those areas. All 3 were trying to take advantage of the power vacuum, while also getting sucked into the France/Germany issues.
|
The French had their eyes on parts of the Levant, mostly by 1914 the British were concerned with Germany's industrial power, they wanted to keep France strong as an easy buffer to the growing threat to Britsh trade coming from the Ruhr, the French exploited this masterfully to draw the British into an alliance in order for them to take on the Germans on even terms and get revenge for 1870, you can make an excellent case that both ww1 and 2 were just extensions of the Franco Prussian war of 1870