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Originally Posted by afc wimbledon
The seeds were sown with Frances humiliation and loss of the Alsace Lorraine in 1870.
In effect there were three parts to one war, 1870, 1914 and 39
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The Balkan Wars of the 1990s were pretty much an extension of WWI as well. The defeat of Austria was a victory for Serb nationalists who were awarded territory as a result. It's funny how a war that was partially started to dismantle the European imperial system, created one of the last vestiges of imperialism in Europe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
I would agree with that, the primary cause was the secret alliances, and the death throes of colonial thinking.
The assassination just got everything moving.
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That, and rapidly improving technology and an arms race. All the major powers at the time thought they could easily win a war with the others. I don't think any ever envisioned a stalemate like the one that occurred for a long time.