International Tensions Between 1871 - 1914 Essays -

International Tensions Between 1871 - 1914 International Tensions between 1871 - 1914 With some tough footsteps in which to follow, Wilhelm II was led towards a military lifestyle. He surrounded himself with the German military and its militaristic society. As the Kaiser grew older, he wanted ?a place in the sun? for the German people and to do that, Germany needed to have colonies overseas. There wasn't much room left for new colonisation, never the less, Wilhelm built up the German military and under the Tripitz Plan, built a naval fleet to rival that of Great Britains. The British completion of the HMS Dreadnought in 1906, brought unexpected results. The HMS Dreadnought represented a true terror weapon of the day whose speed, armament, and firepower obsoleted every other battleship in existence. Kaiser William II of Germany hated and envied Britain for having a stronger navy than his. He increased the German navy and built many warships. Britain responded with building more ships and in creasing its navy too. This started a race for building more and better warships and it created tension and competition between the two countries, it was called the arms race. The British were aware of the fact that the defeat of the their navy would mean the end of their empire while the defeat of the German navy wouldn't ensure the absolute defeat of Germany. The relations between these two countries dropped dramatically as the result of this race and it assured the joining of Britain to the Franco-Russian side in the event of a conflict. Germany and France were rivals for centuries, the rivalry had increased since the beginning of the century and the end of the 19th century. This happened because of the war between those two countries in 1870-71, when Germany defeated France. Germany took over the areas of Alsace and Lorraine and the French people wanted to revenge Germany and take back the lands. France could not start a war against Germany, simply because of the reason that Germany had more