Who started WW1

[Fisherking]

Great Britain had a problem with Germany becoming an economic power to challenge them.

Germany didn’t help matters by building a modern fleet (for the time). Britain was looking for an excuse to get involved. Naturally they had to teach their upstart cousins that to challenge them was folly.

However, the real cause of the wider war was France. Their thirst for vengeance was the real cause.

Of course any one of the powers acting like an adult rather than a spoiled child would have upset the balance and defused the situation.

It has to be one of the stupidest wars of all time. Every participant should feel a sense of shame.

As for Britain, they had two ways of ending the conflict before it started.

1) The could have said unconditionally they supported France, thus giving Germany pause before a preemptive strike.

2) They could have said we are under no circumstances getting involved. This would result in France biting off more than they could chew and being more open to a diplomatic solution.

By doing neither they allowed the situation to escalate. They wanted Germany humbled but mostly they wanted to stop its economic expansion.

In some ways this makes Britain one of the worst opportunists of the war, along with Italy and Japan.