Which Was The More Important Cause Of World War 1

There are many long and short term causes of World War 1, some developed over years and some a matter of days. Although many believe that the Moroccan Crises in 1905 and 1911, and the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand are the two main causes of World War 1. These two topics will be explained and inducted in this following essay to see, which is the more important cause of World War 1?

In 1905 the French were getting ready to make Morocco into one of its colonies. Britain, Spain, and Italy had no problems with the matter, but Kaiser Wilhelm the Second pretended he was offended that Germany had no matter in this (as Germany had no really colonies). So the Kaiser travelled to Morocco, and delivered a message personally to the Sultan of Morocco, stating that he would stop the French from taking over. But the Kaiser had a cunning plan to test the French and see if they would declare war, and furthermore to check whether Britain would come to Frances aid in it's time of need. After a couple of weeks they decided against war and decided to hold a conference in Spain about Morocco. At the conference it was decide that France would have special rights over Morocco, but Morocco wouldn't become a colony. Kaiser Wilhelm was disappointed, but now knew that Britain and France would stand side by side, but wouldn't join together to fight German.

Five years later the second crises happened, as some Moroccan rebels attacked a town called Fez, so the French sent 20,000 soldiers to drive them back to Morocco. The Kaiser accused France of attacking Morocco, and sent in a warship called the Panther to a port called Agadir. The British believed that German were planning to make a naval base on this port, which would rival the British base near Gibraltar. Once again war seemed likely, and the ball was in the Kaisers court, but he ordered his warships to leave the port. So war was avoided once more, and it seems that the two crises tested the great powers strength and resolve.

On the 22nd May 1911, a secret society was made with the sole purpose of uniting all the Slav people in the Balkans into one country. It was called the Black Hand. The leader Colonel Apis heard that the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand would make a visit to Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914. It was a thoughtless decision as the 28th was the Serbian National Day, and secondly the details gave the Black Hand the opportunity to plan, and think for all the numerous ways of assassinating the Archduke. Three Bosnian students, who had tuberculosis, were given bombs, guns, and a small vial of cyanide (poison) and were trained how to use all the weapons. There leader was Gavrilo Princip. Four days before the visit they crossed the border and made their way to Sarajevo.

The day came as the Archduke and his wife arrived at the station at 9:30, they got into a dark green, open topped car, it was one of six. As they were travelling, they passed one of the terrorists who throw a bomb at them, luckily they saw it coming, and deflected into a road where the bomb exploded behind them. They reach the town hall and it was decided