Was WWI caused by the operation or breakdown of the balance of power Essay

Was WWI caused by the operation or breakdown of the balance of power - Essay Example Introduction: The original traces of world war one can be stretched back to the events of 17th and 18th century. Major players in this account were the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Great Britain, France, Germany and numerous others. Each had its own significance on account of the strategic importance enjoyed or the military and other strengths. The Ottoman Empire had its own account of strengths and it served as the center figure in the entire proceedings of the European affairs. Brief Background: France had become a potent force ever since the era of Napoleon. The Napoleon wars had created unrest of its own kind in form of the geographical disturbances of the maps of Europe. Germany had its own account of tale and history. Great Britain had enjoyed supremacy and history of excellence in recent centuries in its own manner and as a result, this situation resulted in a situation and environment of rivalry and animosity against one another. Allies and Central Powers: Based on the interests, rivalries, soft corners and direct and hidden motives against one another the Europe ended up getting divided into two distinct blocs. The Allies that made up for one strong army and team of nations, in contrast to them was the Central powers that were driven by the ambitions of ending the status quo. The Allies contained the likes of Great Britain, France and Russia, while the Central powers included the Germans, the Austrians, and Ottoman Empire as the three big players. As a result of this broad and visible division, the European continent was split up into two distinct blocs with the continent itself on the verge of a military offensive and launching against the other camp through the mere excuse of military and personal damages. The case of Ottoman Empire: Ottoman Empire reached its zenith in the middle of 15th century when it captured Constantinople in 1453 (Turnbull, 2012, 37). It saw the first halt in its proceedings in 1682-1683 when it was stopped in its offensives against the Europeans notably Hungry, Austria and Poland. Since that time on Ottoman Empire and the Porte kept getting inflicted with all kinds of issues and problems. The Porte was faced with problems from the governors designated in different parts of the entire kingdom that was spread across multiple continents, on others it was on account of the issues with Russia. The case of Holy Places: Holy places were point of interest for various subjects. The holy places came about in form of the Palestine and Jerusalem. The Porte had the custody of these places and he would from time to time assign the custody and guardianship from one set of subjects to other interchangeable shifting between the Protestants and the Catholics. The shift over took place between the Latin Catholics guardians and the Greek monks who demanded the custody. France and Russia were split apart over the rivalry and interest in this matter. Both had political motives against it which they presented, expressed and aimed a t protecting through the cry, slogan and garb of religious interests. The French were siding with the Latin followers who demanded the custody, while the Russians sided with the Protestant Greek Monks. In recent times on account of negligence the Porte had decided to handover the guardianship and custody on the account of negligence by one of the party. This gave rise to political debate and political point scoring form a religious matter and