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In 1900, the British had a 3.7:1 tonnage advantage over Germany; in 1910, the ratio was 2.3:1 and in 1914, it reached 2.1:1. Ferguson argues: "So decisive was the British victory in the naval arms race that it is hard to regard it as in any meaningful sense a cause of the First World War."
France held off until 1 December 1914, when they finally published their Yellow Book. [3] Other combatants in the war published similar books: the Blue Book of Britain, [4] the Orange Book of Russia, [4] [5] the Yellow Book of France, [6] and the Austro-Hungarian Red Book, the Belgian Grey Book, and the Serbian Blue Book. [7]
Other important long-term or structural factors that are often studied include unresolved territorial disputes, the perceived breakdown of the European balance of power, [5] [6] convoluted and fragmented governance, arms races and security dilemmas, [7] [8] a cult of the offensive, [5] [9] [8] and military planning. [10]
Before World War II, the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply the World War. [1] In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itself". [2] In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's similarly wrote, "Some wars name themselves. This is the Great War."
In 1914 the war was so unexpected that no one had formulated long-term goals. An ad-hoc meeting of the French and British ambassadors with the Russian Foreign Minister in early September led to a statement of war aims that was not official, but did represent ideas circulating among diplomats in St. Petersburg, Paris, and London, as well as the secondary allies of Belgium, Serbia, and Montenegro.
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires, [1] [notes 1] were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria; this was also known as the Quadruple Alliance.
The Allies or the Entente was an international military coalition of countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, Italy, and Japan against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria in World War I (1914–1918).
The question of German war guilt (German: Kriegsschuldfrage) took place in the context of the German defeat by the Allied Powers in World War I, during and after the treaties that established the peace, and continuing on throughout the fifteen-year life of the Weimar Republic in Germany from 1919 to 1933, and beyond.