sire for self rule. Finally, after multipleattempts, the Italians freed themselves from Austria-Hungarian control.However, there would never again be unequivocal peace between the twonations again. From that point on, they watched each other's every action,and were always preparing to fight. It is believed by Pierre Renouvin, theauthor of The Immediate Origins of War that "The vigorous assertion ofnational feeling is one of the basic traits of the period . . . " and that ".. . The effective impulse (for the war) came from national feelings and frompassionate emotions."As tensions grew between countries, feelings of insecurity began todevelop. Many countries decided to increase their armies, and their navies,also known as militarism. As one country would begin to enhance theirmilitary, other countries felt compelled to do the same to avoid possibleunsuspected attacks. On a chart representing the per capita expenditures onarmaments, many countries, within just ten years prior to the war increasedtheir military's defense and offence by two to even three hundred percent.The actions of the European nations greatly intensified the chances for forecoming of a full scale war. In the Origins of the World War by SidneyBradshaw Fay, it says "This hostility (within Europe) was accentuated by theincrease of armaments, economic rivalry, and nationalist ambitions . . . "When one or more countries felt that they needed support, or protection,they would find another country searching for something comparable, and makean agreement to stand by each other during war. These agreements were knownas alliances. During the war, two major allied groups came about. They werethe triple entente which consisted of Great Britain, France, and Russia, andthe triple alliance which consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary.Throughout the war, alliances maintained a great role, however, initiallyalliances were not a contributing factor. If there had not been imperi...
