Study this source. Source B The following table shows the number of large warships (dreadnought-class battleships) in the British and German navies between ...

This is a source utility question worth [8 marks] asking how far the source proves the naval arms race was the main cause of the First World War. You must evaluate the evidence and then challenge the word "main."

Evidence of the arms race causing tension [up to 4 marks]:

The source shows a dramatic buildup of naval power by both Britain and Germany between 1906 and 1914:

• Britain launched the first dreadnought in 1906, a revolutionary battleship that made all existing warships obsolete. Germany immediately began building its own, starting from zero in 1906 and reaching 17 by 1914.
• The competition was intense: Britain went from 1 dreadnought in 1906 to 29 by 1914, always maintaining a lead. The campaign "We want eight and we won't wait" reflected British public anxiety about German naval expansion.
• Using own knowledge, Kaiser Wilhelm II's Naval Laws of 1898 and 1900 committed Germany to building a fleet that directly challenged British naval supremacy. Britain, as an island nation dependent on trade and its empire, regarded command of the seas as essential to national survival.
• The naval rivalry poisoned Anglo-German relations and pushed Britain towards closer ties with France (Entente Cordiale, 1904) and Russia (Triple Entente, 1907), hardening the alliance system that would turn a local crisis into a continental war.

Limitations as proof of the "main cause" [up to 4 marks]:

• The naval race had cooled by 1914: By 1912, Germany had acknowledged it could not outbuild Britain at sea and redirected resources to its army. The naval rivalry was most intense between 1906 and 1912, but the war did not break out until 1914, suggesting other factors were more immediately important.
• The war was not primarily a naval conflict: The First World War was triggered by events in the Balkans and fought mainly on land. The key naval engagement (Battle of Jutland, 1916) was indecisive, and the war was decided by army strength, not naval power.
• Only two countries: The source covers only Britain and Germany, ignoring the roles of Austria-Hungary, Russia, France, Serbia, and the Ottoman Empire in causing the war. The direct trigger was the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.
• Other causes were equally or more important: The alliance system, imperial rivalries in Africa (the Moroccan Crises of 1905 and 1911), the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the Schlieffen Plan's demands for rapid mobilisation, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand all played crucial roles. No single factor can be isolated as the "main" cause.

Exam technique: When a question asks whether something was the "main cause," you must evaluate the factor mentioned and compare it to other causes. Explain what the source shows, but also explain what it cannot show and what other factors were at least as important. The word "main" is your cue to weigh competing explanations.