Britain entered into conflict with Germany - 1. Britain made the first battleship during that time. Germany was the only other nation to rival Britain when they made the Dreadnought battleship. They nearly rivalled Britain. Another reason was for the conflict in Asia. For colonial supremacy. Germany entered the race later on and began asserting her dominance in Asia when Germany took Shandong province. Britain feared Germany might in Asia. Third, when Germany attacked France , Britain decides to officially enter the 1st World War as France was Britain's ally. Germany attacked France because Austria attacked Serbia(ally of France) . there r more other political and economic reasons too.
First battleship ?!? No that was years earlier with the ships of the line massive three and four deckers of the French Spanish and Royal Navy in the 1800's The revolutionary battleship was the HMS dreadnaught first of the dreadnaught class of battleship which rendered all previous battleships obsolete. Nor was the German navy only threat the French and American navies were also significant. Nor was Serbia an ally of France Russia was Serbias ally and the threat of Russian intervention in the Austro-Hungary/Serbia conflict was the reason Austro-Hungary called on their ally to help. Britain didn't join the war to help France it's reasoning was that treaty that ensured Belguim independence and neutrality had been violated by Germany one of the other signatories to that treaty. Finally Asia wasn't the greatest source of Anglo/German conflict over colonies Africa was more important and where more fighting was to take place during the war.
Britain's security is compromised whenever the balance of power in Europe is threatened. Britain (and before that England) has gone to war to maintain that balance since the rise of the nation state. Her power has generally been projected financially. WWI is unusual in that Britain committed a large land army (in comparison to the other combatants). Britain certainly had the capacity to win WWI in much the same way as it had done in the Napoleonic/Revolutionary wars a century earlier. Demographic expansion in Europe had been very rapid. The continent could not feed itself or its industry. Blockade would most likely have been sufficient by 1920 or so. So why wage war as it did? Not being an Edwardian I can only guess at the moral imperative for a ground war. A blockade might beat the Central Powers but would it undermine Britain's global preeminence perhaps. The financial cost of the ground war, and maintaining allies, destroyed that preeminence anyway but was that predictable in 1914?
The issue with following the policy of the napoleonic wars was that depended on European powers staying in the fight. Britain was not singularly successful vs France during that time they needed Prussia Russia and Austria to field armies which they helped pay for while bleeding the French army in the peninsula wars which cost even more treasure to maintain. By the start of WW1 the balance of power was very different the wars of German unification had shown the power of the combined states roundly defeating France.
Actually, the economic and demographic expansion of the European and world economy suggests that dominating the continent militarily would be difficult to sustain. Much more so than a century earlier. Britain was financially very distressed in 1814. Its dependence on European markets greater than a century earlier. The blockade was causing immense problems for the Central Powers in 1918. People were starving. Germany could not have beaten Britain militarily in WWI. It did not have the resources. The only other outcomes would be compromise or defeat. Given the British desire to maintain the balance of power compromise would have been impossible. The German defeat was inevitable as soon as the British intervened.
I would recommend you guys go to YouTube and lol up the series/channel called "the Great War" for a week-by-week overview of the war, in real time, exactly 100 years after the war took place.
I know. I put it in short coz ppl believe history is boring and crap. Who needs history. So I decided maybe I should put it short. How am I supposed to know that their is a history lover. Well I can give you long way if ya want. If ppl don't like history long way or short way, then why bother with history. Go be doctors and engineers.