nt to two arms races as alleged causes of this conflict. The first of these was the arms race following the Balkan Wars that featured Germany against the Franco-Russian alliance. The second arms race was the competition for naval dominance between England and Germany that began around 1900 and continued until World War I began in 1914. (Hermann 1996:174) David G. Hermann, an assistant professor of history at Tulane, is a proponent of the spiral model who argues that these two arms races contributed directly to the start of the war. He contends that:
             "The separate governments carried out military expansions and strategic collaboration in explicit reaction to perceived threats from their rivals, and a reciprocal dynamic of military increases ensued...[He continues]...[T]he new sense of urgent competition... strongly influence the great powers' decision to go to war." (Hermann 1996:174)
             At a glance, Hermann's argument might seem logical and well grounded. After all, these two arms races occurred e
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