Causes of World War I Essay

World War I, also known as the first World War, or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe the began on the 28th of July 1914 and lasted until the 11th of November 1918. World War I was a war that was fought between two sides with a few of the World’s greatest Nations of that time. The two sides were Triple Entente which included Britain, France, and Russia, and the Triple Alliance which was consisted of the countries Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. World War I left a mark on history as we know it, what could have possibly led to that war?, What were the underlying causes of World War I?. The major causes of “The Great War” or WWI consist of four long-term causes and one short-term cause. The common acronym that’s used for the four long-term causes to help students remember the causes of WWI is M.A.I.N; the acronym stands for Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism,and the short-term cause The Assassination of the ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914. To put all of this in a simpler way the five major causes of WWI was Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism, and the assassination of the ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand. Each of topics played a significant role in the reasons why WWI would begin.

Though most historians consider the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary the most immediate cause of WWI, or the rise of Germany to be the main cause since they signed the Versailles Treaty (Doc 4), many agree that the war was not caused by just one thing. Instead, it was caused by a concept instead of specific people or countries. It seemed that everyone, during this time period, had started to increase their military power and defense systems. Therefore, World War I was caused by two things: the fear these countries had of losing their power, and the big toll that European Imperialism took international relations.

One of the causes of the war was nationalism, or pride in one’s country. The belief that a person’s own nation or culture is superior to all others led European nations to compete to build the largest army and navy. The countries that were better suited to win the war such as France and Germany strongly advocated the war because the people thought it proved they were the best country (Document 1). It also gave groups of subject peoples the idea of forming independent nations of their own, from foreign rulers (Document 5) . Germany, Italy, Russia, France, Great Britain, and

World War 1 was the introduction to a series of political, economical and social issues that involved almost every major super power in the world. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 was the primary source of struggle that triggered a series of events which lead to World War 1. Many nations, such as Germany, Britain and France were already armed and ready for a war before the assassination of Franz Ferdinand occurred due to political unrest at the time between the two countries.

Despite being one of the largest and most detrimental wars in Europe’s history, World War I was started by the action of one single person. In June of 1914, the Archduke of Austria- Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian assassin while visiting Serbia. After this, there was tension when Serbia refused to Austria- Hungary apologize for the killing of their Archduke. This continued to escalate until Austria- Hungary declared war on Serbia. Following this, war broke out between countries all around Europe, leading to World War I. Although, the war would not have grown as large as it did if it weren’t for a few factors that allowed the spark of the assassination of the Archduke of Austria- Hungary- Hungary to ignite an entire fire. Many countries

Even today, the causes of World War one is still being debated and the great war started 96 years ago and ended 92 years ago. Yet today after so much time the main cause of the war still remains unexposed to this day. What triggered the whole war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie of Austria-Hungary on June 28th 1914 by The Black Hand. The assassination happened because of feelings toward the Serbians. The Archduke and his wife were on a parade route in their car during their visit to Sarajevo. Many assassins were lined up to take the kill of the Archduke but all failed, there was one young assassin named Gavrilo

The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the rise of Nationalism combined to spark WW1 because Austria- Hungary, where he was from, declared war with Serbia, which are the people who killed him. I thought this was expected from Austria-Hungary. Especially back then if someone important was killed they would start a huge war over it, just to get justice.

World War 1 was a historical period in which the UK, France and the Russian Empire (known as the Triple Entente) went to war with Germany and Austria-Hungry. It lasted for 4 years spanning from July 29th, 1914 to November 11th, 1918. There was much miscommunication between nations, which in turn was cause for much bloodshed as it led to about 16 million deaths in total. Many historians note this War as the deadliest in world history. As the war progressed, many other nations started joining in and taking sides. Soon enough the war would spread over the world. The wars cause is believed to be due to the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Because of this, Austria- Hungry declared war on Serbia. One would lead to the other and we were left with a mess of each nation at war with each other, making up the World War.

     There were three very important causes of World War One; Nationalism, Militarism, and Imperialism ( Davidson, Castillo, Stoff, page 570). For years, these three factor has brought tension to European nations. Then, in June of 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir t the throne of

So, Germany made a decision, as too much of the world had been claimed they must fight to gain countries, in order to build their much desired Empire. This lead to the war as it created rivalry between Britain and Germany, who were both powerful Empires in their own right. This meant in the case of a war between nations, such as the one which followed, these domains would be on opposing sides and would have a good motive to want to belittle the others status, Empire, National forces and wealth.

World War I, a war that started out locally in Europe between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that later ended up including thirty two different nations. This war has been around for almost a century and yet the causes of it are still being debated. There are many different scenarios that have been considered. Some of the key reasons that were believed to have instigated WWI were nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and an arrangement of treaties. Also the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was believed to be one of the immediate causes.

The fourth cause of World War One was nationalism. Germany did not want to take responsibility for the war, since they didn’t start it, they were merely aiding Austria Hungary in their war. Germany confessing to starting the war all by themselves wouldn’t be the complete truth, since it was not all their fault. They were just helping aid Austria Hungary with their pursuits on Serbia. Germany’s rise to power was unsettling to many countries. Tensions rose, fear of military powers being higher than one’s own became prominent. Every country involved wanted to be better than all the rest.

While there is never just a single event that has led to the start of a world war, or any other serious war, there is often one thing that triggers long lived tensions and thus war ensues. Such was the case in WWI with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. There were many tensions that existed prior to his assassination, but it was his assassination which triggered the war, his assassination that served as an excuse, and perhaps the last straw, so to speak, which led to the First World War. The following paper examines the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and its relationship to the start of WWI.

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand is what lead to the immediate beginning of the war. Franz Ferdinand was in line to be the next heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne. He was later shot to death along with the wife during a visitation to Sarajevo in 1914. A Serbian group, known as the Black Hand, was blamed on for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. This event lead Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia for the assassiantion, which led to the beginning of World War 1 (History.com Staff,2009). Other WW1 analysts believe that there might be no single reason that can be attributed for the main cause of the war. These WW1 analysts think that the war might have started as a result of several other factors that lead to the buildup of WW1. These factors could included the development of militarism, imperialism, and nationalism. These factors contributed heavily to create the conflicts that led to the beginning of WW1.

The chain of events starts with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Some people tend to think that this event was the one total cause of World War One, but that is not the case. The assassination is only one small trigger.