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How Did Alliances Cause Ww1

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The event of World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This brought Austria-Hungary to declare war to Serbia in July 1914. Many other countries were later drawn into the war. These other countries being involved in treaties, obligated them to defend other nations. It was the first important war there had been in over forty years. Soldiers were utilizing new weapons and technology with old skills, which caused great destruction. Alliances, nationalism, and imperialism, were all contributing factors. Alliances played a big role in this global war. The nations of Europe were constantly competing for power. Between 1879 and 1914, many alliances had been formed. It first began when Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance to protect themselves from Russia. Then, Germany and Austria- Hungary made an alliance with Italy to stop Italy from taking sides with Russia. After, Russia formed an alliance with France to protect herself against Germany and Austria-Hungary. That’s when the Triple …show more content…

They were anxious to take over other nations. Owning colonies also built up wealth. The more you owned, the wealthier you became. During this time, Britain controlled twenty percent of the globe and twenty-five percent of the population. Britain owned so much because they imported raw material and manufactured goods, which allowed them to trade. France also owned a great amount of land in Africa. This caused competition with Germany, who only owned small colonies in Africa. Imperialism is important because it created tension in Europe and outside of Europe. Nationalism relates closer to imperialism because it was due to nationalism that imperialism was not always successful. When the European powers attempted to invade and take over China, they were unable to due to how united the Chinese people were, and also the interferences by other countries. This nationalism prevented countries from taking control over many

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