Long Term Causes Of World War 1 Essay

World War 1 was partly caused by the two opposing alliances developed by Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck formed the Three Emperor’s League, an alliance between Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. He also took advantage of the Italian dislike towards France and created the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. After Bismarck was fired, the dislike of Slavs prevented countries from allying themselves with Russia. France took advantage of this and became allies with Russia, forming the Franco-Russian Entente. Britain and France ignored all imperialistic conflicts between them and formed the Entente Cordiale. International tension rapidly increased and more countries became involved.

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.

Great War, also known as The First World War, lasted for four year (1914 to 1918). It brought a huge development of war technics and weapons. More number of countries had been involved in the Great War than any previous war. It involved the mobilization of the whole nations, not just an enormous army that turned the war into a “total war”. (Clare 6) However, historians are still arguing about the major cause of the World War I. The major cause will be one of the four long-term causes of WWI, which are Militarism, Alliance, Imperialism, and Nationalism. In my opinion, the two major causes would be Alliance and Nationalism. Alliance is an association between two or more countries for mutual benefits that formed with different treaties, while

World War 1 was the first total war that the world had ever gone through. World war 1 began on July 28, 1914, and lasted till November 11, of 1918, lasting over 4 years producing over 10 million casualties. The main question is “What was the underlying cause of World war 1?” this is asking what were the causes that led to the war. There were a few causes to world war 1, the most underlying cause was militarism. Militarism was the most impactful reason for the war, and what ultimately pulled the last straw.

“Imperialism is a system where powerful nations control and exploits one or more colonies”. And one of the causes of World War 1 was the power differences between France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Britain. Britain had the largest population colonies between all the countries. And it was about “the land that Britain and France owned led to a heightened rivalry with Germany, which sought acquire colonies later on and only controlled small portions or Africa. The world’s largest, richest and most dominant imperial power was Great Britain; the British Empire famously occupied one-quarter of the

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand on the 28th June, 1914, precipitated WW1. He was shot by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian group set up to fight for the unification of all South Slav territories that had been annexed by Austria-Hungary. Two months after the shooting Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, setting off the next chain of events that brought

World War 1 came to life on the 28 July 1914 after a Serbian nationalist secret society known as ‘The Black Hand’ orchestrated the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The murder took place whilst the Archduke and his wife were riding in a carriage through the streets of civilised Saravejo, and sparked a drastic retaliation by Austria-Hungary. Prior to the assassination, the current holder of the Austria-Hungary throne Franz Josef had been searching for ways to establish a deeper influence in the Balkans and to overthrow abolish the current nationalist movement in Serbia. The slaying of his nephew and heir at the hands of the Serbian gave Franz Josef his long awaited opportunity to commence a rivalry and war between the nations. After a long 3 weeks, a final response was issued from Austria-Hungary whom demanded an answer

Imperialism is when a country conquers new countries and puts them under their own rule. By 1900, the British Empire’s territory had extended over five continents while France had possession over large areas of Africa. Amongst the rise of industrialism, countries required new markets. The amount of lands possessed by Britain and France amplified their tensions with Germany since it had entered the race to obtain colonies later and possession over very few portions of Africa.

The Serbian nationalists were the main cause of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and aided in the start of World War I. After the Austria-Hungary Empire annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, the country of Serbia encouraged Serbians living there to rebel “against Austria-Hungarian rule in frequent protests and civil disturbances” (Pendergast 16). The Serbians began to fight for independence against rule of Austria-Hungary which led to the assassination of the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire, Franz Ferdinand. The Black Hand was the terrorist group that murdered Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. Not only was it “led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the head of Serbian military intelligence” but Austria’s Serbian ambassador is said to have known about the assassination beforehand (Pendergast 21). Serbian’s were sick of being ruled in an empire, so “militant groups like the Black Hand, wanted to untie the Slavic people in an independent pan-Slavic state” (Pendergast 45). They were determined to put all the Slavic people together as a separate nationality and destroyed people who got in their way, including Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire. With Franz Ferdinand being the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, the Austria-Hungarian Empire began to call for a war against the Serbians but needed allies in order to have a chance of winning.

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were shot dead in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of a Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand. The Black Hand was derived from a secret Serbian terrorist organization called the Narodna Odbrana, which worked towards the unification of all South Slavs in an independent, sovereign country called Yugoslavia. The Narodna Odbrana was created because South Slavs living in Serbia, as well as in Bosnia and other Slavic provinces, felt a strong nationalistic desire to unify all the members of their cultural group in a new country called Yugoslavia. The Black Hand’s commitment to Serbian nationalism led it to replace the Narodna Odbrana, while adopting its purpose, organization, and terrorist philosophy. Members of the Black Hand, driven by their desire to die as martyrs, assassinated Franz Ferdinand to quickly set the tone for a revolution meant to weaken the powerful state of Austria-Hungary and unite all South Slavs in a Yugoslavic nation.

World War I was the first world war and was also called the war to end all wars. This war caused many wives to become widows and left other families sad for their lose. The war lasted about 4 years and involved two alliances, the Triple alliance and the Triple Entente. World War I was harsh but what was the main cause of the war? The main cause for World War I was militarism.

Imperialism is the practice of taking over other countries to gain more power. This would make other countries rethink about attacking. Germany wanted more power during that time. That was why their military was strong. Britain was a country that begun this practice many years before the war even started. This is how the British Empire became the largest empire in the world and why many countries were involved in the war. Australia and some other countries were part of the British Empire so they felt a loyalty towards Britain, their motherland. Being the largest empire, Germany was jealous of Britain’s power so they started to take over other countries. It was because of Germany’s jealousy that started the war. That was why Germany and many other countries during the war believed in

On the other hand, Serbia was allied with Russia, who was ready for war. Soon after, Germany declared war on Russia, and on France, which was Russia’s ally. Then, Germany invaded Belgium as a commencement to invading France. As a result, Great Britain declared war on Germany. This chain of events began World War I, or the Great War as it was known at the time. Ultimately this war involved Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, the United States, Germany, Austria- Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

Chaos, violence, and pain. This was the focal point of World War 1. This was a period filled with lies, deceit, and even confusion. But you have to wonder what path led the society of this time to such destruction. The war was centralized mainly in Europe. Especially in Austria, where in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated; bringing tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia to an all time high. Soon, Austria declared war. This set off a chain of alliances all around the world. However, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand wasn't a direct cause of World War One. Rather, the three main causes of World War One was the strong sense of nationalism between countries, imperialism, and the alliances formed by each country.

World War 1 (better known as The Great War), was caused by a great many elements, some long-term, some short-term and the spark. Together these reasons created a brutal war involving many countries across the globe and also killing a vast number of the world’s population. In this essay, I will thoroughly explain what started this war and which reasons made it start sooner.