Essay on The Alliance System Led to World War I

World War I was a tragic episode in European history. As with most wars, there were some causes that led to this event. A few of these causes were militarism, alliances, and imperialism. The first spark of the war was on June 28, 1914 when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand. The Austrian leaders demanded an apology from Serbia, they got upset and Russia said they would help Serbia. With no apology and the threat of Russia, on June 28 Austria-Hungary declared war on them; Russia in return declared war on Austria-Hungary. Germany declared war on Russia, France on both Germany and Austria-Hungary. Finally Britain had joined France and Russia, then all of Europe was at war.

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.

Another debated cause is imperialism, which is the policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. This contributed to WWI because of the rivalry it caused in Europe between Great Britain, Germany, and France. They needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. Great Britain, Germany, and France competed for economic expansion in Africa. Even though Great Britain and France came to an agreement several problems before the war had to do with the dislike of Germany against Great Britain and France in North Africa. Also the crumbling of the Ottoman-Empire in the Middle East was a big factor for Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia. So the competition for colonies brought great powers into conflict and fueled the ideas of war and added to the present tension that already existed, and that tension keeps on building up.

There were many reasons as to why World War I began. According to Document 2 the event that started World War I was the death of the Archduke of Austria-Hungarian, Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Bashia. The other main causes of World War I was militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. Militarism was the policy of aggressive preparedness, european nations began arming to protect their assets. Alliances is when European nations formed alliances to create a balance of power throughout Europe. The Triple Alliance was a secret agreement

The expansion during the Wilhelmine period in Germany and the sociopolitical factors of that time helped start a war that more than Germany alone were responsible for starting. This war, that started in 1914, came to be known the Great War and was later known as World War I. This war was a defining moment in German and world history as a whole. Although Germany was not solely responsible for starting the war, there were certain actions that Germany did to help lead to World War I.

The Great war (also known as World war one) was a very deadly battle between many different nations. World war one was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife. They were killed by men of the serbian Nation. The three underlying causes of world war one are Alliances , Militarism and imperialism.

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

According to Document F, England held the most land at the time, with France and Germany behind it. This led to strained relations between the countries in Europe as many were afraid that they were going to be taken over by one of the larger countries. For example, a German Chancellor before Congress says, “We don’t want to step on the toes of any foreign power, but at the same time we don’t want our own feet tramped by any foreign power.” (Doc D). In this quote, he describes the feeling that many countries had at the time before the war. He says that they do not want to anger any large countries by expanding into their territory, but he does not want to appear weak and be invaded by a powerful country. This was how many of the countries were perceiving what was going on at the time, and therefore caused tension between the very close knit countries in Europe. Thus, when conflict broke out between the Serbia and Austria- Hungary, it led to war breaking out between countries that had been holding back before. The imperialism going on in Europe was a main contributor to World War

While many factors led to the first world war, militarism contributed the most, because of the arms race of 1890 and the mobilization of the European countries. First of all, the arms race of 1890 allowed France, Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia to stockpile on weapons. One example of the arms race is Britain’s response to Germany’s Second Naval Law. “The next year, in an attempt to compensate for its small empire, Germany enacted the Second Naval Law, intending to build a navy capable of challenging the British Royal Navy in combat. The British responded.” (Doc. D) Because Britain had a powerful naval army, Germany had to strengthen their navy to match them since they were enemies, however, Britain responded by continuing to maintain their strength over Germany. This

Some of the causes of world war one are imperialism, militarism, nationalism, and alliances. Imperialism is when one country rules over another through establishment of colonies. Imperialism resulted from Industrialization, which was needed for raw goods and markets for manufactured goods. The countries fought with each other over colonies. Militarism was used for building a strong military and in order for that country to have its interests dominate the government. In the past, war was seen as something that was acceptable to solve conflicts and enhance a country. Some examples of imperialism include: naval arms race between Great Britain and Germany. Nationalism is a strong feeling of loyalty and protection of culture and need of ethnic group to have a country that is their own. Alliances are countries that form cooperative groups in order to protect everyone’s interests. However, the most significant cause of world war one was industrialization, which had fueled imperialism, and Nationalism. Together they both caused three factors that led to war: German unification, territorial rivalries, and economic competition.

Militarism was one of the key major factors of the war. Soon after Britain created their battleship, Germany revealed their 60 ships from a man named Alfred Von Tirpitz . A naval battle arose between the two and their relationship weakened immensely. Both Germany and Britain wanted to have the better army, and taking up naval weapons was the beginning of the hate and jealousy each country had for one another. Germany’s past ideology that they should not anger Britain because Britain was dangerous was an ideology that was now put aside. Part of being a powerful empire meant having strong, effective military willing to go to battle at any time for their people. In a book written by Ruth Henig titled The Origins of the First World War, Henig says, “The Kaiser and

As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period. Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved to war.

As a result of World War I, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, made to pay for the war, and had to disarm themselves, which directly led into World War II. Germany went down the tubes after they were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. There economy crashed and there money had just about no value. Many people that World War II was just a 20 year break from World War I. They were right because just about 20 years later World War II started. There are many things that could contribute to starting the war but these are the main point and the most recognized.

Before World War 1 began there were many conflicts between many countries, these conflicts are what eventually led to the war. Nationalism lead to World War 1 for reasons people believed they needed to fight for their country, many people who weren’t fighting wanted to support their soldiers, and many soldiers felt as if they couldn’t back out of the war. Militarism was a cause because each country was building up their weapons and ammunition, as well as building up their armies. Finally Kaiser Wilhelm II was a cause because he had a very strong hate towards Britain, he was a very aggressive leader and he wanted Germany to be the number one country. Nationalism, militarism and Kaiser Wilhelm II were the three main causes of World War 1.

     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