The Archdukes: The Cause Of World War I

World War I, otherwise known as the Great War, started in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and lasted until 1918, forever changing the map of Europe and ending the lives of nearly 8 million young European men. The congress of Vienna had successfully created an atmosphere of peace that lasted for 100 years, however in the years leading up to 1915, rising tensions among European powers would create a “powder keg” that required only the slightest event to set off a world war. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand provided the spark need to destabilize Europe and send the nations of Europe into the first modern war, although conflict had been stirring for the past 50 years. In the end, systems of alliances, imperialism,

Through the book ‘Europe’s Last Summer’ David Fromkin tackles the issues of pre WWI Europe, and the surrounding political, economic, social, debacles that led paranoid countries to go to arms after nearly a full century of relative peace within the European continent. While Fromkin certainly points his fingers to all the nations of Europe his primary focus lies with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Though he continues to stress throughout much of the book that Kaiser Wilhelm II and Archduke Ferdinand were fervent keepers of the peace within their nations, the fault of the war ultimately could be laid at the feet of their two nations and their constant attempts at war-mongering. He claims the war could have been avoided for the moment, had all the nations of Europe wanted peace, but the two bad eggs of Europe drew them all into an unavoidable general war.

On June 28th, 1914, Austria-Hungary’s Archduke “Francis Ferdinand, Austrian heir, and [his] wife [were] murdered (Doc 10)” in Sarajevo, Bosnia. His assassin was Gavrilo Princip, who was a Bosnian Serb and was in an organization that seeked to end Austro-Hungarian rule in his home of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Princip was said to have “fired the shot that started World War 1”, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was considered one of the, if not THE, main cause(s) of The First World

On June Twenty Eighth Archduke was traveling with his wife, when the driver got lost and went down the wrong road. Gavrilo Princip was a Serbian assassin who shot and killed Archduke and his wife. The assassination was used to start a rebellion that would create a much larger Serbian nation. Austrian ambassador was very unsettled by that, so he decides to get a friendship with Germany. They become allies on July fifth. Austrian wanted an apology from Serbia. But did not receive one. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia. Therefore caused a giant war to break out (DBQ Project Essay Background).

Document A also outlines the different alliances between the three major powers; the Triple Alliance, Triple Entente and the Neutral Nations in 1914 after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. This also proves that an outlying cause to World War 1 could be the drastic side taking after Ferdinand’s

The huge national investment in military helped the countries to prepare for the war. In actuality, all the countries had known that the war was unavoidable. (Doc 9) French writer Emile Zola thinks that “The world can live only by eating and being eaten. And it is only the warlike nations that have prospered; a nation dies when it disarms.” (Doc 2) Countries made meticulous plan to defend themselves by increasing militarism. The expenditures of the great powers on armaments of the European countries increased dramatically. (Doc 10) However, the political leaders did not make efforts to prevent the war. Instead, they increased the mobilization of their armies for war. (Doc 11) Countries were aware of that the world war must bring out, the only thing was a trigger, the assassination of Ferdinand. The relationship between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was terrible before the assassination. In the ultimatum sent to Serbia on July 23, 1914, Austria-Hungary condemned the movement against the Monarchy and asked for collarboration against these subversions. (Doc 8) However, the tensions became uncontrollable when on July 28, Ferdinand was assassinated by a a nationalist Serbian young

The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was only a trigger to the war. There was a few more other forces behind World War I that have made the war happened. In the following essay, three main driving forces

The Great War was a tragedy: modern weaponry and Gentleman’s war collided, causing millions of lives lost in what was considered to be the war to end all wars. The war was ignited by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. The chain of events that followed were, however motivated by the imperialistic, militaristic, and paranoid characteristics of the governments of Europe, caused by Germany, whose characteristic ambitions burned out hot and fast in the late 19th and early 20th century. Germany is largely to blame for the start of the Great War due to their imperialist and militarist pursuits as well as their alliance system. Germany’s imperial ambitions

On June 28, 1914, the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated. That event marked the first phase of World War I (Grayzel 10). Soon afterward nations throughout Europe announced declarations of war. By the end of October countries as far away as Japan, China and Brazil had become involved (Grayzel 11).  Susan R. Grayzel in the “Introduction: The First World War and the Making of a Modern, Global Conflict” from The First World War: A Brief History with Documents”, explores a variety of contributing reasons for the Great War (Grayzel 9). The causes most

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.

There was a lot of reasons World War 1 commenced imperialism, assassination, nationalism, alliances, and militarism are a few of WW1’s causes. On June 28th, 1914 archduke of Austria-Hungary and his wife were on their way home from an event when their driver took a wrong turn and Blackhand member Gavrilo Princip just happened to be in the alleyway where they stopped to turn around. Gavrilo Princip quickly pulled out his gun and shot both Archduke and his wife. This Assassination caused Serbia and Austria-Hungary to declare war which lead to WW1. Militarism is the belief or desire of a government of people that I country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests. Militarism denoted a rise in military expenditure, an increase in military and naval forces, more influence of the military men upon the policies of the civilian government, and a preference for force as a solution to problems. This caused the war because it built up nations armies and when you have a huge army that's good you use it. Imperialism is a policy of extending another country‘s power and influence through colonization, and use of military force to create empires they exploited weaker countries. This policy of one nation dominating other countries or regions caused the war because countries wanted to be huge empires like Great Britain. There were many causes of World War 1 but the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand,

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.

It is hard to believe that such a grand war broke out due to a quarrel between just two nations, and the “blank check” is a noteworthy factor in the escalation of this war. Its significance to history is due to the fact that war between two countries and Germany’s support to Austria-Hungary quickly erupted into one of the most memorable and major wars in the world. For this very reason is why I myself became interested in this topic. In school we have learned a lot about World War I and the formation of alliances, but Germany’s pledge to support Austria-Hungary in their decision to attack Serbia was something I never took into account as a possible cause to World War I. Therefore this topic caught my attention as I began to question what position the “blank check” had in triggering such a massive war and if war could have been avoided if it was never issued. I believe for this very reason it is worthy of investigation and would attract the attention of others since it was a key aspect in the timeline of the world’s history. During my research I will be looking at primary and secondary sources, with respect to any biases that may be present.

Nationalism is a sense of pride one has towards their nation's achievements and the belief that the nation should be able to control the government, and each facet of manufacturing. After Napoleon’s exile to Elba, the Congress of Vienna tried to resolve the issues in Europe. Delegates from Austria, Britain, Prussia and Russia wanted a new Europe that left Germany and Italy as separate states. Strong nationalist groups led to the reuniting of Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1871. The resolution at the end of the Franco-Prussian war left France irritated at the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. France was destined to recover this lost territory. Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to opposing nationalist groups, but all had the same vision to have freedom from the states in which they lived. (Crocker, 2017).

In this essay I will be outlining the key points in why the First World War broke out in 19 14. Many people tend to say "Because Archduke Ferdinand got shot." Still others have blamed it on the increased independence and Imperialism in Hungary to Russia’s growing military. If I had to answer the question myself, the answer would be all of the above, and more. The events from June of 1914 through August of 1914 can be described as one thing leading to another.