How Did World War 1 Contribute To The Balance Of Power Theory

The nation responsible for the onset of World War I is Austria-Hungary because of the territorial and political stances with Serbia that provoked the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After Ferdinand's death, Austria-Hungary initiated a call for support to the Germans about the problems in the Balkans, resulting in Germany confirming their assistance by issuing a “Blank Check.” Austria later gave Serbia a list of ultimatums that consisted of extreme demands in hopes of Serbia rejecting it. Since Serbia is a country where Slavic nationalism was idealized, it refused the idea of Austria gaining the right to control the investigation of Franz Ferdinand's assassination and have authority over the state of Serbia and this did in

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.

Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor of Germany, envisioned that “One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” He would later be proven right when the “powder keg” in the Balkans finally blew up and affected all of Europe. The Slavic people in the Balkans wanted their own unified nation. They tried to fight Austria-Hungary to create a Pan Slavic nation, but the Slavs were only given Serbia and a few other Balkan territories. Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, were annexed by Austria-Hungary. This takeover by Austria-Hungary ultimately led to a nineteen year old Bosnian Serb firing two gunshots that would end the lives of the Habsburg successor along with his wife, and change European history forever. Serbia’s role in World War I included forming a deep-rooted rivalry with Austria-Hungary, assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the Black Hand, and allying with European power, Russia.

This leads to the conclusion that the European powers were ready for war in 1914. It is important to realize that since the European powers made alliances with each other, small arguments concerning one power might lead to a war involving all the powers. In the case of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, this situation created a serious misunderstanding between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and as a result, the other nations in Europe involved in alliances with either 2 countries were obligated to support them. Alliances were originally created strictly for defensive purposes but by 1910, many of the alliances had changed their character like the Austro-German alliance. Germany promised to give military aid to Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia and on the other hand, Russia provided Serbia with military assistance. As alliances had become instruments of national aggression, the chances of war doubled. The probability of Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia due to the death of their heir increased because Austria-Hungary could rely on the support of Germany to help achieve its goal. In addition, this fragile interlock of alliances relied on the leaders of the European countries to act reasonably however, this was not the case in the situation of World War 1. The Kaiser of Germany felt his country was being denied the chance to unleash its full potential by Britain so the power hungry ruler was determined to

A young generation was emerging within Serbia and Bosnia whose experience of national and social struggles had taught them the effectiveness of violence as a means to achieve goals (as seen in the Balkan Wars 1912-13). It was a generation that demanded action and sacrifice instead of words and political wisdom (Cirkovic 246). Russia repeatedly assured their Slav brethren that they only had to wait (MacKenzie 58). Serbian agitation against Austria-Hungary was increased and the more the Austro-Hungarians attempted to subvert it, the more violent and fanatical it became. The fearlessness that was born from the support of Russia led those seeking Slavic unity to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, thereby triggering the cascade that began WWI.

There were many underlying causes that could have been used to lead up to World War I. World War I had many turning points throughout the war. The war took over a huge piece of land and water for each country involved in the war. There were four main causes that have been believed to be the cause of World War I.

Militarism was another factor, and the threatening behavior when powerful countries involved in powerful alliances begin forming unbeatable weapons would not have affected war had there not been a prior fear that war would be coming. England produced a ship made to kill in attempt to prove to the Germans that they still owned the sea, and this kind of behavior is what triggered an additional rise to the pressure building in 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 the unity of the Chinese people, and also the interferences by other countries. This nationalism prevented countries from extending control over many people, for rebellions occurred and changes had to be made.

Many contributions lead to the spark of World War I. The three main causes included the assassination of Francis Ferdinand, alliance systems, and militarism. Although imperialism and nationalism are said to be contributing factors to the cause of World War I, the assassination of Francis Ferdinand, alliance systems, and militarism were three of the most important causes of The Great War. An immediate cause of World War I was the assassination of Austria-Hungary’s archduke, Francis Ferdinand.

Jean-Jacques Becker and Gerd Krumeich state that the attack on the Archduke would provide Austria-Hungary’s “political and military leaders with a convenient reason for dealing conclusively with the Serbian threat.” It was Austria-Hungary whom sent an ultimatum that they knew Serbia would not agree to. They did this knowingly, counting on Serbia to reject the ultimatum. Austria-Hungary took Serbia’s one reservation to the ultimatum as a declaration of war. Additionally, they are the reason why Germany became involved in the conflict. Although Germany provided Austria-Hungary a blank check, it was Austria-Hungary who decided that they would begin a conflict with Serbia. Austria-Hungary is ultimately whom should be held responsible for initiating World War I.

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism played a huge part in the led up to World War 1. With the threat of war hanging over the heads of many countries, the Arms Race began. Germany, France, and Russia started to recruit a large portion of their male population. This gave the men a taste of war and the military experience. The Arms Race caused every European state have access to a huge army, but these armies ere ruining their economics. The citizens knew that they needed to rid of themselves of these armies before they went into economic ruin, but before this could happen they were propelled into war. Germany created a large, modern navy that threatened Britain. At the time of this threat, Germany was trying to secure Britain as

Europe found ways to evade many wars until nationalism spread throughout the entire area. Nationalism is the conviction that faithfulness to one 's country and its financial and political objectives precedes whatever other open dedication (Llewellyn). It was the primary explanation behind the explode of numerous little issues into significant question. Italy and Germany rose to end up incredible forces. However, Austria-Hungary, Footrest Turkey

There are many different causes that led up to WWI, but there were a handful of root causes that accelerated the development of hostility between nations. One of the main reasons was the shifting of the balance of power. The balance of power between nations is a delicate equilibrium that can be easily thrown off if one nation shows a bit of hostility, or if there is an emergence that threatens the sanctity of this balance. For a power to emerge or change, it directly affects all other nations involved through a butterfly effect of events. In WWI specifically, the unification of Germany threw off all alliances and the control of powers, as it was overwhelming for such a strong power to step up. Structurally and emotionally, this was a dramatic change to the stability of the balance of powers, and such a quick change disrupted the peace between the nations so greatly that WWI occurred. Apart from the breakdown of the balance of powers and emergence of hegemonic threats, other institutional and structural theories can explain the events that caused WWI. Some of these events include social conflicts within the countries, shifting alliances, power rankings, and the struggles to negotiate different resources between countries.

The “Balance of Power” was one of the most frequently used words in the international relation; it was the one that relates itself to peace. In another word, if the power becomes unbalanced or destabilized, war will become as unavoidable. However, what exactly is the definition of “balance of power?” According to Dictionary.com, it is “a distribution and opposition of forces among nations such that no single nation is strong enough to assert its will or dominate all the others” ("The Definition of Balance of Power"). So, it can be treated as a policy, one that has a great impact on the power distribution among countries. As such, each country would take their own actions to protect itself from attacks or from being in a disadvantaged situation by maintaining the power equilibrium. To illustrate the importance of “balanced power,” one could recall one of the well-known destructive war-- the First World War, also known as the World War I, has an impartible relation with this “Balance of Power.” World War One, as we know, began in 1914 to 1918 and made its name by the serious consequences it brought. The consequences of World War One had also lead to the World War Two and the cold war. For the major powers involved in this world war, which are —Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. This war started locally in Europe between two countries, but soon things got complicated, and it started to come down to a war that the whole world was involved in. From the

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.

Morganthau (Cited in Haas,1953, pp.445) argues that the Balance of power can be viewed as either a description of any state of international politics in relation to power distribution or a policy or action intending to distribute power. From this framework we can use the balance of power to both understand static moments in history to observe where power lies at that moment in time and to look at how states themselves actively implement foreign policy for their own power related interests whether that be looking to balance the set of scales or to tip them