The Causes of World War I

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.

At the end of World War I, the sole responsibility of initiating the conflict fell on Germany. With the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany took the blame and agreed to pay for reparations. However, the origin of the war was not the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Rather, the origins were nationalism, the creation of entangling alliances, the conflict in the Balkans, and the economic and imperialistic rivalries in Europe. These factors created the right conditions for war to occur. However, the responsibility of initiating conflict can be placed on Austria-Hungary.

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,

World War 1 was triggered through the German nation wanting to expand their territory. The German nation was in direct competition with France and Britain who held larger areas of land and would later become Germany’s direct enemy. Conflict and tension between Austria, Hungry and an attack on Serbia with continued fighting in the Balkans was also a contributing factor to World War. 1. Politically WW1 lead to many new geographical changes on the globe countries gained and lost territories, socially there were 10 million soldiers dead, 20 million wounded and 40 million killed by Spanish influenza.

For more than four years, World War One (WW1) was a conflict that caused a destruction to land and many family members who have lost their lives. Over sixteen million civilians were killed and ten million men died during the war. WW1 broke out because of the four main causes; Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism. Militarism was a crucial aspect that caused WW1 to break out because countries such as France and Germany had created a huge army to prepare for war. The Alliances was a fundamental long-term factor that led to the outbreak of WW1 as countries also decided to align with other countries so they could help each other if one goes to war. Imperialism was another vital factor that caused WW1 to erupt as many countries scrambled for territories that were not taken which began the tension of countries trying to expand their empire. Lastly, Nationalism was a very important reason in causing WW1 as European countries felt that they were more superior than the rest of the countries.

Though men around the world were eager to march off to war, none of them knew the dangers that were ahead. During World War I, 10 million people across Europe died fighting for what they believed in. WWI lasted for four years between 1914 and 1918. Millions of soldiers around the world fought for what they believed in hopes of bettering their homelands and protecting their allies. People were happy to support their country in hopes of new opportunities and better resources. Soldiers predicted the war would be over in six months, but they soon realized World War I would last almost half a decade in the trenches. Though the main cause of World War I was imperialism, other causes include militarism and alliances.

The overall cause of World War I was the growth of nationalism in Europe during the 1800s and 1900s. Every other cause boils down to nationalism and the excessive pride everyone felt in their own country during this time. Nationalism impacted all the other causes of the war. Other major causes of the war such as, imperialism, assassination, and militarism all had to do with nationalism.

Over the last century, Germany has been solely held responsible for the outbreak of World War One in popular culture and by historians. Although German military expansion helped push Europe to war, it would be a biased explanation for a conflict that had intertwined many other nations and ideals. In reality, many other cultural and socio-political factors, both within and outside Imperial Germany, made contributions in starting the First World War.

The First World War was not caused singularly by Germany and Austria-Hungary as the treaty of Versailles has set out. Germany is greatly responsible for much of the tension of the world situation in 1914, resulting from its aggressive policy of Weltpolitik, its attempts to have a superior navy, the Kaiser's personal poorly said remarks, and its attempts to break up the Triple Entente. However Germany was not solely responsible for the tension, many other events had occurred outside Germany's control, which had the same effect. Germany was also largely responsible for allowing the conflict in the Balkans to escalate into a major European conflict, by giving Austria-Hungary free reign, though it was not their intent. However Germany should

World War I, the Great War, began on July 28, 1914, and ended on November 11, 1918. This war had a huge effect on each involved country’s people. The four major causes of the Great War were Nationalism, Militarism, Imperialism, and the alliances made before the war was even thought about. Nationalism and Militarism tie together very well; for example, Germany had a strong desire for world power, Weltpolitik, because of how amazing they thought their country was which caused them to be an Imperial and Militaristic country. In addition to Germany’s nationalism, the French had a desire for revenge over Alsace-Lorraine, the Germany-annexed territory that was taken in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alliances, Triple-Entente and Triple Alliance,

World War I injured or killed around 40 million soldiers and civilians (Mougel). It is crucial to assess who was the most responsible for starting this war in order to keep something similar from happening again. A common mistake is for individuals to view the assassination of Austria-Hungary’s archduke as the cause of World War I. Although this encouraged Austria-Hungary to wage war on Serbia, this was not a war between two countries. The start of World War I involved a complex series of steps to bring Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, Austria-Hungary, and many other countries into the conflict. It is impossible to blame one country for this awful event in history, but Germany had the largest impact on the start of World War I. By committing strategic diplomatic errors, pledging its support to Austria-Hungary, and launching the Schlieffen Plan, Germany was the most responsible for starting the First World War.

Since 1871, Bismarck united the nation. Germany then only used thirty years to complete the same achievement which took Great Britain more than one hundred years. Relying on the advanced science and technologies, Germans quickly developed from an agricultural country into a power industrial country. Early in the 20th century, German industry productions went beyond Great Britain and France, only after the United States, which ranked the second in the world. German Empire at that time was at the pinnacle in the modern German history. As Germany got more powerful, they started to want more, both economically and politically. As we know, World War I was a war about power. Referring to the class lecture, Professor Magagna once said that “a balanced power was essential for nations to stay in peace” (Magagna Victor, 2016). Clearly the fast development of Germany, it certainly brought fear to the other nations. Before the

The Outbreak Of World War One and Germany August 4th 1914 marks the date on which Europe fell into what has become known as "the Great War". What started as a minor squabble between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, in the space of six weeks, escalated into total war between Europe's biggest powers. Almost one hundred years later we are no closer to answering the question of who or what was to blame for it's outbreak. It is easy to assume that Germany were solely to blame, however this assumption would be incorrect. Germany did, at times have an overbearing influence, and with many factors, the underlying fault lies with Germany.

German expansionism in the Wilhelmine period contributed greatly to the outbreak of World War I. Even leading up to that period tensions were rising, with so many different political groups being formed and with that all the different opinions being formulated the unification they hoped to fulfill was not carried out. The anticipation was building for a war to break out and Germany was preparing for it too whether it was through the building up and upgrades to their nations military. Colonialization played a role as well in the outbreak in the war as countries wanted to expand their territories and take control smaller areas as such as the Balkan Peninsula. Finally, industrialization played a factor as well because manufacturing of weapons and transportation went up in Germany all in preparation for war.

This question has formed part of the historiography of the causes of the First World War, a historical debate that has endured ever since the conflict ended. It periodically resurfaces with new theories being advanced such as the Fischer thesis, usually on account of the release of previously unseen documents or because of a shift in the political climate. It has emerged to the fore once again because this year is the centennial of the war’s outbreak and there are plans to commemorate it nationally across the UK.