The Great War: The Causes Of World War I

Nationalism was strong during the 19th century. The Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovinia no longer wanted to be a part of the Austria Hungary nation, but a part of Serbia. All the

This paper has hopefully explained some of the underlying causes in world war I. These were nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and allies. These causes built up over a long period to finally lash out and cause total war. The war was inevitable but the question was really when it would lash

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.

     World War I was the result of leaders' aggression towards other countries which was supported by the rising nationalism of the European nations. Economic and imperial competition and fear of war prompted military alliances and an arms race, which further escalated the tension contributing to the outbreak of war. One cause of the World War was militarism, which is a policy in which military preparedness is of primary significance to a situation. Another cause of the World War was nationalism. Nationalism is the pride and devotion form one towards his/her country. It played a great part in the causes of World War 1 because citizens wanted to stand up for their country, and fight for them. The third

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 had a source of Militarism. “The armies of both France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas (Anorak)”. Germans soon followed though the suit for their own battleships. Von Schlieffen drew up a plan which involved an attack on France through Belgium if Russia made an attack on Germany. Another example that shows

Nationalism: is a strong feeling of pride in one’s country and believing that one’s country is better than other country and this aggressive nationalism in the early 1900’s was a source of tension in Europe, which fueled the war. Nationalism was very strong in France and Germany; it unified the Germans, as they were proud of their growing military and industrial strength. While, France wanted to regain its position as a leading European power. Similarly, Russia had encouraged a form of nationalism in Eastern Europe called Pan Slavism. It drew all Slavic people and Russia was the largest Slavic country ready to defend small Serbia. Multinational Austria Hungary opposed Slavic national movements. After Napoleon’s exile to Elba congress of Vienna was held and it tried to solve the problem in Europe. Delegates of Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia agreed upon a new Europe whereas Germany and Italy were left as divided states. So there

Militarism was felt very strongly in 20th century Europe. Between 1890 and 1914, the countries involved in WW1’s armament growth was tremendous. Germany’s army and navy rose

World war one was a very big part of our history and the first time all the countries fought. There was 4 main and big reasons of why this happened and those are, Militarism, Imperialism, Nationalism and Alliances. The one cause I think is the biggest or most influential was nationalism, which I hope to prove is right in this essay. Nationalism is something that we still fight with today to see who is the better country. Through this essay I hope to give you some reasons why I think this is the main reason the war broke out.

World War I, also known as the “Great War” was a global affair that started in Europe. This tragedy began August 1st, 1914 with Germany declaring war on Russia for multiple reasons. The acronym M.A.I.N is used to analyze the war and the four causes for why it happened. M-militarism, which was building a stronger military that was always prepared for war. A-alliances, were agreements between countries to keep peace among the Great Powers. I-imperialism, when nations seek to take over other countries politically, economically, and socially. Last N-nationalism, which is believing people should be loyal to their own country or nation. The top two underlying causes of World War I are alliances and nationalism because of how they effectively impacted

For example, Russia had the largest military in the world. Germany, France and Great Britain expanded three times the amount of their military. Countries built military equipment never seen before. The buildup of the country’s military acted as a true and also false protection for them. A strong military did help countries acquire additional lands or colonies.

Nationalism is a belief that one’s nation is better off as an autonomous state and nationalist have the willingness to go extreme measures to achieve autonomous. Nationalism is a thirst of a nation to be great or better than others and this thirst played an important role in World War I. Revolutions, wars, ethnic tension, and other conflicts of varying degrees have occurred throughout history because nationalism and constant competition between power. Economic and territorial competition created tension in Europe and fuelled the Balkan crisis. World War I was a global war that drew all world’s great economic powers into two opposing alliances: the Entente (Allied), in which British, French, Russia and Italy formed an alliance and the Central powers in which Germany, Austria and Hungary formed an alliance. The Ottoman Empire participated in the World War I once they joined an alliance with the Central Power. The scattering of Armenian throughout the Ottoman Empire existed before the war and during the month from autumn 1914 to summer 1915 the

Militarism preferred force as a solution to problems, which was one of many things that led to World War I. Nations mobilized their military to show support for their alliances and as a method of inflicting fear to their enemies. This led to development of more military equipment and increase in the number of troops. When one nation improved their military, the other nations felt they needed to build a better one. Eventually alliances were formed between nations to ensure that no country became stronger and powerful than the others.

Nationalism, having a very strong passion for your country, was a main cause of World War 1 because many people felt the need to fight for their country. In countries from all over the world, men began enlisting in the army as soon as they could. In the first year of war, on October 3rd, 1914 approximately 33 000 Canadians set out overseas to Britain to fight for their home country (Canadian War Museum). Many people who weren’t fighting over seas helped out the troops by all coming together to make care packages that included many things that the soldiers needed, such as food, clothing, cigarettes, etc. Many things that the care packages included helped the soldiers survive and fight for a longer period of time. There were many young men

Nationalism created a rallying point for the