The Vexing Question

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.

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).

Serbia was upset of Bosnia being placed under Austrian rule because of their devotion to Slavic nationalism, and Austria was aware of their disappointment and unhappiness. Austria suggested eliminating Pan-Slavism because they were worried about the idea of Serbian terrorists in their country because of Serbia's aggression towards them. Austria was aware that Bosnia favored Slavic nationalism just like Serbia. Austria-Hungary could have avoided intervening in the social and political ideas of getting rid of Slavic nationalism and being oppressive to the Serbian people. By sending an Austrian political figure to Serbia during the turmoil was an unintelligent action for Austria to make because it was a fact that the Archduke's life would be put in danger and that he would most likely be killed. The Austrian government even expressed how the atmosphere created by the malicious agitation in Serbia sprang up a series of murderous attacks on high functionaries of the Monarchy, which ended in the execrable crime against the exalted person of the heir to the throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which had been carefully prepared in Serbia(The Austro-Hungarian Red Book). Austria knew that Serbia

The fifth cause of World War One was the event of an assassination. Austria Hungary demanded that Serba take action against those responsible for the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. When Serbia failed to meet these demands, Austria Hungary declared war on them. This was one of the main events that kick started World War One because soon after, Germany got involved alongside them, and Serbia’s allies got involved.

There are many reasons why World War One occurred in 1914, many are complex and remain controversial which is why the matter has been disputed to this day by historians all over the world. My theory is that a lot of those reasons and the trigger factor all links to one thing; the alliance system. The alliance system is what made countries oppose each other and become rivals making it the most significant factor. It had an impact on who supported who when Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. This was only the spark that started war in Europe; there were long term causes that contributed to the war and were the origins. This answer will explain the causes focusing on how they contributed to World War One and what the important links are

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand is what lead to the immediate beginning of the war. Franz Ferdinand was in line to be the next heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne. He was later shot to death along with the wife during a visitation to Sarajevo in 1914. A Serbian group, known as the Black Hand, was blamed on for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. This event lead Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia for the assassiantion, which led to the beginning of World War 1 (History.com Staff,2009). Other WW1 analysts believe that there might be no single reason that can be attributed for the main cause of the war. These WW1 analysts think that the war might have started as a result of several other factors that lead to the buildup of WW1. These factors could included the development of militarism, imperialism, and nationalism. These factors contributed heavily to create the conflicts that led to the beginning of WW1.

Germany had stockpiled quite an arsenal and increased their navy for advanced combat. Great Britain also strengthened her navy. Militarism was another cause of the war. Countries like Germany and Russia had policies in place to build a strong military in readiness for war. Between 1910 and 1914, Germany had a 73% increase in military spending while Russia had 39%, Britain had 13%, and France had 10%. This increase in defense spending led to countries building stronger militaries which thrust the world deeper into the war. Lastly, nationalistic movements were going on all over the world. People were getting more aware of their ethnicities and the oppression that they had endured from people who were not like them. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria came from the nationalistic views of the Bosnians who did not want to be under the rule of Austria-Hungary and wanted their own state. Strong nationalistic movements were going on everywhere and the unification of Italy and Germany was a product of it. France had to give up some land to Germany and wanted it back. Nationalism played a big role in the start of the war as it fueled existing fires and was probably one of the direct causes of the war. Not only did nationalism start the war it extended it longer than it should have gone. This, as each nation tried to prove its power and dominance over the

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

Even today, the causes of World War one is still being debated and the great war started 96 years ago and ended 92 years ago. Yet today after so much time the main cause of the war still remains unexposed to this day. What triggered the whole war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie of Austria-Hungary on June 28th 1914 by The Black Hand. The assassination happened because of feelings toward the Serbians. The Archduke and his wife were on a parade route in their car during their visit to Sarajevo. Many assassins were lined up to take the kill of the Archduke but all failed, there was one young assassin named Gavrilo

The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand played a key role in causing the war due to those involved. The archduke was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. This assassination quickly set off a chain reaction of events culminating in the outbreak of World War I.

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.

On the 28th of July 1914, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the war was then determined the First World War. There were 4 other long-term causes of the First World War, those causes were militarism, imperialism, nationalism and the alliance system. Here is why militarism was a long-term cause of the First World War.

After four years of trying to stay alive and killing people, World War I ended in November 11, 1918. There was an event that triggered the war to break out on June 28, 1914. The event that triggered the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Fordincrd, that was Austrian. The Austria-Hungary gave the Serbian two demands to follow but they did not want to. The first one was to stop the group that assassinated him, and to let Austria-Hungary to send police into Serbia to investigate. The Austria-Hungary accused Serbia for the assassination of Fordincrd and his wife (Document 3). The causes of World War I is Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism.

One of the reasons led to World War One was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian (Fromkin 121). Although multiple reasons have been affiliated to his assassination, most of those reasons revolve around upholding Serbia’s power. On the one hand, Austria-Hungary had planned to attack Serbia since it was at its weakest point due to the adverse effects of the Balkan War they had just undergone (Fromkin 122). On the other hand, Serbia was making an effort to regain control over Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of Austria-Hungary (Fromkin 122). Before the assassination of Franz, the Bosnia-Herzegovina crisis had heightened to a point where Austria intended to invade Serbia (Fromkin 74). It was evident that Serbia, through the assassination of Franz, was seeking to retain its independence and protect its regions from Austria-Hungary’s influence by intimidating

The next most important reason was the murder of the Archduke and heir to the throne of Austria, Franz Ferdinand. This was the “spark” that lead to the beginning of the war. It was important because it caused Austria to attack Serbia. This is because although Bosnia was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, it wanted to be a part of its neighbouring country Serbia, who ruled themselves and wanted Bosnia to join them. So on June 28th 1914, when Franz and his wife visited Bosnia they were assassinated by the terrorist group the Black Hand. Austria then blamed this on Serbia and used his death as an excuse to attack Serbia. This then lead to many other countries getting involved. This was the spark of the war, as all the countries had already stated their allies and had rivalries with their enemies, and so all they needed was an excuse to fight each other. This is a cause of the start of the war, as it