What Was The Underlying Cause Of World War 1

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 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.

To begin, Great Britain had a total of 12,740,000 miles of land in the year 1913, a year before World War One began. The closest country to Great Britains size was France with 4,440,000 miles of land. Great Britain was very confident and would try to overpower many nations, causing problems. (Document F) In 1917, Germany became upset with Great Britain because they were practicing imperialism. Germany created a cartoon symbolizing how they felt Great Britain was taking over the world. (Document E) Also, Germany was angry with Great Britain because they took over the seas. The seas were a necessity for every country to be able to trade during the war and still make a profit and receive military aid too. (Document E) By practicing imperialism, lines are crossed, causing problems that lead to World War

Militarism is glorifying military power as well as maintaining a big army. In WW1 armies where of course the most important fight. Without an army there was no defense on your side and countries would’ve most likely been destroyed at an instant. When someone glorifies something they usually want it so bad that it ends up happening. If people want war they get war. A powerful country needs a powerful military in order to defend and protect what they stand for. People depended on militarism in order for war to be successful People accepted war as a necessity. “War is life itself. Nothing exists in nature, is born, or multiplies except by combat.” (document B) War was essential and if someone won a war militarism only increased causing people to continue with the world war. If everyone keeps reinforcing their supplies and continues believing that the only way to get something good out of everything is by fighting, then war will not be cut short. We can also see more examples of this in document C where it shows citizens saying “Better war then this perpetual waiting” and “men and women were delighted at the prospect of war”. Lastly in document L it clearly gives an example of how militarism effected people. It made them think that war was the only way out of everything. They took the path because “without power, without a strong army and a strong navy, there can be no welfare.” (document

There were many causes that contributed to World War I like: Imperialism, Militarism, and Alliances. Europeans thought they could make the world their oyster and take over any areas they pleased. Most countries did not appreciate their land being taken from them. For example, Serbia wanted independence from their mother country Austria-Hungary, so a nationalist group called the Black Hand, decided to assassinate the Archduke. If Serbia didn’t assassinate the Archduke of Austria-Hungary the war probably wouldn't have happened at all. Europe’s imperialism is what caused the Great War that went for four long years from 1914 to 1918 and had over 30,000,000 million casualties. The main cause of World War I was Imperialism which caused Alliances and

“Imperialism is a system where powerful nations control and exploits one or more colonies”. And one of the causes of World War 1 was the power differences between France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Britain. Britain had the largest population colonies between all the countries. And it was about “the land that Britain and France owned led to a heightened rivalry with Germany, which sought acquire colonies later on and only controlled small portions or Africa. The world’s largest, richest and most dominant imperial power was Great Britain; the British Empire famously occupied one-quarter of the

Militarism is the belief that a country should sustain a strong military while being ready to use it to protect itself and promote national interests. The increasing European divide had led to a weapons race among the primary countries. The armies of France and Germany had grown more the twice their previous proportions between 1870 and 1914, meanwhile there was an aggressive race between Britain and Germany for control of the sea. In 1906, The British had presented a successful battleship named the Dreadnought. Shortly after, the Germans had introduced their own battleships. Von Schlieffen, a German, also illustrated a plan of action that comprised of attacking France through Belgium, if Russia were to attack Germany. (Crocker, 2017).

Militarism was the motivation to fight in a war without a clear understanding of why. Men at this time were very eager to fight in World War I due to their abundance of weaponry and need to defeat a country to prove their superiority. At this time, there was an increase of munition and hopeful young men, ready to fight for their country. In The London Times History of the World, a bar graph demonstrates the growth of armaments and the amount of money each county spent in World War I between 1890 and 1914. During 1980, France proved to have spent the most on new war materials at about 38 million British pounds. However, in 1914, Germany over triples that amount at 115 million British pounds spent on armaments bought for the war. Another example of militarism comes from a speech given by Bernhard von Bülow titled, The Hammer or the Anvil. In his speech, the chancellor encourages the german country to battle in the war with their best foot forward otherwise they could get crushed by more willing opponents. He uses the analogy of a hammer and an anvil to question whether Germany wants to have the power and brutality of a hammer or be beaten by another country who embodies hammer qualities. Bülow’s metaphor helped the German people become inspired to fight for their country and use the resources available to

There were several reasons why the United States gave up the policy of neutrality to enter the World War 1. One of the primary reasons had to do with threats due to the offensive tactics from the Germans.

Imperialism is, by definition, the extending of a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Imperialism was born because of nationalism. The belief that your country is superior and better than others is what drives people to extend and push their beliefs onto others and it is also a major cause of war. If people believed they were

Militarism-the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should keep a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests.

Militarism is a nation’s act of placing an immense necessity and significance of the military power. To many European nations before the First

Otto Van Bismarck was the German chancellor from 1860 to 1890 and was successful in uniting all of Germany. He instilled a deep sense of nationalism into the Germans. Nationalism is a desire to connect people to a common language and culture. His most famous saying was that “the great debates of our time will not be decided through democracy but through iron and blood.” Bismarck was instrumental in creating the triple alliance between Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany. Bismarck understood the value of keeping a peaceful Europe and skillfully used his power to stay out of battles throughout his leadership. That changed when William Kaiser the second inherited the empire and fired Bismarck for not

There is a chain of events that leads to the start World War 1, such as Moroccan crisis, Alliances, Militarism, Nationalism, Pan Nationalism, Imperialism, Economic factors, first, second and third crisis. I believe that there are few of them, which are more significant than others. Militarism and Moroccan crisis were one of the most important factors, however the European alliances, Militarism and Crisis 2 were more significant.

There were four main causes to WW1; the fight to have the most powerful empire, the arms race, the two alliances, Triple Entente and Triple Alliance, and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Franz Ferdinand was the spark that started the war but if there weren’t the arms race every country would be so prepared, however if it wasn’t for the alliances then the war wouldn’t reach the global scale.