World War I By James L. Stokesbury

Alliances were formed with the European countries formed partnerships to protect each other. There were two different alliances, one was the Triple Alliance was between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Then there was the Triple Entente was and alliance between France, United Kingdom, Russia. In the midst of all the war the nations that remained Neutral were Spain, Portugal, Greece, Serbia, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire, and Montenegro (Doc. D). In document E it states that France and Russia have both equal desires to preserve peace, and only want to make sure that they meet the needs for a defensive war. Then in Document G shows a comic of how the different Allies had “ganged up” on Germany and Austria, then there was Italy that had been

Out of the four main causes of World War 1, nationalism was the main cause. Nationalism is when you take extreme pride in your homeland. This had became a powerful idea in Europe by the late 1800’s. Nationalists place primary emphasis on promoting their homelands cultures and interests above those of other countries. Nationalism was also one of the reasons behind the tension among European powers. Each nation were competitors, so many people were willing to go to war to expand their nation as the expense for others. About Austria-Hungary’s Ultimatum to Serbia, Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, and then accused Serbia of terrorism and murdering.(Doc 2). This shows nationalism because Austria invaded and then accused Sebia of terrorizing and murdering, Austria doesnt wanna seem like the bad one, he wants to be seen as better, or the victim.

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

Nationalism created distrust of other nations due to cultural variances, political goals, aggressive competition, and rivalry between Europe’s powers for natural resources. Advertisements appeared all over promoting the idea that young men in Europe should go and fight for the greatness of their country. All types of men in Europe signed up for war believing entirely that it was a heroic and worthwhile cause that they were going to fight for. Another cause leading to WWI was imperialism which is a policy or practice by which a

B. Thesis: The First World War stimulated the greatest changes in warfare because it brought about new technology and industry development, advancement in science, and improved infrastructure and communication; essentially the First World War combined the legacies of the French and Industrial Revolutions and set the pattern for twentieth century warfare. ii. The industrialization in Europe and the new technology escalated the power of the WWI as compared to the other wars fought across the world there before.

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.

After taking action against Serbia, Austria-Hungary gained German support, and from there, the first alliance began. Within a week, major European powers like Russia, France, and Great Britain became involved, and more alliances were formed. Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary were the members of the Triple Alliance, while Great Britain, France, and Russia were the members of the Triple Entente. If a country in one of these alliances declared war, the conflict would quickly escalate due to all of the countries that would essentially need to become

Two Alliances were formed in Europe preceding World War 1. The triple alliance consisting of: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary (Document 1). The other alliance being the triple entente, which was made of the three powers: Great Britain, Russia, and France (Document 2). Both of these alliances were formed to oppose one another. When there was a conflict preceding the war and Germany rose up, France formed an alliance with Great Britain and Russia in order to have a defense in case of an attack from Germany. In turn Germany took this as a sign that these countries were preparing for a conflict. So, in response they formed an alliance with France and Austria-Hungary.

To begin with, the pre-war alliance in Europe intensified the long-lasting tensions between countries. In 1879, Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance against Russia. In 1881, Austria Hungary allied with Serbia against Russia. The Triple Alliance reveals the alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. On the other hand, Russia, France, and Britain agreed to become the Triple Entente. (Doc 1) The alliance clearly divided the countries in Europe into two groups, each of which hated the others very much. (Doc 4) The

One of the first alliances was a secret political alliance named the Dual Alliance in 1879 between Germany and Austria-Hungary, to defend themselves from Russia. This alliance was later updated to the Triple alliance when Italy sought out an alliance after losing their North African ambitions to France. In the alliance, the countries agreed that Italy would assist Germany if France attacked them and would also stay neutral if Russia attacked Austria-Hungary. The alliance was periodically updated, but ended in 1915. Austria-Hungary also made a secret political alliance with Serbia two years later, this alliance is called the Austria-Serbian Alliance. It made Austria-Hungary virtually the sole market for agricultural products from Serbia and thereby dominant. As the Central Powers gain alliances, so did the allies. In 1894 Russian wanted an alliance against Austria-Hungary and France wanted an alliance against Germany. Thus, creating the France-Russian alliance between Russia and France. Three years later Russia also joined forces with Britain in the Anglo-Russian Entente, to end the controversial dispute between the countries. France also joined the Entente in the same year, because of their worsening relationship with Germany. This alliance is called the Triple Entente. Altogether, these six alliances played a major role in starting World War 1, by interconnecting the countries together.

June 28, 1914, is a date to remember, it resembles the beginning of the first world war. This war is very well known to people all over the world, yet the cause of this catastrophic conflict has not been clearly identified. There are many elements to generate a war, such as imperialism, militarism, nationalism, and alliances within the nations. Although these are great and important reasons to the start of World War I, it was the nationalism that every country obtained that drove them to become the best and had sparked the war. Nationalism played the largest role in causing the war because when all the countries wanted the best for themselves, imperializing became a great need between the nations. Similarly, nationalism was also the central

“The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war”(Ralph Waldo Emerson). My paper starts in 1915, at this time, Germany and France are fighting because a black hand from a Serbian Terrorist group killed Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife in a show of nationalism. The united states is not in the war in 1915, but they do help out Britain and send supplies. Germany wanted to bomb this ship, the Lusitania, that was being sent to Britain. On that ship were 1,200 people, 128 of them were Americans traveling with loads of American war cargo. The Americans were warned by Germany to not get on the ship. Once the ship sank, Americans were very angry at the Germans and eventually, after

The Triple Alliance was a military alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed on March 20th 1882. Each country promised support in the event of attack.