WWI was a horrific and terrible event, caused by a spark that became out of control.
WWI began in 1914, after Otto Von Bismarck decided that he disliked the placement of Germany between Russia and France. Because of this, he created an alliance with Austria-Hungary, swearing to protect them. That alliance, which was caused because of Germany’s need for more land, led to Germany protecting Austria-Hungary against Serbia. So when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28th, and when Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, Germany joined in the fighting. This ultimately led to WWI, after Britain and France joined in the fighting. However, what was the real underlying cause of WWI? Although it is fought about, WWI was caused by Germany’s
…show more content…
Germany was always stuck between some of the most powerful nations on the earth, France, Britain, and Russia. Because of this, they always wanted to be as powerful and to be seen as a force to reckon with. Its sense of nationalism overpowered their thoughts, and they wanted to show the world that they were a nation, and that they could not be stopped. This is easily seen in document A of European alliances, showcasing the fact that Germany, although smushed between France and Russia, was around the size of France and Britain put together, and is even more apparent in Bernhard von Bülow’s speech The Hammer or the Anvil. “...We don’t want our own feet tramped by any foreign power… We don’t ever again want to become… the ‘slaves of humanity.’” (The Hammer or the Anvil, Bülow) Germany had just become a nation, and wishes to fight to stay one. They never want to be trampled on by France, Britain or Russia ever again. They believe they are a powerful nation, a begin preparations to become even more …show more content…
Their need for more land, which was considered power, made them paranoid and obsessive. Regardless of the other causes, Imperialism was the true underlying cause of WWI. In the chart adapted from Colin Nicolson’s The First World War, there is an obvious difference between the population of colonies of Germany and of France and Britain. Germany, only having 1,139,000 sq. miles, had the least of the three, and therefore had the least power in 1913. Because of this, Germany striked a deal with Austria-Hungary, forming an alliance, to form their needs as a nation. If Germany never felt they needed more power, they would’ve never made an alliance, and would’ve never started a war that would become out of control. They always needed power, and it was power that drove them to make alliances and fight back. Although there are technically multiple causes for WWI, imperialism is the underlying cause for them all. If Germany never needed more power, they never would’ve went looking for it. Austria-Hungary and Serbia would’ve still went to war, but Germany would not have been involved. WWI was an event that we could’ve avoided, but because of the power-hungry Otto Von Bismarck, we didn’t. World War One will always be a tragedy that will forever haunt the minds of
The first underlying cause of WWI was Alliances. The Triple Alliance was made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy; while the Triple Entente was made up of U.K., France, and Russia. (Document A) The Triple Alliance is surrounded be the Triple Entente, and The Triple Alliance may have felt threatened and also become suspicious. (Document A) When small battles started breaking out, each country was blaming some other country for disrupting the peace. (Document B). This proves that Alliances were a cause of WWI because The Triple Alliance was surrounded by the
Another debated cause is imperialism, which is the policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. This contributed to WWI because of the rivalry it caused in Europe between Great Britain, Germany, and France. They needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. Great Britain, Germany, and France competed for economic expansion in Africa. Even though Great Britain and France came to an agreement several problems before the war had to do with the dislike of Germany against Great Britain and France in North Africa. Also the crumbling of the Ottoman-Empire in the Middle East was a big factor for Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia. So the competition for colonies brought great powers into conflict and fueled the ideas of war and added to the present tension that already existed, and that tension keeps on building up.
One cause was nationalism. Nationalism is where you show pride in your country. An example of Nationalism is when it comes time every 4 years when the olympics are taking place. Everyone is cheering on their countries and showing off their pride. Nationalism played a role in causing WWI by countries thinking that a certain country is showing off too much pride.
Militarism caused WWI because certain countries spent a great deal of money on their military, and they were very eager to utilize it. Lastly, alliances helped spark the war because alliances are formed due to rivalries and mistrust. When one country starts a conflict, its allies
Though most historians consider the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary the most immediate cause of WWI, or the rise of Germany to be the main cause since they signed the Versailles Treaty (Doc 4), many agree that the war was not caused by just one thing. Instead, it was caused by a concept instead of specific people or countries. It seemed that everyone, during this time period, had started to increase their military power and defense systems. Therefore, World War I was caused by two things: the fear these countries had of losing their power, and the big toll that European Imperialism took international relations.
Although there were many causes for World War 1, the three most long term, underlying causes were imperialism, militarism, and the most important cause alliances. Imperialism was a big contribution to World War 1 because of the greed and determination from all of the supe six to overthrow different
One underlying cause of World War I was Militarism. In 1890 Germany and Austria- Hungary spent together about 40 million pounds, and in 1914 increased their spending to 150 million pounds (Doc C). As well as that Great Britain, Russia and France spent 100 million pounds and increased spending to 225 million pounds (Doc C). This shows that a buildup of arms was an important underlying reason for the war. In a speech before the German Congress Bernhard von Bulow spoke about how worried he is about England, France and Russia based on their acquiring of colonies around the world and how he does not want to “Step on the toes of any foreign power” (Doc
The main reasons for the causing WWI was imperialism, Alliances and militarism. When coming to the war militarism is the main reason but alliances and imperialism still have an impactful role in the starting of the war. With imperialism starting to imperializing people that did not want to be changed from the lifestyle that they had, With militarism which if we didn't have to keep up with the technology of war we wouldn't even be fighting in war, And with alliances with a certain amount of people going up against other people's sets of beliefs. The main reasons for WWI was militarism alliances and imperialism. One of the main reasons of WWI starting up was Alliances between countries.
Nationalism and the feeling of superiority over some countries helped contribute to the start of the war. Document 4 states, “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage.” This quote shows at the end of the war all the countries made Germany pay reparations. Since by this time Germany had lost the war the other countries felt dominant
World War I is estimated to have killed to an extent of 10 million people (background essay) and costing up to 186 billion dollars. WWI began in 1914 and lasted until 1918 and regarded the European Empires. The annihilation which took place in the European empires can be contributed to the unification and exclusion of countries, the desire for world dominance, and the tensions surrounding militarism.
There were long term and short term causes of WWI. While the long term causes made war inevitable, the short term causes provided the spark that started the war. The first long term cause was the rise of nationalism. This was a general rise in pride for your country, and the belief that your country is better than anybody else’s. Many of the other causes of war contributed to the rise of nationalism, including imperialism, militarism, and the industrial revolution. Confederations of states that would eventually link up like Italy and Germany finally unified as one country. Instead of being split up, they were one force. Part of nationalism was militarism, because one of the ideal things to build up as a country is your military. Just think
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 also played a role as a cause for WW1. In the late 1800s, less and less land that could be colonized existed. This sparked a scramble for the land left in Africa. Britain and France had the largest empires, with Britain having a presence on 5 continents and France present in 4. Germany was not very quick to acquire colonies, and only had small holdings in Africa. This angered the British and French, and so increased nationalism and hostility towards Germany. Territory and imperialism can be considered a reason for World War 1.
World war 1 was a long four year war that began in 1914, all through 1918. The reason why World war 1 began is more complicated than a list of causes. It was mainly fought in Northeastern France and Europe. The prime causes of why World War 1 began was mutual defence alliances, imperialism, and militarism. Around 20 million people were killed including over 100,000 American troops.
There are many different causes that led up to WWI, but there were a handful of root causes that accelerated the development of hostility between nations. One of the main reasons was the shifting of the balance of power. The balance of power between nations is a delicate equilibrium that can be easily thrown off if one nation shows a bit of hostility, or if there is an emergence that threatens the sanctity of this balance. For a power to emerge or change, it directly affects all other nations involved through a butterfly effect of events. In WWI specifically, the unification of Germany threw off all alliances and the control of powers, as it was overwhelming for such a strong power to step up. Structurally and emotionally, this was a dramatic change to the stability of the balance of powers, and such a quick change disrupted the peace between the nations so greatly that WWI occurred. Apart from the breakdown of the balance of powers and emergence of hegemonic threats, other institutional and structural theories can explain the events that caused WWI. Some of these events include social conflicts within the countries, shifting alliances, power rankings, and the struggles to negotiate different resources between countries.