Causes of World War I
The main cause of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian- Hungarian ruler. The Archiduke was shot and killed by a Serbian nationalist on an official visit. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia because of this. The war was supposed to be small and quick, which it would have been without the alliances of the Europeans and other countries in the world.
Picture of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The alliances allowed countries to go to war with countries that they had no problems with. The alliances in 1914 included The Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary, the Austro-Serbian alliance between Austria -Hungary and Serbia, and the Triple Alliance between Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy. There were several other alliances that called "Ententes" that were agreements to not sign for peace separately, but as a whole. The Austro-Serbian alliance between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was broken when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed and Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
Map of Powerful Countries in WWI
After Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, the alliances began to enter the war. Germany took the declaration of war on Serbia as an attack, so they declared war on Russia. France was bound to Russia by treaty, so therefore France got involved. Germany then invaded neutral Belgum in order to get to Paris faster. Britain was obligated to protect neutral Belgum and was allied to France, therefore Great Britain entered the war as well. Britain had many colonies that offered military assistance in this war as well. These countries included Austrailia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa. The war had now gone country wide. The United States were completely neutral until 1917 when Germany created a policy that threatened America's commercial shipping. The United States entered the war in April of that year. Japan had a military agreement with Britain and was forced to declare war on Germany as well. Since Austria-Hungary was in treaty with Germany, they declared war on Japan.
U.S. in World War I
Nationalism because popular in the 1800s which caused countries to want to build up thier militaries. Nationalism is have a strong patriotism for your country. Stronger militaries caused the war to last much longer and cause much more casualties than before.
Imperialism also made this war as big as it was. Imperialism is when a country takes over smaller or weaker countries. Britain is a good example of this during World War I. Great Britain had control over Austrailia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa. Once Britain had entered the war, all of the countries that Great Britain had control over entered the war as well.
Map of Imperialism (Black is controlled by G.B. in 1914.)
Militarism was also had a huge impact on the war. Militarism is having a strong military that is always ready to use. The France and German armies had more than doubled in the late 1800s into the early 1900s. There was also a lot of competition between Great Britain and Germany to gain control over the seas surrounding Europe. The British introduced a new battleship and soon after, Germany built up their navy as well. The militaries in Europe became more and more powerful.
I think that if Germany had not entered this war, it would have been a quick and easy war. During this time almost everyone had an alliance that was with Germany, or against Germany, which is why so many countries around the world got involved. If the alliances had not been so strong and powerful, I believe there would only be one World War in history.
http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm
Comments
Excellent job Courtney!