Causes of World War I

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World War One, also known as “The Great War” and “The First Modern War” was a very large scale war lasting over four years, involving nations from around the world and ultimately killing more than twenty million people. The cause of this war cannot be accredited to one single event but rather an assassination of a nation’s leader and many political philosophies including militarism, nationalism, imperialism and the formation of alliances. On Sunday June twenty-eighth 1914 in Sarajevo Bosnia the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Francis Ferdinand, was shot and killed by an eighteen year old Bosnian Serb nationalist by the name of Gavrilo Princip. It is said that princip was a member of a secret terror society whose main goal was to untie Bosnia with Serbia through ridding Austria’s rule over Bosnia. War was to be declared. Militarism; “the tendency to regard military efficiency as the supreme ideal of the state and to subordinate all other interests to those of the military”, (“militarism”) played a strong role in the overall effect on the war. Every nation strived to be the best so once one nation developed a new piece of technology all other had to match it and then create something with more use and more power. This led to great advancements in technology and is also the reason why this war is called “The First Modern War”. Nationalism; “the belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals”, (“nationalism”). This feeling of patriotism leads to countries wanting to be superior or better than all the surrounding nations. The role of propaganda was very helpful in making people of their own country feel patriotic in turn joining the war efforts.... ... middle of paper ... ...lpful. They destroyed boats without being seen and controlled the ocean. Works Cited Duffy, Michael. "The Causes of World War One." First World War Saturday, 22 August, 2009. Web. 12 Nov 2009. . "imperialism." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 07 Feb. 2010. . "militarism." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 07 Feb. 2010. . "nationalism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 07 Feb. 2010. . "World War One Timeline." History On The Net. Web. 16 Nov 2009. .

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