Causes of the First World War
“The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 grew out of a short term
crisis in the Balkans, but any attempt to understand its origins must
take into account a number of long standing developments.”
(McDonough). To discuss this judgement, we must investigate the causes
of the First World War, the consequences of these actions, and to what
extent were they responsible for the start of the war. A long term and
economical cause was colonial rivalry between the major European
superpowers. Other long term political causes include the Anglo-German
naval race, both of the Moroccan crisis, which all, among other things
heightened the tension within Europe, eventually leading to war.
Another long term ideological and political cause is the alliance
systems which is responsible for the turning a possibly localized war
into a world one, while another long term ideological and economic
cause was the Balkan problem: disagreements on what the fate of the
‘sick man of Europe’ ought to be. Last, but not least, the spark of
the war was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, which, if not for
the aforementioned factors, would have a much smaller consequence than
a world war. In fact, if not for the tension which was built and
maintained for around the last three decades, this last cause may not
even be a cause for war. So, yes, I agree with McDonough: I believe
that although it was this last event that sparked war, it would have
had no significant effect if the long term causes had not taken place.
During the nineteenth century, most of the major European powers had
no interest in colonies. But, starting ...
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...ms that it provided; it was the chain reaction guaranteed by the
alliance systems; it was the heightened tension resulting from the
Moroccan crisis as well as the Anglo French military promises that
came as a consequence of mutual fear of German attack; it was the
problem of German encirclement and what she would do to escape her
fear; it was the tension caused by the Balkan problems, and last but
not least, it was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, which was the
spark Europe needed to embark on the war that was ready to begin. So,
in conclusion, World War I “grew out of a short term crisis in the
Balkans, but any attempt to understand its origins must take into
account a number of long standing developments.” Without all the
aforementioned causes, the July Crisis 1914 would merely be a
localized war, if even that.
details the causes of the first World war and describes the first month of the war. The book clearly illustrates how a local war became an entire European struggle by a call to war against Russia. Soon after the war became a world issue.
People did not expect the war to develop in the way it did. In 1914
Great War, also known as The First World War, lasted for four year (1914 to 1918). It brought a huge development of war technics and weapons. More number of countries had been involved in the Great War than any previous war. It involved the mobilization of the whole nations, not just an enormous army that turned the war into a “total war”. (Clare 6) However, historians are still arguing about the major cause of the World War I. The major cause will be one of the four long-term causes of WWI, which are Militarism, Alliance, Imperialism, and Nationalism. In my opinion, the two major causes would be Alliance and Nationalism. Alliance is an association between two or more countries for mutual benefits that formed with different treaties, while Nationalism is feeling and principles of patriotic.
Professor Geoff Hayes, “4 August 1914: Slithering Over the Brink, The Origins of the Great War,” Lecture delivered 31 October, 2011, HIST 191, University of Waterloo
In my opinion, the main cause of World War One was alliances between countries throughout Europe. In case that one country went to war they were provided with aid and support. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, they declared war against Serbia, and other countries were involved due to alliance agreements.
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Austrian Archduke, is often cited as the direct cause of WWI. While it was a significant catalyst to the war, the circumstances surrounding WWI were actually more complicated. The first great world war was caused by a variety of factors including: tensions between countries due to a threatening system of alliances, stockpiling of weaponry, and nationalism.
I think that the First World War was the product of long-standing rivalries rather than a badly mismanaged Balkan Crisis because it was these rivalries that led to the Balkan Crisis. The Balkan Crisis may appear mismanaged because previous crises such as those in Morocco in 1905 and 1911 did not result in war.
Accurately titled The Long Fuse, this memoir, by Laurence Lafore, describes the lengthy chain of events that led to the First World War. He begins his work by thrusting the reader in the midst of 1870 Europe and her hopeful situation. Nations were developing nationalism at every turn and were vying for a better world. The Second Industrial Revolution was in full swing and was changing how the world, and war, operated. Education and literacy were taking root in average lives and, in turn, the idea of Liberty took off. Thus the foundation for greatness was set. If Europe was destined for greatness, then how did it end up in total war?
As it's well known, the world has been totally changed after the first world war. New countries have been created, and other countries have dismissed. What do you think was the reason of that war to be started? Why do people call this war " world war"? What happened when this war had been ended? In particularly, this war caused several losses and profits at the same time.
World War I, also referred to as the Great War, was a global conflict between the greatest Western powers and beyond. From 1914-1918, this turf war swept across rival nations, intensifying opposition and battling until victory was declared. World War I was immediately triggered by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, however several long-term causes also contributed. The growing development of militarism, the eruption of powerful alliances, as well as the spread of imperialism, and a deepening sense of nationalism, significantly promoted to the outbreak of the Great War. World War I was triggered in a number of ways.
“War is unorganized murder, and nothing else” (Harry Patch). In World War 1, which was first called the Great War, there were many causes of the war breaking out. The Great War started August 1st 1914, days after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, when they visited Bosnia. Many soldiers went to war for no reason but to fight for their country. The Great War was not only affected by the soldiers, but also by the civilians as well.
The chaos of World war 1 brought fear and through the confrontation of this fear lead to the growth of
It may seem like wars start abruptly, with little cause, but usually there is a bigger story. New policies, lack of equality, military influence, and too much government involvement usually stir up the peace initially. These turn the country or area into a ‘powder keg’, ready to explode into war at the smallest spark. Although the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand was the spark of World War I, policies at the time like nationalism and militarism were the underlying causes of the war.
Europe has seen many wars over its vast and broad history, some of which being quite immense and destructive. One such war would undoubtedly be World War One. A war powered by the brainwashing ways of militarism and the stubborn pride of nationalism. Once engaged in a war a country’s militarism will produce fine soldier ready to drop like dominos on the battlefield, while the nationalism works as fuel providing the naive determination to fight the war. This naïve determination and soldier production is why World War One, like every other war, continued with such persistency. But what started World War One? Was it militarism that trained young men since they were kids to become soldiers, nationalism propelling a nations pride forward or was it neither? While both of those aspects could be potential reasons their still not the main pillars of cause. The true reason’s that made World War One inevitable were the intimidating alliances, avaricious imperialism, and tedious tensions.
Long and Short Term Causes of WWI There were several long-term events that led to the outbreak of World War One. The most prominent factors include: nationalism, militarism, imperialism, the Balkan and Morocco crises, and the alliance system. Ironically, these things were either started in response to, or upheld because of, one of the other factors. The alliance system was one of the last factors to emerge before the war. Consequentially, the contributions of this system to the beginning of the Great War have to be considered.