Ultra-Nationalism as the Fundamental Factor Leading to the Outbreak of the First World War

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Ultra-Nationalism as the Fundamental Factor Leading to the Outbreak of the First World War

There are several factors which caused the outbreak of the

First World War, namely ultra-nationalism, neo-imperialismæ–°å¸åœ‹ä¸»ç¾©, the

armament raceè»å‚™ç«¶è³½ and Alliance SystemåŒç›Ÿåˆ¶åº¦. Among these factors, to a

certain extent在æŸç¨‹åº¦ä¸Š, ultra-nationalism can be viewed被視為 as the

fundamental factor leading to the outbreak of the First World War.

Hans Kohn describes nationalism as "a state of mindæ€ç¶­ç‹€æ…‹ in which the

supreme loyaltyæœ€å¤§çš„æ•ˆå¿ of the individual個人 is felt to be due toå‘è‘— the

nation-state". Before 1870, nationalism in Europe meant the desire of

a nation for territorial unification統一 or independence rather than

foreign rule. After 1870, however, nationalism became extreme極端.

Ultra-nationalism means that a nation-state should expandæ“´å¼µ to obtain

glory光榮 and self-interestsç§åˆ©, even at expense犧牲 of other nations.

Ultra-nationalist movements during the period 1871-1914 referred to

Pan-Slavism泛斯拉夫主義, Pan-Germanism泛日耳曼主義, the Greater Serbia

Movement大塞爾維亞é‹å‹• and the French revengeå ±å¾© movement against Germany. As

for Pan-Slavism, Russia as the largest Slav斯拉夫 state claimedè²ç¨± that

she had a historic mission使命 to liberate解放 all the brother Slav states

in the Balkans巴爾幹åŠå³¶ from Turkish and Austrian rule. S.B. Fay points

out, in fact, that the foreign policy of Russia in the 19th and early

20th centuries was "to seek尋求 free passage進出 to the straits海峽 on which

her economic life depended". So Russia was eager to fish in troubled

...

... middle of paper ...

...ue to say that all the causes of the outbreak of

the First World War were made by ultra-nationalism. The Industrial

Revolution created demands for raw materials原料, markets and places for

re-investmentå†æŠ•è³‡, which all added oil to the fireç«ä¸ŠåŠ æ²¹ of

neo-imperialism. France competed with Germany for Morocco because

Morocco was rich in minerals礦物 and agriculture. After the Sarajevo

Assassination, both Britain and France tried to calm downå†·éœ the

Russian anger憤怒. Why Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914

was not because of ultra-nationalism, but because the German

invasion入侵 of Belgium threatened her own national security安全.

To conclude, nevertheless雖然如此, to a large extent ultra-nationalism was

the fundamental and most important cause of the outbreak of the First

World War.

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