The Causes of War in 1914

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The Causes of War in 1914

There were many causes for the war in 1914, some of which were long

term causes, and one that was a short term cause. In this essay I will

explain some of the factors that contributed to the start of the First

World War.

The immediate cause and the trigger of war was the assassination of

the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. On June 28th

1914, Franz Ferdinand was visiting the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia.

Many Serbians lived in Bosnia and did not like being ruled by Austria.

As a protest against Austrian rule, a group of Serbians decided to

assassinate the Archduke. As he was driving around Sarajevo in his

car, a young Serbian student shot him dead from point blank range.

Austria then blamed Serbia for the killing and declared war on Serbia.

Austria may have merely been looking for an excuse for a preventive

war, a war to help their country survive, as there were many tensions

between Austria and Serbia. Serbia was becoming very powerful and

wanted to unite all Serbs including those living in Austria. However

there were many nationalities of people living in Austria and if the

Serbs living there gained independence then other nationalities would

also demand independence. The Austrian empire was in danger of

collapsing and many Austrians were in favour of a preventive war

against Serbia to destroy them before they became strong enough to

destroy Austria-Hungary.

Quickly other countries became involved and the smaller conflict

between Austria and Serbia grew. Serbia asked her friend and protector

Russia to help and they began to get their troops ready. Germany then

sent a message to tell Russia to leave Austria and Serbia to fight

alone. Russia ignored Germany’s message so Germany then declared war

on Russia. Germany knew that France was allied to Russia and that they

would intervene with their conflict, so Germany then declared war on

France. Germany attacked France through neutral Belgium, so Britain

tells Germany to leave Belgium.

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