The nation responsible for the onset of World War I is Austria-Hungary because of the territorial and political stances with Serbia that provoked the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After Ferdinand's death, Austria-Hungary initiated a call for support to the Germans about the problems in the Balkans, resulting in Germany confirming their assistance by issuing a “Blank Check.” Austria later gave Serbia a list of ultimatums that consisted of extreme demands in hopes of Serbia rejecting it. Since Serbia is a country where Slavic nationalism was idealized, it refused the idea of Austria gaining the right to control the investigation of Franz Ferdinand's assassination and have authority over the state of Serbia and this did in fact compel Serbia to reject the ultimatums. Austria knew that Serbia would not accept this list of ultimatums and therefore sent it as a rational motive to declare a war. Not long after, Austria declared war on Serbia, and Germany, Austria's ally, declared war on Russia, an ally of Serbia.
The underlying causes of World War I can be related back to the conflicts involving Austria-Hungary and the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovia. In 1878, Serbia became independent from the Ottoman nation. With this independence, Serbia anticipated that their region would include the South Slavs in Bosnia and Herzegovia. Slavic nationalists in Serbia were in hopes of seceding from the Austro- Hungarian empire. In 1879, the Congress of Berlin placed Bosnia-Herzegovia under Austrian rule, shattering the nationalist's hopes of gaining that territory. Bosnia did not want to be under rule by a multinational state like Austria and the Austrians were not fond about Serbia promoting Slavic nationalism. The Austrian gove...
... middle of paper ...
...9, Appendices 1 and 2, 1914. The Great War Primary Documents Archive, Inc. 1995
Conklin, Dennis. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (June 28, 1914). The University of Southern Mississippi. Lecture. 4 April 2012.
Franz Joseph. Autograph Letter of Franz Joseph to the Kaiser, Vienna, 2 July 1914. The Great War Primary Documents Archive, Inc. 1995. 7 April 1996
Conklin, Dennis. Tactical and Technical Developments. The University of Southern Mississippi. Lecture. 4 April 2012
The Serbian Blue Book. No 37, 11 July 1914. The Great War Primary Documents Archive, Inc 1995
The Austro-Hungarian Red Book. Section 1, Nos- 1-19, Appendices 1 and 2, 1914. The Great War Primary Documents Archive, Inc. 1995
The German White Book. Germany's Reasons for War with Russia. Messrs. Liebheit and Thiesen of Berlin. The Great War Primary Document Archive, Inc. 1995
In conclusion, Militarism, Imperialism, Nationalism, Alliances, and Assassinations all contributed to cause the World War 1 in 1914. World War 1 was four long and terrible years, which took millions of people lives. In addition, many soldiers died while fighting along the Western and Eastern Fronts. One month after Archduke Franz was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in 1914. The World War 1 wouldn’t had happened with the three main and most important cause which are, militarism, imperialism, and
The people of Austria were rightfully upset in the summer of 1914. Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been shot and killed on June 28th, supposedly by a Serbian, and the Austrian government was livid. Three weeks after the assassination, on July 21st, Austria’s ambassador to Serbia, Baron von Giesl, wrote to foreign minister Leopold von Berchtold expressing that Serbia could no longer be avoided. Serbia had been seen as a threat long before the assassination, but now things seemed to have gotten out of hand. Giesl used his fears and beliefs to form an opinion that, in his opinion, should represent the entity of Austrian officials and influence the country to wage war on Serbia.
When the archduke was done inspecting their forces, he started on his way to the hospital to visit those who were injured in the earlier attack. On the way there, they took a wrong turn at the intersection of Appel Quay and Franzjosefstrasse. Gavrilo, who was eating at a local restaurant, saw the archduke passing by. He saw his chance, and the rest is history.
Wolfsgrüber, Cölestin. “The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 18 December 2011
Extreme nationalism was one of the causes of World War I because of the unification of Germany and Italy. Nationalism led European nations to compete for the largest army and navy, or the greatest industrial development. It also gave groups of subject peoples the idea of forming independent nations of their own. Germany wanted to match the British navy superiority during the reign of Kaiser William II. The nationalistic Italians who had just unified were also willing to fight alongside the Germans in order to prove themselves. Serbian nationalists however, were directly involved with the cause of WW I. On June 28, 1914, the young Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand and thus brought about the ultimatum of Austria-Hungary. Encouraged by the ‘brotherhood’, the Germans willingly watched over its brother and fortified the Anshluss, another case of nationalism. The entanglement of alliances would bring about the war.
"Firstworldwar.com." First World War.com. Ed. Michael Duffy. N.p., 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Grayzel, Susan R. The First World War: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
One underlying cause of World War I was the alliances that were being formed. On July 28th 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia were assassinated by a serbian member of the blackhand. Austria played Serbia as puppets and no longer wanted to compromise and wished to declare war. Alliances were formed to benefit their own country and to keep peace with the Great Powers and Europe. Many alliances split amongst Europe and made each country enemies. The Triple Entente military alliance between Great Britain, France & Russia in the years preceding World War I (Chapter 13 Section 1).
Berghahn, Volker R.. Germany and the approach of war in 1914. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973.
The underlying cause of World War I was the build up of Nationalism, Imperialism, and Militarism in the 1800s. The “three isms” caused this great war due to the outcry in which they caused within the countries and their citizens including military build up, severe nationalism, patriotism, and extending a country 's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
"The First World War: 1914-1918." Canadian Red Cross. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. (Secondary Website)
On 28th June 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife (Sophia)-were killed by a Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, while on formal visit to Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia/Herzegovina). He and his wife were there to inspect the Austro-Hungarian troops.
"Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Rotogravures." Newspaper Pictorials. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.
Throughout history, there have been several conflicts that have disturbed the peace in various areas. One of these gruesome events happens to be World War I, which was evoked by many different causes. The most significant and immediate causes of this catastrophe was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. Numerous nations were involved in this war, and two examples of opposing forces are Germany and Russia. World War I was resolved to an extent with the Treaty of Versailles, but it was not entirely settled. This is clear because World War II was a result of World War I.
After a Serbian was arrested for the assassination Austria-Hungary pulled out of the peace talks and declared war on Serbia. Germany who was allied with Austria-Hungary also declared war on Serbia. Russia who was allied with Serbia had to declare war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. When Germany invaded France and Belgium, Great Britain declared war on Germany. World War 1 had begun. As the German Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg said, “Once the dice are cast nothing can stop them.” Indeed once the dice were cast on World War 1 nothing stopped them until 22 million people had died.