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Causes of World War One
Underlying causes of the first world war
Causes of World War One
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War can be an ugly thing. It’s always been around since ancient times up until the present. Throughout history war has never been able to cease, there have only been small periods of peace throughout the ages. War exists because of the greed of human nature and when someone or something, such as a monarch or an empire wants something war has usually been the go to answer. Greece for example, wanted to unite as a country instead of always fighting amongst each other as city-states. But, that didn’t happen until the neighboring country invaded them while they were fighting with each other, the invading land was known then as the Persian Empire. An individual of a different country shot the archduke Franz Ferdinand because he wanted a war, which Germany in response declared war on Serbia, leading to the First World War.
The causes of World War I are very well known there is a certain acronym I learned called M.A.I.N and it stands for Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism. Militarism is when a countries profit goes into the creation of a sturdy army and weaponry such as mor...
Firstly, war is initiated by country having more power and wanting to expand their territory or to gain more resources. For example, in the essay The Ecstasy of War (1997) by Barbara Ehrenreich, she stated “that wars are designed, at least ostensibly, to secure necessaries like land or oil” (Ehrenreich 43). Therefore, countries wanting to have more land or important resources will initiate a war if the other country is not in accordance in willing to
History is full of people fighting against one another and going to war for all types of different reasons. For the most part countries go to war to either protect their way of life, or for a better way of living. We want to preserve certain aspects of life like our rights, as well as helping others gain or maintain them, we also want to be able to prosper as a country. When one or some of these things are threatened a country will go to war. Some wars that fallow this trend include the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. Besides protecting or bettering life, war can also make or break a countries economy.
The origins of World War One The Fritz Fisher thesis Fritz Fisher focuses on the Kaiser, Gottlieb von Jagow, Bethmann Hollweg and Helmut von Moltke. These four were the German leading figures at that time; Fischer is convinced that these people were responsible for the outbreak of World War One. Fischer’s three main claims were: 1. Germany was prepared to launch the First World War in order to become a great power. 2. Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to start a war with Serbia, and continued to do so, even when it seemed clear that such a war could not be localized.
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.
Balkan nationalism was a major factor in the outbreak of the WWI .It is one of the long-term causes which caused European powers to declare war to each other. Even if the war between Austria and Serbia was expected to be a short one it culminated into a worldwide conflict that lasted four years. The idea of Pan-Slavism was the result of Serbian’s nationalism and Serbia refused to be oppressed by Austria-Hungary. Serbs demanded for rights of self-governance and unified state. However their neighbor Austria-Hungary wanted to become imperial power and she implied territorial expansion. Historians have different opinions about this subject and because of its complexity it is not possible to say that none of them is completely right. Balkan countries were a big threat for her foreign policy and this led to the culmination of their conflict and the outbreak of the war. Although nationalism is important in understanding the outbreak of WWI, there are many underlying causes that together culminated into a worldwide conflict. It is hard to reach the final answer on the question which relates to the extent of the importance of Balkan nationalism in the outbreak of the war because there are many different perspectives in understanding this question. For example Ruth Henig’s opinion is that Balkan nationalism was extremely important for the war and sees the guilt of Austria-Hungary for its outbreak. On the other hand John Leslie says that the responsible is Germany :“Austria-Hungary can be held responsible for planning a local Austro-Serb conflict, which was linked to its fears about Balkan nationalism, but Germany, which was not interested in this quarrel, quite deliberately used it as an opportunity to launch the European war which Austria-...
World War one was one of the most deadly war that only lasted four years long from 1914 to November 1918. It was triggered by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. In the matter of one month events had gone out of control. By August 1, 1914, armies across Europe were squared off against each other. By late 1918 10 million soldiers and civilians were dead and 20 million were wounded. It is important to try to understand the underlying cause of this tragedy. In other words three basic causes that were responsible were network alliances, a build up of arms and imperialism.
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.
In 1914, Gavrilo Princip had assassinated Franz Ferdinand, The duke of Austria. The assassins had been put up by the Serbian government, soon the Austrian government found out and had decided to retaliate. This had been the tipping point that had caused World War 1. But this is not the only cause to World War 1. The other causes of World War 1 were MIlitarism which was strongest in Germany. Germany was allied with Austria-Hungary at the time which is also a cause, the alliances in 1914. A few main alliances were the Triple Entente, which makes Russia France and Britain watch and protect against the ever growing threat from Germany. There were alliances made all throughout Europe that bounded almost everyone to protect someone. Another cause was Nationalism, germany mostly. Germany because they were a fairly new country who wanted to prove themselves as a nation. The final cause was imperialism. which was happening all over the place and it made countries scared their land might be attacked. World War One was not only caused by an assassination but was caused by alliances made throughout Europe along with insane nationalism, extreme militarism and frantic imperialism.
The first world war started in August 1914. The assassination of the Austrian archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife directly triggered the war, but it is believed by most that this was only a spark to start the war, and that there were many other factors leading up to it. These factors include a strong sense of nationalism and militarism within the countries, and the fight for the Balkans between Russia and Austria-Hungary. With imperialism already causing tensions between countries, some believe that the war was inevitable. There is ultimately no main cause or event that triggered the war, but a lot of small tensions that built up over time, eventually coming to a head and starting the war.
War is what keeps a nation from dying, it is the backbone of a country. This is the shown throughout the course of World War I, also known as “the war to end all wars.” World War I started in the summer of 1914. Archduke Francis Ferdinand, from the Austro – Hungarian Empire was visiting Bosnia. He was shot, along with his wife, Sofia, by a young man from the Black Hand, Gavrillo Princip. What were the three main factors that started World War I? There were three main underlying causes that started World War I: greed, nationalism, and militarism.
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.
There were many immediate and underlying or fundamental causes of World War I. The difference between an underlying and immediate cause is that an underlying cause develops over a long period of time and indirectly leads to a specific event, and an immediate cause is a specific short-term event that directly leads to another event or series of events. While the immediate cause of World War I was the assassination of Francis Ferdinand, the archduke of Austria, by a Serbian member of the Black Hand secret society, there were various basic causes of the war. Three of them were nationalism, alliances between European powers, and militarism. Nationalism is a devotion and loyalty to one’s own nation, with a primary emphasis on furthering its interests as opposed to those of other countries.
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.
They are many ways to approach a conflict in order to find a resolution. For minimal actions people are often willing to talk about it, but for major actions the solutions to those problems are usually acted out by violence thus, the creation of war. For many centuries countries have been going to war over disagreements. However, it is not any type of disagreements; it is usually about the political beliefs of certain countries. In fact, World War 1 was caused by the disagreements of the European countries in power which were Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary. Some of the countries had a difference of opinion concerning political values on ruling the country. Some were in favour of nationalism, imperialism, or militarism which caused physical conflict and created war. (Duffy) Many soldiers had to go fight to represent their country and make them proud. Many novels have been written to explain to the people how the war had a psychological impact on the soldiers who participated in The Great War, but in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque he explains the true depth of war by implicating his knowledge of his days as a German soldier fighting on the western front. Remarque’s awful war experience influenced him to write his novel to show the realistic brutality of war by graphic violence, the emotional impacts on the privates as well as the impact of nationalism by the Germans.
War has been around for centuries. From the time modern civilizations began, war has played an integral part in human history. It shaped the world into the modern world we live in. War has been said to be a great motivator, for example, the Great Wall of China was built to fend off the attackers from the north. However, the negative aspects of war far outweighs any positive effects it might have. The destruction of civilizations, cities and countries, mass killings of men, woman and children alike, the disastrous effect it has on economy and the after effects of war can last for centuries.