The American people thought they had captured the idea of “the shot heard around the world” when the first shot was fired in the American Revolution. The idea was then redefined when Gavrilo Princip shot and killed the Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife. This one shot of violence began a “war to end all wars.” However, what were the hidden reasons that started World War I. How could two small countries petty affairs start a war so large that in the end countries from every civilized continent would take part? Through the different alliances, acts of imperialism, -- the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies (Dictionary.com), militarism, -- the principle or policy of maintaining a large military establishment (Dictionary.com), and nationalism, -- the policy or doctrine of asserting the interests of one's own nation, viewed as separate from the interests of other nations or the common interests of all nations (Dictionary.com), these many countries had set a stage for a cataclysmic end.
Alliances formed by the countries helped lead to this world war. If Germany didn’t defend Austria-Hungary, Russia defend Serbia, and France and the United Kingdom aid Russia, this war wouldn’t have been so large. However due to the alliances formed by these countries, they were bound to aid one another. This also leads to members of opposing alliances blaming one another. (doc 4) This naturally left German blaming Russia for aiding Serbia, Austria blaming Serbia for the assassination, and England and France to blame Germany. Later Belgium and the United States would join the entente (to be later called allies) also blaming Germany. Furthermo...
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...e. The different national anthems all expressed individual countries views as to how they were better then all the others. (Doc 5) In the United Kingdom it was reported that people were meeting in neighborhood squares cheering for the coming of a war. They were “delighted at the prospect of war” (Doc 2) If one feels they are better then the rest, naturally they have an incentive to demonstrate how. This led to countries taking up arms against one another, and thus leading to WW1.
All-in-all, I feel we must look at deeper then the surface of this war. There isn’t necessarily one exact reason as to why this war occurred. Though, Gavrilo Princip’s “shot heard around the world” ignited the enormous powder keg, it didn’t place the keg in the proper place. It was the cumulative effect of alliances, imperialism, militarism, and nationalism that brought about this war.
There are four factors which could be held accountable for World War I; militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism. Militarism is the expansion of armies and navies, alliances refer to the webs of pacts and agreements that countries made with each other, imperialism is the taking over of other countries, and nationalism is the promoting of one’s own country and propaganda against either other countries or countries which were opposition of your allies. All of these four factors were partially responsible for causing the war. Militarism could be blamed for causing the war, because the growing competition between the European powers meant that countries were desperate to show their dominance, and this was best done through military investing. Furthermore, increasing military spending meant that countries wanted to use their armies, and this idea is backed up by the ”use it or lose it” mindset. Alliances were formed to protect one another against possible future attacks, but ended up further increasing the tensions between the European powers as alliances were formed against other alliances. Imperialism meant that countries were already fighting over territory, and though it was far away from where these countries actually were, it severely increased the risk of war as the tensions between countries increased. Nationalism increased hostility as the propaganda war began and continued. Each country was frantically trying to prove that they were superior to all other countries, and in this process they often ended up making negative propaganda slandering other countries and their leaders. Nonetheless, it was the Triple Alliance of 1882 that started the string of events that would inevitably lead to war. Even though none of the f...
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.
Motivation for this war was the idea of nationalism and the pride in one’s country. This war was the cause of disillusionment among many of the soldiers that were involved in it. This war was massively destructive to the people involved in it. Despite the brutalities, many soldiers still agreed to enlist in the war due to the concept of nationalism. Nationalism was an idea of unlimited support and pride towards their country.
At the end of the 19th century and early in the 20th century, many saw warfare as a necessary component of modern statecraft and even saw war as the marker of the coming of a new age. Three main forces that prompted World War I were: militarism, nationalism, and imperialism. Militarism is the idea wherein a country is able maintain strong military capabilities and be prepared to aggressively defend or promote national interests. Imperialism is defined as an empire created by a country that rules and governs the people to create a civilized society. Lastly, nationalism is the notion wherein a countries own need must be prioritized before any other. Heinrich von Tretschke, Henri Massis, and Alfred de Tarde, wrote articles to voice out their pro-war spirit during World War I. They believed nationalism was one of the main arguments that led European nations to go to war at the turn of the century.
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.
The underlying cause of World War 1 were the alliances within Europe. An alliance meant that if one country goes to war than the country associated will also fight. All the countries were picking sides before the war started. Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor that led the unification of the German states, did not like the fact that Germany was between Russia and France. “Bismarck formed the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy in the year preceding
World War One was greatly influenced by many factors, and in many ways. National interest ignited the mistrust and insecurities within nations, which in turn led to the creation of strong alliances and immense military forces. The growing suspicion Britain had of Germany only heightened the wariness and uncertainty of nations. The means, by which individual nations dealt with the issues within themselves, and outside of their boundaries, in the years preceding World War One, were irrational and improperly thought through. Nations fell into a strong ultra nationalistic point of view, and acted in a way which expressed interest in themselves only.
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.
Besides the assassination of the archduke there were four other reasons for the start of WW1. 1. Militarism- the building of large armies. All the nations in Europe at that time were engaged in what today could only be called an arms race. As soon as one nation built a new weapon, all the others followed suit. 2. Alliance System- The building of alliances to strengthen the borders of a country. In theses alliances if one country went to war all the other countries in the alliance were forced to go to war also. 3. Imperialism- The practice of colonizing other lands by large European nations. 4.Nationalism- The feeling of Patriotism in a country that makes it compete with all other counties in the area in all areas.
Causes of the war also included ideologies such as militarism, Imperialism and Nationalism along with the prominent alliance systems in Europe which all had a major affect on the outbreak of the war. All of...
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.
Although the alliance system was a main cause of the First World War, it arose because of several other factors, and did not cause the war single handedly. Nationalism, the love and support of one's country, has always existed. In this era, however, it was to take part in the creation of one of the most famous wars in history. Since so much pride was devoted to countries, it made the possibilities of peace between past rivals less probable. It also meant that most nations, especially the great powers, would rather fight a war than back down from a rival's diplomatic provocation.
The Alliances not only contributed to war breaking out; it made the war last longer and become on a much larger scale; major political disputes would inevitably cause a large conflict. The alliances caused suspicion, fear, and tension among nations. The two camps were the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary). When countries formed alliances with each other it gave them protection, if a country was threatened or under attack then the alliance would come to that country’s aid. Countries made an alliance when they both needed protection from a stronger country. When Austria-Hungary had heard about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand they went to war with Serbia which resulted in a chain reaction of countries going to war with one another, and when countries teamed up to support their attacked friends when war came, it meant that a number of nations would fight, not only the two involved in a dispute. The division of...