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...
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He felt that several forces of opposing countries took part in fighting each battle and ultimately believed that global opposition caused the Great War. Similarly, in the Balkan Region, several ethnic minorities desired independence from Austria-Hungary. As shown in Document 3, the Austro-Hungarian government demanded that action be taken regarding propaganda against Austria-Hungary. This ultimatum was a result of the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, who was killed by a Serbian nationalist. Russia, a large Slavic nation, has close ties with Serbia.
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Grayzel, Susan R. The First World War: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
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.
Professor Geoff Hayes, “4 August 1914: Slithering Over the Brink, The Origins of the Great War,” Lecture delivered 31 October, 2011, HIST 191, University of Waterloo
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The causes of World War I were mutual alliances created in many small groups. These countries agreed to hold mutual alliances, typically three or four nations tied for alliance. As you have mentioned, the World War I began with assassination of Ferdinand and which set off many mutual alliances to come support their respective mutual allies. This is why now in modern society, roles of diplomatic officials, remote embassies, and such ambassador’s roles play very critical parts in political sides. Lesson learned from the past created organizations such as United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to promote peace.
“The National Archives | Exhibitions & Learning Online | First World War | Aftermath." The National Archives | Exhibitions & Learning Online | First World War | Aftermath. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
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.
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