Cause Of World War I

Europe was a continent of mixing races, cultures, beliefs and ideas. Every country had its own style and way of doing things. When industrialization came and shaped a few countries into an economic powerhouse, struggles arose. Nationalism, imperialism, alliances and militarism were the biggest cause of World War I. Europe was a powder keg about to explode with all the conflicting interests and competition that had been brewing for years it was only matter of time, and at last one man would be the shot that started it all. The start of World War I was like a domino effect, one thing after another fell until chaos had consumed Europe.

The immediate being that led to world war I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand When studying

The second man threw his grenade, but forgot to factor in the delay of the hand grenade and the bomb exploded three cars away. (“Assassination)This man then took a cyanide pill and threw himself into a nearby river, the only problem was the cyanide was expired and the river was only a few inches deep so he was quickly arrested.(Greenspan, Jesse) The Other men had given and up and gone home, only one remained. Just by luck, the Archduke's driver and taken the wrong course and stopped to ask for directions right in front of the last man.(Greenspan, Jesse) This man was Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian and member of the black hand society, a group determined to rid Bosnia of Austria role.(“World History Online Textbook) This man raised his pistol and shot the archduke twice, the archduke died shortly after.(“World History Online Textbook) Following his death was the dominoes of war, one country after another jumping into the war.

Once archduke Franz Ferdinand was dead, the war got rolling due to Alliances. This is the most important cause of world war I. After the Archduke's death Bosnia pleaded and tried to negotiate with Austria, but Austria was only interested

Nationalism is the pride in one's country. There were countries all over Europe boasting with pride and there were smaller nations within larger ones boating with pride but lacking independence. They were proud of their heritage, of their culture, or their beliefs and they wanted to express the abilities ten fold, this led to the desire for independence. Within the Balkans, the intense nationalism of Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians, and other ethnic groups led to demands for independence. (“World History Online Textbook) Additionally, this excessive pride in one's counties leads to a feeling of superiority. Countries think they are the best and want their country to succeed. And if they feel their country had been wronged this could force many to go to war, such is America's role in world war I. America as the very beginning of the war had declared itself neutral. They had no desire to lose thousands of people in a war, lose trade, and spend copious amounts of money on the deeds of war. In 1914, when war broke out President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed America's neutrality.(Foner, Eric) But as a prideful country, when threats were made the American people were angry. One of the biggest incidents that led America to join the war was when The Lusitania ship was sunk by Germans and killed 124 Americans. (Foner, Eric) The people were outraged and it this caused Germany