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The incidents of imperialism during World War 1
Impacts of the First World War
Impacts of the First World War
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It’s impossible to argue that the effects of World War One were devastating for all parties involved. Unfortunately the reason for the wars inception is not as transparent as its resulting destruction. This “Popular Amnesia regarding World War One” has been attempted to be unraveled by historians for decades resulting in multiple theories and explanations. The European imperial expansion that took place in the late 19th century and the tensions it created has been credited by many historians as a cause for World War One .This essay will examine the role that imperialism played in the lead up to the war, as well as the alliances that were formed as a result of the rivalries between European states. Imperialism can be explained as openly …show more content…
Russia felt obligated to protect Serbia due to the fact that a significant number of the Russian population shared a Slavic ethnicity with the Serbian people. Tsar Nicholas II gave the offical orders to prepare for war on the 30th of July, two days after Austria-Hungry declared war on Serbia. Germany the preceded to declare war against Russia officially on the 1st of August and since the Russia was under threat, the rest of the European powers were dragged into the war in order to oblige to the alliances. Therefore it can be argued that because of Russia, the rest of European powers had to be brought into the conflict, making it a World War. So when asking the question what the causes of World War One are its important to remember that the rivalries between European states were intensified by the imperialism of the 19th century. Which lead to tension which became fear of invasion that in turn resulted in an intricate system of alliances “ensured what might have been an isolated crisis in the Balkans became a general war”. Whilst the effects of imperialism may not be the single cause of the war, it was undoubtedly a contributing
While the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the initial flame, there were four underlying causes that worked to trigger the commencement of the First World War. Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism and Imperialism played colossal roles in Europe at the time, thus being aspects that could certainly have blame placed upon. Militarism is the nation’s build up of a strong army due to the belief that a country should maintain a strong military capability and use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests. Alliances are bonds created between countries for mutual benefit. Nationalism is the spirit of a nation, often referred to as an extreme form of patriotism. Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule and influence
details the causes of the first World war and describes the first month of the war. The book clearly illustrates how a local war became an entire European struggle by a call to war against Russia. Soon after the war became a world issue.
...ress from the continuous arms races and military scares, held a big part of the responsibility for the war. Imperialism is tightly connected with militarism, because as one increases so does the other, but if this relationship is ignored we can clearly see that militarism was the half that bore most of the responsibility. Without expanding militarism, countries wouldn’t have had as many imperialist aims. But the deciding factor was the changing alliances in Europe. Even though this ties in with the tension building from the military scares and naval arms races that went on because of military expansion, they provided an environment of mistrust and a sort of betrayal for the evergrowing tensions between nations to grow to the breaking point. Even though alliances alone did not cause the war, without the crumbling alliance system in Europe war could’ve been avoided.
Duffy, Michael. “The Cause of World War One.” First World War.com. 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 18 May 2014.
The causes of World War One are extensively different from the ones of World War Two. Although, both wars were catastrophic, the causes of the first war were about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the July Crisis, and alliances between the European nations. While, the Second World War’s cause was Germany’s expansionist aims and Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, the failure of Collective security along with the failure of the League of Nations, and also one major cause would be appeasement. In WW1, the terrorist attack of a Serbian nationalist caused the ignition of flames that were set across Europe.
Alliances were a key contributor to the war. Europe was generally divided into two groups of nations. One on one side was Triple Alliance which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary and for a short time Italy. On the other side was the Triple Entente which also consisted of France, England and Russia. When Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, Austria logically pointed the finger of blame to the Serbian government. Because of the ethnic ties, Russia quickly sided with Serbia. G...
In my opinion, the main cause of World War One was alliances between countries throughout Europe. In case that one country went to war they were provided with aid and support. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, they declared war against Serbia, and other countries were involved due to alliance agreements.
However, in addition to the struggle over Bosnia, there were several underlying causes of World War I sweeping across Europe on the eve of World War I which contributed to the start of the war. These conflicts had plagued Europe for years and made a large-scale European war unavoidable. Although the direct cause of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, long term causes such as the political instability of Europe, rivalries and alliances between countries, and the conflict between large empires and nationalism brought Europe into a situation in which a large-scale war was inevitable. By 1914, these factors made the major European powers on the verge of war and a small spark in the “tinderbox of Europe” was all that was necessary to cause World War I.
World War I was a fascinating, yet dramatic war for which there are a lot of different points of view. Some people argue that it was only Germanys fault, where-as others think that it had to do with the pressure put upon them by the other leading powers. Some of the things which triggered the war were the enormous rise in population, which happened very rapidly, caused by the Industrial Revolution. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the population of Europe was roughly 50 million; by 1820 it was about 100 million, and by 1870 it had reached the 200-million mark. By 1914 it had topped 300 million. (Stokesbury 11-12). With all the leading powers focused on the Balkans, war, to many, seemed inevitable. The new countries abused their power which was given to them by their major allies, causing enormous problems, and unnecessary tension to be built up. Alliances also caused a lot of problems like the one between Japan and England, where-after the Russians suffered a humiliating defeat against the Japanese in the East. This did not exactly improve the chances for England to ally with Russia, but luckily did not interfere too much in their relationships, and after some time they even turned out becoming allies, together with France, at the end even making military plans together. They also shared the responsibilities of protecting areas, just like England and France who protected both the Mediterranean as well as the Channel separately, making it easier for each country to focus on one area.
The most significant causes of World War One include alliances, nationalism, and imperialism, but there are multiple other reasons that led to the tensions that created this war. This was one of the biggest, bloodiest wars in history, as almost the entire world was involved in some way. At the time it was called “the war to end all wars”, but unfortunately that was not true; it was just so giant compared to previous engagements that people couldn’t see how it could possibly progress past the state it was in. This war was inevitable with the pride of the countries involved; they were bound to clash heads eventually.
National interest was a key factor in the explosive beginning of World War One. By looking at the Naval Arms Race, the People’s Revolt in Austria-Hungary and European alliances, it can be shown that national interest was a significant factor in contributing to World War One. The ultra nationalistic views of many countries overruled their ability to act in a just and logical manner. It was in the years following the formation of the Triple Alliance in which the desire and craving for power grew, and created insincere relationships and unrealistic portrayals of other countries intentions.
Imperialism was one of the four contributing factors to the cause of World War One, along with secret alliances, militarism, and nationalism. It is the most important cause of WW1, because it created a build-up of tension in Europe and outside of Europe, and through imperialism, the three other causes were able to affect the beginnings of the war. Imperialism is defined as the governing of one people by another country, which was a recurring dilemma prior to WW1 due to the industrialist movement. Although not all events that fall into the imperialistic category were about controlling another country, they contributed to the war, and imperialistic events were the foundation of the cause of WW1.
Dominant powers exerting control over weaker nations is not a historical anomaly, as it occurred before the rise of the Romans, but new imperialism’s intensity, due to the Second Industrial Revolution and competition, marks a pronounced time in history. When countries began gaining significantly from taking the natural resources from others, they developed new technology. These technological progresses strengthened Western expansionism more, as the production of rifles and maxim guns increased. These technological progresses strengthened Western expansionism, as the production of Maxim guns increased, further boosting the strength of New Imperialism. This typhonic, overseas expansion of nationalism had a considerable amount of consequences and even directly led to the first World War. New Imperialism equated to the destruction of a continent–leaving it in shambles. Very minimal to no positive aspects resulted from this 1890’s form of
In conclusion, the causes of World War One included many factors both long term and short term. Some factors go deeper and contributed to the tension and rivalry developing in the nineteenth century among the Great Powers stage. Such as things involving politics, cultures, economics and what I believe to be the most important, the alliance system; lots of other factors tie in with the complex web of alliances. There are many factors that lead on and link in with one another; this just explains a few of the well known factors. Most involve contributing to tension and rivalry. The Great War is considered to be one of the most significant events of the twentieth century.
...e Alliance declared war on Serbia, Serbia asked Russia for help and Russia asked England and France for help. This is the most important cause of World War 1 because it brought 5 huge Empires unnecessarily into Serbia and Austria- Hungary’s war. Also from as soon as both The Triple Entente and The Triple Alliance were formed, it became clear for all to see, who was “friends” with whom and who hated whom.