The flash of machine guns and the blare of shells were brand new to the veterans. Both the soldiers on the front and their family at home did not realize how much WW1 would change war forever. WW1, beginning in 1914 and ending in 1918 involved two major parties. The triple alliance, including Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary, and the triple entente, including France, Great Britain, and Russia fought the biggest War that the world had ever seen. We know the story, but when we read the between the pages, what were the underlying causes of the Great War that changed history? Through extensive research among primary and secondary documents, the answer has been found. The hidden causes were militarism, nationalism, and the system of alliances. Militarism led nations to jump at war prematurely. Nationalism causes other nations to become suspicious, and it also leads to a war that could easily be resolved other ways. The system of alliances was another underlying cause, as it made the war a world war by bringing all of Europe into it. WW1 began because of militarism, nationalism, and the system of alliances. The presence of militarism, an ideology that claims that the military is the most important aspect of a society, before and during the war led to jealousy and hard feelings, thus escalating the war far before it needed to be. Although this was not the primary cause, it was still an extremely important factor in the playing out of WW1. Document 2, a collection of period quotes compiled by Addison Wesley Longman, demonstrates the feelings of the citizens of Europe at the dawn of war. In the first quote, we can see that the average citizens throughout Europe found the prospect of peace in war, rather than fear and distaste. B... ... middle of paper ... ... combined powers of the nations in each alliance that helped to amass so many men to fight the Great War WW1 was a catastrophe that, for decades, many people have been wondering what realy happened behind the scenes. Everyone knows the story of the starting gun, the assignation of Archduke Ferdinand, but now, you can know the rest. Militarism, nationalism, and the system of alliances were the main causes for tension, and ultimately war throughout the entirety of Europe. Now that the world can finally hear the whole story, a 3rd World War may be prevented and thousands of lives may be saved. Now that the truth is out, make it heard. Militarism, Nationalism, and the System of alliances were the gun powder of WW1! Works Cited Document 2, Document 11, Document Document 7, Document 1, Document 5, Document 6, Document 3, Document 4, Ms. Ayala's lecture on WW1.
All causes of the Great War calling and bickering to be the main cause yet it was the combination of the main causes that made the war even possible; the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand with it’s nationalistic origins, then the alliances that created a larger web of support, and lastly imperialism that had created the passion of revenge, militarism, and nationalism. Though looking back many may not believe that the four years of trench warfare was not the most brilliant war in history, but they do have to agree that the causes are the most important aspects of the war in its entirety. For if people see why terrible events happen then they can prevent the future from new world wars that could’ve been solved without the need of 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.
“War is unorganized murder, and nothing else” (Harry Patch). In World War 1, which was first called the Great War, there were many causes of the war breaking out. The Great War started August 1st 1914 days later after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, when they visited Bosnia. Many soldiers went to war for no reason but to fight for their country. The Great War was not only affected by the soldiers, but also by the civilians as well. Women replaced men in factories, offices, and shops while the men were at war so that everything would be working smoothly. The main underlying causes of World War 1 were the alliances and imperialism in Europe.
Nationalism influenced people’s thoughts about war, twisting their minds to believe that their government and military was supreme and would win a war quickly. Because “most European countries, with the exception of France and Prussia, had not had any major wars within the 19th century, they stepped into the 20th century thinking that they were immune to defeat. This idea of immunity developed as countries forgot of their past wars and sufferings. The British were confident in their naval forces, the Germans in their arms and ships, and the Russians thought their land was protected by God. Citizens strongly believed that their country was the best and would do just about anything to help their country. It became a school boy’s duty to enlist in the army upon his graduation. As Erich Maria Remarque states in his book, All Quiet on the Western Front, the “young men of twenty... whom Kantorek calls the ‘Iron Youth,’” are the ones sent off to war in Germany. Their teachers drilled this message into their minds from a young age. The boys were told that it was their duty to their country to fight. Zara Steiner, British Historian, related that British teachers were told “to teach boys that success in w...
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.
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
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.
Militarism was also an underlying cause of World War I. As the alliance system divided Europe into opposing groups, each nation began to increase spending on its military. This set a belligerent mood in Europe as each nation was prepared to fight a war. A German officer once said "in time of peace, prepare for war," and that is exactly what European nations did, eventually leading to the Great War.
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...
The society could not support a long war. The First World War left no aspect of European civilization untouched as pre-war governments were transformed to fight total war. The war metamorphed Europe socially, politically, economically, and intellectually. European countries channeled all of their resources into total war, which resulted in enormous social change. The result of working together for a common goal seemed to be unifying European societies.
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.
In effect, nationalism was also a contributing factor to the alliance system. No country feels comfortable being in a war alone, and with the growing militaries in almost every country, allies provide much comfort. The supreme present of militarism, "a policy of aggressive military preparedness", in this period of time gave all countries great reason to feel the heavy weight of an oncoming war. Great Britain's naval policy (to always be twice as big as the next two largest navies put together), along with the predominate feeling of war, provided countries with a strong reason to try and create an incredibly strong military force. This led to an arms race, which made the impending war seem inevitable.
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...
Alliances played a hefty role in the inevitability of World War One. Countries were constantly at each other’s necks and needed power in order to protect themselves from each other. This is where alliances came in; countries could seek shelter from others by developing truces with close friends. Having a truce was beneficial in most ways because it provided the illusion of being a bigger power, and offered one extra support in case of a crippling event. Then again they did also create tensions between the countries that could only escalate further. For example, in the year 1879 there was a dual alliance created between Germany and Austria-Hungry. This alliance was created to protect them from Russia, who ...