Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Economic and political impact of the first world war
Causes of World War One
Causes of World War One
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Economic and political impact of the first world war
Structuralism and Intentionalism Explanations for the Causes of World War One The main causes of World War 1 can be roughly divided into Structuralist, long-term forces and attitudes, and Intentionalist, where individuals make premeditated acts, explanations. I think that Structuralism is a more convincing explanation for the causes of World War 1, as I do not personally believe that any individual was solely to blame for the First World War. I do not believe that any individual went out of their way to purposely cause the First World War. However I believe that a mixture of both is the cause of the outbreak of war in 1914, but think that structuralism is more to blame than imperialism. I think that no individual set out to cause a war and thus that no individual is solely to blame for World War 1, likewise I believe that no one structuralist idea was solely to blame, or that either structuralism or intentionalism could of caused the war without the aid of the other. Thus I think that the War would not have occurred if either structuralism or intentionalism had been absent. But I think that structuralism played more a part in causing the war than intentionalism did. I consider that structuralism, such as the alliance system and imperialism where to the cause of the war than intentionalism, for example the roles of Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas. Long-term economic forces and imperialistic attitudes are examples of structuralism which I believe are more to blame for the cause of the war. The build up of economic and colonial rivalry in the years preceding the war were a major contributing factor when assessing the reasons for the outbreak of war in 1914. In 1871 Germany emerged as a new central European power, and its strong economy, not to mention its sheer geographical presence, could rival that of France, Russia and even Great Britain. If Germany were to assume control of France then they would be just over the English Channel from Great Britain. This is supported by the fact that Britain joined the war, allegedly to
“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.
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.
...nt variables. It can deal with the interests within a country and interests out of it. It can occur due to ideological differences or religious differences. It can occur due to a power grab, and in the cases of a failed brinkmanship, can be a complete accident. Each war throughout history has its own unique set of reasoning for occurring, which makes studying the causation of war so fascinating: in every war you study, you are guaranteed to find so many unique characteristics that it possesses.
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.
Balkan nationalism was a major factor in the outbreak of the WWI .It is one of the long-term causes which caused European powers to declare war to each other. Even if the war between Austria and Serbia was expected to be a short one it culminated into a worldwide conflict that lasted four years. The idea of Pan-Slavism was the result of Serbian’s nationalism and Serbia refused to be oppressed by Austria-Hungary. Serbs demanded for rights of self-governance and unified state. However their neighbor Austria-Hungary wanted to become imperial power and she implied territorial expansion. Historians have different opinions about this subject and because of its complexity it is not possible to say that none of them is completely right. Balkan countries were a big threat for her foreign policy and this led to the culmination of their conflict and the outbreak of the war. Although nationalism is important in understanding the outbreak of WWI, there are many underlying causes that together culminated into a worldwide conflict. It is hard to reach the final answer on the question which relates to the extent of the importance of Balkan nationalism in the outbreak of the war because there are many different perspectives in understanding this question. For example Ruth Henig’s opinion is that Balkan nationalism was extremely important for the war and sees the guilt of Austria-Hungary for its outbreak. On the other hand John Leslie says that the responsible is Germany :“Austria-Hungary can be held responsible for planning a local Austro-Serb conflict, which was linked to its fears about Balkan nationalism, but Germany, which was not interested in this quarrel, quite deliberately used it as an opportunity to launch the European war which Austria-...
The war was definitely caused by a number of factors. The most intriguing question is whether the war that was both a landmark in the American history and a cause of misery was inevitable. The truth of the matter is, despite many arguments by scholars and historians; the war was quite inevitable given the factors that caused the bloody conflict. The nature, context and causes of the war are the major reasons why the war could not be evaded. The causes of the war were so complex despite the fact that many easily...
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.
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Austrian Archduke, is often cited as the direct cause of WWI. While it was a significant catalyst to the war, the circumstances surrounding WWI were actually more complicated. The first great world war was caused by a variety of factors including: tensions between countries due to a threatening system of alliances, stockpiling of weaponry, and nationalism.
In conclusion, there were many factors involved in the casing of World War One, but there were 3 very influential causes. Nationalism, which was extreme if not borderline insane pride in your country. Alliances that had stirred up countries into thinking they were not safe. being that this was 1914 and countries were still developing and some were weaker than others, it was very likely you could be invaded which is why alliances scared some countries into a hostile state. And the final cause was militarism, a kind of dictatorial state where you were ready to go to war at any minute and there were guns everywhere and children were not safe. World War One was caused by a lot of things but Nationalism, Alliances, And Militarism were the root causes.
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.
Long and Short Term Causes of WWI There were several long-term events that led to the outbreak of World War One. The most prominent factors include: nationalism, militarism, imperialism, the Balkan and Morocco crises, and the alliance system. Ironically, these things were either started in response to, or upheld because of, one of the other factors. The alliance system was one of the last factors to emerge before the war. Consequentially, the contributions of this system to the beginning of the Great War have to be considered.
I believe that this was the spark that triggered war and caused it to be declared, but not a main long term cause like the alliance system. 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. 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 were many causes that led to World War Two, some of them being: The Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Japan as a world power, the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany, and The League of Nations. However, the main reason that the Second World War was inevitable was unquestionably due to the rise of Adolf Hitler. WWII was directly brought about by his actions in the 1930s. Even though the League of Nations had set measures in place to avoid this happening, they were unable to prevent the war due to the fascist thinking that led Hitler to believe that Germany could win the war.
... for it created tensions between countries that couldn’t stand being ganged up on. Imperialism had its hand in the start of World War One as well. Countries were in constant strife with each other over land expansion and influence. This in which only worked to create more tension between the already immensely tense countries. The last and the most important reason of all for the inevitability of World War One has to go to the tensions themselves. Tensions were in existence between the countries long before World War One even began its approach. With that in mind and the addition of the fact that the tensions just kept packing on it can be concluded that regardless of anything there would eventually be a war. Furthermore this war was inevitable because of the natural aggressions that boiled and still boil inside us all and will continue to do so until we are no more.
The realism theory describes World War One the best because it is “based on the view that describes the individual as primarily fearful, selfish and power seeking” (Mingst, 2011). WWI was initially a war between two countries, Austria-Hungary and Serbia; but due to assassinations, the strength of alliances, binds by treaties, and increasing security dilemma, more and more countries entered the war until it manifested into a complete World War. Countries increased their weaponry and made other nations apprehensive. Even countries that felt compelled to stay neutral became fearful of the ever increasing power of countries in the war. Countries began to struggle for a balance of power, and the war outbreak was a product of the multi-polarity of power. “World War One by realist perspective, can be described by changes in the European balance of power, with distinctions drawn among the rigid alliances argument, which claims that the war was caused by an inflexible continental bipolarity; the future imbalances argument, which maintains that Germany's fear of Russia's growing power triggered the war; and hegemonic decline, which explains World War I by citing Britain's waning status as a superpower” (Nau, 2011).