Before the Great War, the continent of Europe was in a state of peace. Many countries did not have conflict building up between each other. Then unexpectedly, Great tensions arose, imperialism, alliances, and militarism. These all led up to the eruption of WWI.
Imperialism was one of the many tensions that caused WWI to begin. Many countries began to practice imperialism, the policy of extending their power through military force. An example of a country being imperialistic was Serbia. "They wanted their country to be center of larger Slavic state. To do this they wanted control of Bosnia and Herzegovina for outlet to Adriatic Sea." Serbia wanted to be the leader of the Slavic states to be able to have extra resources which in this case was the Adriatic Sea. Two other countries also practiced imperialism during this time, their actions increased the rivalry between Germany and them as stated by historyonthenet.com. "By 1900 the British empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa." "The amount of land owned by Britain and France increased rivalry with Germany." Imperialism was a major part of the eruption of WWI. Most of the countries involved in WWI practiced imperialism. As previously stated, imperialism was one of the many tension that often occurred which led to the eruption of WWI.
Another reason for the great conflict between countries is all the alliances that where made. An example is the alliance made between France and Britain as told in a French statement by Raymond . "Supported by the loyal friendship of England." Another example to show alliances is the Triple Alliance. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. This is what historyonthenet.com had to say "Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance with Italy to stop them from taking sides with Russia." This tells the reader that some alliances weren't made because they wanted to, they where made for their own protection from other countries. This was a big part of WWI. Multiple countries would make alliances with each other and when countries weren't included, they would feel betrayed and mad. Many more alliances were made many caused conflict between each other these all led up to WWI.
Militarism was another great reason why WWI erupted. Militarism is the desire or belief that a country should maintain a strong military. Britain and Germany both believed the should have a strong navy, this is why they often argued about being the master of the sea, as stated here, "There was fierce competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas.
Such alliances are the very things that laid the foundation for the conflict of World War I because every country had multiple reasons for joining their respective alliance, mainly for revenge, distrust, or
The first underlying cause of WWI was greed. People always want more than what they have. The countries from the Triple Alliance wanted more land, power, or wealth than what they owned. Germany despised Great Britain at the time, because of the number of colonies they had. In Document --, a German cartoonist drew a propaganda poster, claiming "England is the bloodsucker of the world". This appears that Germany is very fearful of England taking control of the world. It also shows that Germany aspires to be as large of a country of Great Britain. Also, in document 16, in the spring of 1914, before the war started,
World War I, also referred to as the Great War, was global conflict among the greatest Western powers and beyond. From 1914-1918, this turf war swept across rivaling nations, intensifying oppositions 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.
During the late 1800s and 1900s in various societies, imperialism played a major role. Imperialism consists of a country's domination of an economic and cultural life in another country. Within the 1800s and 1900s, Europe became a large-scale global leader. Europeans set up colonies all over the world, specifically Africa, India, China, and Japan. Imperialism is viewed through two different major points such as the imperialist and colonialist.
They also needed land to acquire raw materials for growing markets. One country that had imperialism was India. By the mid-1880s, the British East India Company controlled three fifths of India. The cause of British domination was that the land was very diverse and the people could not unite and that the British either paid local princes or used weapons to get control. Positive effects of imperialistic rule in India were that the British set up a stronger economy and more powerful industries.
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.
Imperialism is the practice by which powerful nations or peoples seek to extend and maintain control or influence over weaker nations or peoples. By the 1800’s, the Western powers had advantages in this process. They led the world in technological advances, giving them a dominance when conquering other countries. The European Imperialists made attempts to conquer China and Japan. In this process, they succeeded by influencing Japan greatly. However, they were not as successful with China.
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...
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.
Within Europe, imperialism occurred at the height of industrialization. As European countries were discovering more about the sciences and mass production benefits via industrialization, a demand and competition for more land and produce was developing, and this would create the tension needed to begin the First World War. Germany and Great Britain were two powerful European countries that had been trying to establish control in Africa and Asia, two countries that were not as strong as them, and relatively vulnerable. Due to rebellions of the native people and interferences by each other and other countries, they were not entirely successful. This lack of cooperation between European countries in the attempt to govern and control weaker states so as to use their products for trade caused tension, and finally after it built up to a certain point, war was the only option left.
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.
There are many reasons why World War One occurred in 1914, many are complex and remain controversial which is why the matter has been disputed to this day by historians all over the world. My theory is that a lot of those reasons and the trigger factor all links to one thing; the alliance system. The alliance system is what made countries oppose each other and become rivals making it the most significant factor. It had an impact on who supported who when Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. This was only the spark that started war in Europe; there were long term causes that contributed to the war and were the origins. This answer will explain the causes focusing on how they contributed to World War One and what the important links are between them.
Jerod Ford 3/20/14 Period 6 Why Was WWI Inevitable? Europe has seen many wars over its vast and broad history, some of which are quite immense and destructive. One such war would undoubtedly be World War One. A war powered by the brainwashing ways of militarism and the stubborn pride of nationalism.
The concept of imperialism is one that has pervaded nearly every major society or empire throughout human history. It seems to be a natural consequence of societies growing in size, power, and knowledge. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries vast changes occurred in Western Europe (and soon spread elsewhere) that spurred a new round of imperialism the likes of which had not been seen before. The changes were the industrial revolution that was taking place. Countries were rapidly advancing to industrial societies producing much greater quantities of goods at much lower costs. The goods produced ranged everywhere from cotton textiles to military machinery, all of which would play important roles in rounds of imperialistic expansion that would follow. The imperialistic displays by Western European nations also brought about several other industrial revolutions in other regions including the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and Japan. I will take a look at how the industrial revolution encouraged imperialistic expansion, as well as some of the results of that expansion in other regions.