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.
In 1914, Europe was diving into two separate powers. One was Triple Entente composed of France, Russia and Britain. Other one was Triple Alliance, consists of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. (Pope 2) Each of the countries was connected with different treaties. The caused of European countries’ unstable political situation and threat of war was present. By arranging alliances with other governments, most countries found ways to protect themselves from assault. While Germany was becoming the center of the struggle, Europe made a spider web of tangled alliance that led most countries into two opposing powers. (Hamilton 16) In the late nineteenth century, the most surprising event in Europe was the birth of united state of Germany. Under the leadership of the Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, system of alliances was established to achieve peace in Europe. By 1890, Bismarck succeeded in having every major power into his alliance system...
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... government and leadership they well deserved.
Works Cited
Hamilton John. Events Leading to World War I. United States: ABDO Publishing Company, 2004. Print.
Clare John D. First World War. Great Britain: Riverswift Random House, 1994. Print.
Brendon Vyvyen. The First World War 1914-18. Great Britain: Hodder & Stoughton, 2000. Print.
Stewart David, Fitzgerald James, Pickard Alf. The Great Wars: Sources and Evidence. Australia: an International Thomson Publishing company, 1987. Print.
McCullough Edward E. How The First World War Began: The Triple Entente and the Coming of the Great War of 1914-1918. North America: Black Rose Books, 1999. Print.
Martel Gordon. The Origins of the First World War. Malaysia: Pearson Education Limited, 2003. Print.
Pope Giles. The Origins of the First World War: International Baccalaureate. Victoria, Australia: IBID Press, 2002. Print.
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.
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.
"Queen's University Archives - World War I." Queen's University Archives - Home. Web. 23 July 2010.
Thesis: During World War 1, the amount of Australians enlisting decreased due to the realisation that war was not as it was portrayed to the public
"World War II". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. .
The Origins of the Second World War, by A.J.P. Taylor, proposes and investigates unconventional and widely unaccepted theories as to the underlying causes of World War Two. Taylor is British historian who specialized in 20th century diplomacy, and in his book claims that as a historian his job is to “state the truth” (pg. xi) as he sees it, even if it means disagreeing with existing prejudices. The book was published in 1961, a relatively short time after the war, and as a result of his extreme unbias the work became subject to controversy for many years.
Yancey, C. Arthur, and 2001. "World War One - The War To End All Wars." Tripod. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. .
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.
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.
Nationalism, militarism, building of alliances and imperialism were the long term cause of the World War One. “Nationalism was unquestionably the force
World War One was one of the most traumatic events that has happened in human history. At the end of the war, over six countries were involved in the overall war. There is lots of speculation about why tensions between countries formed and eventually turned into violence, but instead of the alliances or imperialism, it is clear that militarism (the expansion of a country’s military force) is the true underlying cause of World War One. This is due to the fact of germany’s fear of britain, overwhelming increases in military expenses, and the mentality of the triple entente.
Nationalism was a main factor in the cause of the First World War. This was because most people in this period was very proud of their country as it was straight after the big industrial revolution in Europe this factor created tension between rival countries such as Germany Austria-Hungary and Russia this indirectly lead to the dual alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary to protect themselves from Russia then 3 years later in 1881 the Austro-Serbian alliance was formed between Austria-Hungary and Serbia to stop Russia taking control of Serbia, Nationalism was a key factor in causes the Great war because it helped cause tension between nations which lead to alliances which was also a major cause of world war one ;
In 1914 World War 1 began. There were several causes of this war and how they could be divided into long and short term causes. The long term causes were imperialism , alliances, nationalism and militarism. The short term case, which acted as a trigger to the Great War which was the assasination of (Franz Ferdinad). All of the long term goals were significant especially, militarism, which is the development of large and powerful military forces (dictionary.com).
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.
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.