What Was The Underlying Cause Of World War 1 Essay

Examination and Analyzation of the Underlying Causes of World War 1
At the time, The Great War (or as it would later be called, World War 1) was the most deadly, and encompassing war the world had ever seen, having an emphatic tragedy in Europe. Beginning in 1914, and lasting up until 1918, World War 1 caused over 38 million casualties, and had a death toll of 17 million, with 7 million being civilians. In historical communities of academia, the question is frequently raised, what was the biggest cause of The Great War. The three most popular theories on the cause of World War 1 are the emphasis of militarizing, the alliances of major powers, and the influx of nationalism (especially in the Baltic states). During the lead up to the first

As shown by document A, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary were in a pact with one another, called the Triple Alliance. In this same document, it is shown that the United Kingdom, France, and Russia also had an alliance called the Triple Entente. When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia (a country with close ties to Russia) it caused a lot of problems. Russia, then declared war on countries in the Triple alliance, which caused the beginning of the war.
Another major cause, was the growing mental state of nationalism. Nationalism is the idea of an extreme loyalty and pride in one’s country. This, combined with the practice of militarism, caused countries to have little reservation about going to war. During the war, many ultimatums were given to various countries, and no one signed then, in part because of this mind set. It also perpetuated the war, because no country wanted to admit fault. This is evident in document B, as all of the countries are pointing at someone else.
In conclusion, nationalism, militarism, and alliances were the cause of World War 1. Alliances caused countries to begin attacking one another, and involving themselves in