World War 1 Dbq Essay

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.

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,

Britain had about 33,000,000 square kilometers worth of land. Combined, the Triple Alliance's land could not equate to the amount Britain had. This is very intimidating for the Triple Alliance, because the Triple Entente will have twice as much space to produce materials, and they will have more people to fight. Finally, in document 13, Norman Rich states, “a country’s survival as a great power depended on its territorial possessions.” This shows that Germany may have been greedy they needed to produce more materials. Greed helped cause WWI because of the European countries, constantly wanted more than what they could bear.

The second underlying cause of WWI was nationalism. Nationalism is the ideology that your country is the best. At the time, the only way to prove a country’s nationalistic ideals, they must do it by conflict. According to document 5, “If Serbia wants to live in honor, she can only do it by war.” Serbia believed that they have to go to war to keep their pride, as it will bring freedom to Serbs, Slavs, and the Southern Balkans. Document 9 shows excerpts from the national anthem from Russia and Great Britain. “Dread of his enemies, faith’s sure defender, God save the Tsar!” “Rule Britannica! Britannica, rule the waves: Britons will never be slaves.” Both of the songs shows that these countries want to win and to prosper. “To overcome resistance, national governments resorted to… state-controlled systems of education.”(Doc. 14) In order to produce nationalist feelings, people have to be taught, through propaganda or in schools. Nationalism helped cause World War I, because every country had the same idea, to rule above all of the European countries, and the only way to do it, was through war.

The third underlying cause of WWI was militarism.

With nationalistic ideals, countries involved in the war went full force with weapons and men. According to document 6, “In the coming century, the German nation will either be the hammer or the anvil.” The Germans need to have a strong military with warfare to prevent them from loosing to keep their nation alive. Document 12 is a graph that shows the amount of money spent during the war. Germany had the highest increase in expenses from 1890 – 1914, as they were going full force in the war. “I believe that a war is unavoidable, and the sooner the better.” (doc. 15) Germany was a very patriotic country; as the war was not avoidable for them. Militarism helped cause World War I because each country with nationalism in its core was heavily devoted to the

war.