Causes of the War

 Source : anazacday.org

       There were many types of causes for WWI such as Military Alliances, Nationalism, and Militarism.

      Europe tried to avoid some major wars throughout the years before World War 1. Though it did break out into smaller battles that only included a few countries. Around the 1800s, nationalism took a charge which led to the Great War. Nationalism is when a country believes that it is the best out of the whole world and they become so overcome with power that they truly believe they cannot die or lose anything. People began to exaggerate their sense of nationalism and their amount of pride led to major problems. One simple complaint could throw the world into a dangerous war. Later on in the 1800s, nationalism, was held to those who shared a religion, culture or even history together, this led to the creation of the two powers, Germany and Italy. Then, it began to weaken European empires. Control was something that was wanted by all of these huge and powerful places that were involved with nationalism. All of the anger and hatred that happened during this time led to World War 1. This was an extremely powerful cause of this historic war.

Military men marching

Source : geocities.org

Military alliances were a big part of World War I because they gave countries a sense of security. When countries were together in military agreement, it discouraged the enemies attacks. Other members of the alliance would come and help the country that was in trouble. Sometimes this meant that countries took bigger risks and more countries would become involved in arguments even if they had no part in it. The Allied Powers, also known as the Triple Entente, were made up of 27 different countries.  Before WWI, Britain, France and Russia were the top powers in this military group. In 1915 Portugal, Japan, and Italy all joined and then the United States joined in 1917.  By the middle of WWI, the top powers had become China, Britain, USA, France, and Russia. They helped to control all of the alliances in one big group. The Central Powers, also known as the Triple Alliance, were made up of Germany and Austria-Hungary before the war.  When the war started, In 1914 the Ottoman Empire joined and in 1915 Bulgaria joined.  In the 1800s, the chancellor of Germany, Bismarck, brought Italy and Russia into the alliance, but when Bismarck left the office in 1890, Russia and Italy left too. Germany kept the highest power in the alliance from the early 1800s to WWI.

Europe dominated the world, and yet British Lord Curzon said, “ we can hardly take up our morning newspaper without reading of the physical and moral decline of the race”. The German chief of staff said, “ I shall despair of the future of the German empire”. France, Austria, and the rest of Europe sensed doom, along with tsarist regime. The great powers military spending reached up to 5 to 6 percent of National income. Fear of the “ Russian Steamroller” convinced Germany, France, and Britain to change their service law for the military. European commanders believed that the first opening battles would be decisive, so they determined to move their men at a fast speed to the border. All the countries in Europe developed offensive strategies like the French’s “ cult of attack” and the German’s “Schlieffen Plan”. The schlieffen plan used the industrial age to perfect it’s war offenses.

sonofthesouth.net
 

     QUESTIONS

     Q1. How do you think the system of alliences affected WW1?  (question level I)

     Q2. Can you explain how nationalism led to the beginning of WW1? (question level II)

     Q3. What would result if the system of alliances had not formed before WW1?  (question level III) 

     Q4. What is the realtionship like between countries who are allied together? (question level IV)

     Q5. What were some major causes of WW1? (question level V)

Militarism-Glorification of the ideals of a professional military class.

Nationalism - A belief that your country is the best or a strong devotion to country.  This loyalty usually gives you  no doubt about the strengh in your country.

Click here for source. 

Alliance - A close association or connection between many countries, nations or other large political powers.  It is also a tie or formal agreement between people or associations.

Click here for source.

Empire - A political domain or territory that will sometimes have an emperor.  It is a large number of territories or places where there are many people under one single rule.

Click here for source.