Causes of World War 1
Although there were many reasons the European Nations first broke out in war, the fighting of Austria-Hungary and Serbia contributed to the expansion of the war. This war was resulted by the aggression of European countries that strived to be the best. These country’s nationalism, militarism, imperialism and alliances escalated into the spreading of war. (The Great War 1)Imperialism was at the hands of Germany during the outbreak of war. Germany was not far-gone when it came to taking over territories in Africa. They had to compete against France and Great Britain to gain control of this territory. This competition spelled out war between these European countries. Germany’s intent here was to better their own country, and prove that their country was better than all the rest. The extreme nationalism led European nations to compete for the largest army and navy, or for the greatest industrial development. This proves that not only does Germany use imperialism, but they use nationalism as well. Territorial disputes were an ongoing problem for many European countries. The leaders of these countries always wanted more land to make them better than all the rest, but the leaders did not know who owned this land because it was always being taken. As we know, Germany declares war on France on August 3rd, 1914 claiming that France came upon their territory. Once this happened, many other countries got involved. Once Germany declared war on France, they moved into Belgium where they took over. Great Britain sent an ultimatum to Germany stating if they didn’t withdraw from Belgium, they would have to enter the war. (Germany during World War One 3)
In 1879, Germany and Austria-Hungary formed a Dual Alliance. In 1882 this became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in. Each country established that they would assist one another if attacked by either France or Russia. Accepting Italy was because they did not want Italy choosing sides with Russia. Austria-Hungary and Russia are not the greatest of friends after an alliance with them broke apart in the Balkans. The alliance caused a major stir up when each country had a treaty with another country. Since Germany declared war on Russia, France had to come in and defend Russia because a treaty bound them together. Germany was to go through Belgium to get to France, and since Britain was allied to France, Britain had to not only defend France, but also provide assistance for Belgium. These alliances caused for the confusion between all of the countries, because nobody knew what to do and where to go. To make matters worse, and mix up the alliances, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only I the event of a defensive war. Offended by the actions of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy proposed a policy of neutrality. The next year in 1915, Italy joined back into the mess siding with the Allies! Italy is pretty much backstabbing her two former allies, Germany and Austria-Hungary. (Triple Alliance 4) (The Causes of World War One 3,4,5)
Besides nationalism and imperialism, another cause to the war originated in the Balkans. The Balkans is the historic name given to the states in southeastern Europe. Only five states in the Balkans were free from being ruled by Turkey. The people that lived in these areas were considered Slavs. Once Turkey stopped ruling these five states, they wanted to save the remaining states under Turkish rule. The movement was called the Pan-Slavism movement. This movement wanted to unite all of the Slavs including Russia, and break down Turkey and Austria-Hungary. Because Austria wanted to disable the movements of Slavs, they annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. These two countries had a large population of Serbs, which are also Slavs. Because the Slavs got so furious of the Austria-Hungarian actions, another cause to the outbreak of war erupted. (The Causes of WW1 5)
During this time there was a constant battle between Britain and Germany for the best Navy in Europe. The constant battling led to a fierce rivalry between Britain and Germany. The British Empire spanned across more than 11,400,000 square miles of land, making it the largest empire in the whole world. A very large navy of many modern battleships and crusisers protected them all. However by 1914, Britain was not the leader in the navy department. The German Navy was the biggest threat to Britain after they formed the Triple Alliance. Because both France and Britain felt threatened by Germany and the Triple Alliance, they formed the Triple Entente including Russia. Russia joined in because they too felt threatened by the Triple Alliance. The formation of the Triple Entente
by nicklax871 at aim dot com
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