Causes of WWI

Unit 5: World War I

Causes of WWI - MANIA

•Militarism

•Alliances

•Nationalism

• Imperialism

•Assassination

Militarism

• When a nation’s armed forces come to dominate a country’s national policy

• It is also a glorification of the military and war itself

1910-1914 Increase in Defense Expenditures

France 10%

Britain 13%

Russia 39%

Germany 73%

Alliances

• Signed treaties in which each nation involved pledges to defend the other if attacked by an aggressor

• Basically, countries agreed to help each other

Alliances

Germany

Italy

Great Britain

France

Russia

Austria-Hungary

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Nationalism

• Pride and patriotism in one’s nation

• In terms of WWI, nationalism became aggressive and subsequently (because of this) a major cause of international tension

• Independent nations desired dominance and prestige and as these powers tried to dominate each other in Europe, their rivalries may be regarded as one of the causes of the First World War

Imperialism

• Domination by one country over the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region

• Due to the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, some European nations had a large portion of the world under their control

Imperialism and Colonial Rivalries• After 1870, the European nations began to

acquire colonies in Asia, Africa and the Pacific

• Colonial rivalry led to:– Strained relations among the European powers

• In Africa, all the European powers except Austria and Russia had colonies there Therefore there were many clashes among France, Britain, Germany and Italy

– Formation and strengthening of alliances and ententes (indirectly)

– An intensification of the arms race– Much hostility among the powers

Assassination

• The “spark” that started WWI

• On June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria Hungarian Throne was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist who believed that Bosnia should belong to Serbia– Member of the Black Hand

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie at Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914

• Gavrilo Princip after his assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The Point of No Return

• Austria blamed Serbia for Ferdinand’s death and declared war on Serbia

• Germany pledged their support for Austria -Hungary

• Russia pledged their support for Serbia

• Germany declares war on Russia

• France pledges their support for Russia

• Germany declares war on France

• Germany invades Belgium on the way to France

• Great Britain supports Belgium and declares war on Germany

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World War IWorld War IWorld War IWorld War I

Great Britain

France

Russia

Italy

Germany

Austria-Hungary

Ottoman Empire

Where is America in all this???