The Causes of World War I

Unit 4: a quick overview

• 3.5 weeks (from today to the end of December)

• Topics:• WWI in Europe – two days of world history• The US in WWI

• Why did the US join?• Was the US ever truly neutral?

• President Wilson’s postwar diplomacy

• One essay, one quiz, one DBQ

• At least one really gross photo of trench foot

Four main long-term causes of World War I

• Militarism – countries are (too) ready for war

• Alliance system – countries make treaties agreeing to defend each other

• Imperialism – countries are competing over territory in Africa and Asia

• Nationalism• Countries believe they’re superior• Minority ethnic groups want independence

• Plus one short-term cause: the assassination of Franz Ferdinand

See what I did there?!

In your (brand new!) coursepack:

• Read “The Causes of WWI,” p. 2• For each of the four causes, in your notebook:• 1-2 sentences defining the cause (“what is militarism?”)• 1-2 sentences explaining how the cause contributed to

the outbreak of war

• If you finish early, start HW 4.1 (“The Weapons of WWI”)

Militarism

• Increasing military spending up to 1914

• Countries built up militaries in anticipation of fighting each other in combination

Alliances

• Triple Alliance (formed 1882): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy• Triple Entente

(formed 1907): UK, France, Russia

• 1850s-1914: intense competition for colonies among European powers•How does this lead to war?• Competition for colonies tension between

European powers• Maintaining colonies requires a strong military• Once war breaks out, imperialism makes WWI a

truly global war

Imperialism

Nationalism

• European nations believed they were extremely strong• Within European

empires, ethnic groups wanted independence

Here’s Serbia

And here are

some other Serbs

Russia is sympathetic to the Serbs

The Outbreak of WWI

• Austria-Hungary included many ethnic Serbs who wanted to join the nation of Serbia

• June 28, 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary assassinated by a Serbian nationalist

• July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

• July 31: Russia mobilizes its army to defend Serbia

• August 1: Germany declares war on Russia

• August 3: Germany declares war on France

• August 4: Germany declares war on Belgium

• August 4: Britain declares war in Germany