The Causes of World War I What exactly were the causes of World War I? Sure, it sounds like a pretty simple question, but it’s most definitely not a simple answer! There was whole lot more to the start of the war than an Austrian prince being murdered in Serbia, as is what most people think was the whole cause of World War I. Besides, the effects of the war weren’t just concentrated to a ?post-war era? lasting for a whole generation of Westerners. Nope! The effects of the war were widespread throughout the world and can be traced for generations after the war! Its not very rare that when a person is asked what caused World War I, that they’d answer saying: an Austrian Prince being shot in Serbia. However? the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie , in Sarajevo was not the main cause of the Great War. It was really the breaking point for Austria in dealing with Serbia. The truth of the whole matter is that several factors played a role in the ?outbreak? of the catastrophic war that took over the nations of Europe for over four years. World War I was truly the result of building hostility throughout the countries of Europe, which was backed by the rise of nationalism. To add to the disastrous ?soup of war?, if you will, there was also huge, almost threatening competition plus the fear of military alliances and an arms race. More and more ingredients were being added to this ?soup? and tension was growing by leaps and bounds, something was going to snap. The 1st world war now seemed inevitable! (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2000) Military alliances were definitely a big issue. Two of the major opposing alliances developed by the Bismarckian diplomacy after the Franco- Prussian War was one of the major causes of the war. In order to inconspicuously cut off France, Bismarck came up with the Three Emperor’s League in 1872, which was basically an alliance between Germany, Russia, and Austria/Hungary. Then in 1882, Bismarck took advantage of Italy’s hatred for France and formed the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungry. In 1890 Bismarck was kicked out of office and France took the opportunity to gain an ally, so, in 1891 the Franco- Russian Entente was created and then in 1904 Britain and France put their conflicts aside, and formed the Entente Cordiale alliance. The effect of all of this was the Triple Entente, a coalition between Great Britain, France, and Russia, was a close counter for the Triple Alliance. Now Europe was divided up into two armed camps. (World Book Encyclopedia, WXYZ, pg. 367) Nationalism did nothing but tighten the tension in Europe even more; it had been causing trouble ever since the Congress of Vienna in 1815! In that settlement the preferment of peace was chosen over nationalism, which basically left Germany and Italy as divided states, though they did combine in the future. The Franco- Prussian War in 1871 caused France to lose the province of Alasce- Lorraine to Germany, and the French looked forward to getting their lands back. Then there was also Austria- Hungary, they controlled many lands including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy wanted the Trentino and Trieste regions, and the Czechs and Slovaks just wanted their independence from Austria- Hungary. There was also Russia, which had their own problems within its borders; Russia had many different nationalities that were also seeking independence in the name of nationalism. (World Book Encyclopedia, WXYZ, pg. 366) Another major conflict that caused the outbreak of the Great War is what was called the arms race. With the totally unreceptive divisions of the nations of Europe, came expansions of armies and navies. Then, the great powers came right in and copied Germany’s military style and techniques, which called for worldwide registration for military duty, large reserves, and detailed planning. A lot of effort was made toward universal disarmament, but the international rivalry caused the arms race to continue to feed on itself. (Karpilovsky, World Wide Web) Imperial competition was also a big part in the act of Increasing the ever-growing tensions among the divided countries of Europe. It started with two crises in Morocco, Africa. The first time, in 1905, Germany completely supported Morocco’s call for independence from France, and with the British defending, the French war was only avoided at this point because of an international conference, which made Morocco a French territory. The second crisis started in 1911, and its cause was to protest the French dominance in Morocco. The Germans finally gave the French a free and much needed helping hand in Morocco, but price for their help was a pretty big chunk! In exchange they demanded a hefty portion of the French Congo. Now while all of this is happening, at the same time there was also a Bosnian crisis going on, which began with Austria- Hungary’s takeover of the province of Bosnia in 1908. The result was Serbia threatening a war on Austria- Hungary with the pledged backing of Russia. As they began to gather together, Austria- Hungary, with the alliance of Germany, threatened war on Russia. When Russia backed down, the soon to be war was postponed, and greatly strained relationship between Serbia and Austria Hungary were left behind. (Karpilovsky, World Wide Web)(Encarta Encyclopedia web article) On June 28, 1914 battle lines for the inevitable war were drawn but the assassinations in Sarajevo set it all off. It was believed that a Serbian nationalist committed the crime, and immediately following it Germany, with its full support pledged, crunched Austria- Hungary into the middle of all of it, declaring war on Serbia. At the same time, France was strengthening its backing of Russia. War might have been avoided if Serbia had accepted Austria- Hungary’s harsh ultimatum, however they faithfully refused. Almost instantly the war fell into place. Austria declared war on July 28, 1914. The next day Russia mobilized against Austria- Hungary, on August 1st Germany declared war on Russia, and two days later on France. When Germany ignored Belgium’s neutrality, Britain declared war on Germany. Finally war had begun, and unlike the predictions that had been made the resulting war was long, indecisive, and reeked havoc on the nations of Europe. (Karpilovsky, World Wide Web) (Encarta Encyclopedia web article)
Bibliography
encarta encyclopedia, 2000
world book encyclopedia wxyz, pg 367
karpilovsky, world wide web
American History Essays
