The Causes of the first World War
The Causes of the First World War
Chardai C Guthrie
Seaford Senior High School
The Causes of the First World War
The First World War was a war between the great European empires and was fought from 1914 until 1918. The alliances were the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and the Triple Entene (Britain, Russia, and France). The war was caused by a chain of events that built up more tension and rivalry throughout the years. There were many causes as to why the war built up but the three main causes were, imperialism, militarism, and nationalism.
Imperial Rivalry
Imperialism was a strong belief and practice that meant maintaining and keeping a large and wealthy empire. Nations want to expand and better their own and do this by gaining new territories, which can be through military action and exploration. War took off because of an extreme jealousy and resentment from the late contributors to empire expansion. That rivalry and jealousy led to their military improvement, alliances, and nationalism. The British Empire had had over five continents and France controlled the largest area of Africa. The increase of demand for more lands for raw materials also increased rivalry between with Germany because they started taking over new land later and only had small parts of Africa (Imperialism as a cause of World War 1, n.d). A rivalry between Germany and France increased when Morocco, a not yet French colony, came into view of both the German and France. Germany wanted to discontinue Paris’ attempt the gain Morocco and prevent it from being taken over. Kaiser Wilhelm, in 1905, gave a speech in Tangier, supporting Moroccan independence. Angered by the German, the French then set out and created diplomatic press reports. The move of the Germans bringing an armed vessel to a Moroccan port unexpected almost made Germany and France break out in war. The German’s goal was to break France and Britain, not to gain and expand its empire but in face did
Chardai C Guthrie
Seaford Senior High School
The Causes of the First World War
The First World War was a war between the great European empires and was fought from 1914 until 1918. The alliances were the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and the Triple Entene (Britain, Russia, and France). The war was caused by a chain of events that built up more tension and rivalry throughout the years. There were many causes as to why the war built up but the three main causes were, imperialism, militarism, and nationalism.
Imperial Rivalry
Imperialism was a strong belief and practice that meant maintaining and keeping a large and wealthy empire. Nations want to expand and better their own and do this by gaining new territories, which can be through military action and exploration. War took off because of an extreme jealousy and resentment from the late contributors to empire expansion. That rivalry and jealousy led to their military improvement, alliances, and nationalism. The British Empire had had over five continents and France controlled the largest area of Africa. The increase of demand for more lands for raw materials also increased rivalry between with Germany because they started taking over new land later and only had small parts of Africa (Imperialism as a cause of World War 1, n.d). A rivalry between Germany and France increased when Morocco, a not yet French colony, came into view of both the German and France. Germany wanted to discontinue Paris’ attempt the gain Morocco and prevent it from being taken over. Kaiser Wilhelm, in 1905, gave a speech in Tangier, supporting Moroccan independence. Angered by the German, the French then set out and created diplomatic press reports. The move of the Germans bringing an armed vessel to a Moroccan port unexpected almost made Germany and France break out in war. The German’s goal was to break France and Britain, not to gain and expand its empire but in face did
References: World War One - Causes. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2014. Militarism as a cause for World War I. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2014. Shen, E. (2014). Causes of World War 1. Retrieved September 25, 2014, from http://roundtable.menloschool.org/issue15/2_Shen_MS_Roundtable15_Summer_20132.pdf Etty, J. (2009, January 1). Serbian Nationalism and the Great War. Retrieved September 29, 2014. MacPherson, N. (2014). The Perfect Storm-The Causes of World War One. (2010, 09). Assess Critically Three Causes of World War One. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 09, 2010, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Assess-Critically-Three-Causes-Of-World-417189.html