Preview

What Caused World War 1 Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
716 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Caused World War 1 Essay Example
What caused World War 1
Many different factors led to the start of the First World War. Like many other historical occurrences, one thing led to another and all of these factors came together to start World War 1. The main causes were militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism, but many more other causes also helped spark the war. The rulers of the countries were all first cousins, with a lot of power that was in need of testing. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked rivalry between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The Schlieffen Plan and growing militarism cause pressure between the countries as each knew the other’s capabilities for war. Nothing really started the first world war, but many things lead to it.
Tension had already started to build up between certain European countries before the war. Many countries had already started building up armies and ordering ships. There was also a fair amount of competition between the countries, as the rulers of Great Britain, Germany and Russia were all first cousins. As you could imagine, they would want to compare their armies, supplies and vehicles with each-others, so it was more a power contest, as whoever had the best developed military system seemed superior. It was also said that some of the cousins actually wanted there to be a war, as to set matters straight. This is one of the initial causes that helped fuel the start of the war. After the Black Hand assassinated the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary was displeased with Serbia. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, after Serbia did not meet the requirements of an ultimatum. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. As Russia is tied to Serbia by a treaty, Russian forces are sent to Serbia to defend against Austria-Hungary. This was just the beginning. The “official” outbreak of World War 1 was on 01/08/1914 when Germany attacked Russia as an act of defending Austria-Hungary, to whom they had

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ww1 Dbq Essay Example

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Have you ever wondered why World War I started? In the late 19th century European leaders thought that by creating a balance of power, meaning all major countries in Europe had equal strength, such things like war could be stopped. However, Germany made and alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy. France, Britain, and Russia then made their own entente or agreement between their governments. On top of this, tensions rose high in the Balkans and the region was considered a powder keg that only needed a spark to set it off. This spark came in the form of a Serbian group called the Black Hand assassinating the Archduke of Austria. So what were the underlying causes of World War I? The war started for many reasons but there were three major reasons: the formation or alliances, militarism, and imperialism.…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    World War 1 had a major impact on the world and everyone in it. There were 4 main problems that could’ve cause WW1. Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism. The most important one was Militarism. It made people think about the “importance” of their navy/military. By other countries having better navy/military that could cause problems between countries. It could make them jealous of each other, and make them want to go to war.…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Essay

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages

    That war caused Russia to start mobilizing its troops and Germany saw that as a threat. They decided that they would use their Schlieffen plan and would attack first France and then Russia. This then caused all of the other nations to go to war and start the World War. In The Century of Total War by Raymond Aron tells of how Germany was the main source of starting the war. “The rise of Germany, whose supremacy France dreaded and whose navy menaced England” had become the cause of the war. This explains why Germany and their army and supremacy helped to start tensions and the war.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Why Did World War 1 Start

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages

    World War One started for two main reasons: the alliances of Europe and many countries, and what really set off the war, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Franz Ferdinand was the crowned prince of Austria-Hungary who was sent to Serbia to keep peace between the countries. This happened on June 28th, 1914, and was murdered by a member of a group called the Black Hand, Gauvrillo Princip. Austria-Hungary wants revenge and will push what they call the July Ultimatum. This was a set of laws made by Austria-Hungary that said Serbians no longer had freedom of speech of Austria-Hungary, Serbia must remove their military from the Austria-Hungary border, all Black Hand members must be turned in, and lastly, all anti-Austria-Hungary members…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Causes of WW1

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One of the first causes of World War 1 began on July 28th, 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The cause of this was because in Sarajevo Serbian, nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. The Austrians then were convinced it was the Serbian government turning against them. Austria-Hungarians then held demands against the Serbs such as: All books & newspapers criticizing Austrians will be banded, All Anti-Austrian teachers in Serbian schools are fired, and Serbia condemns propaganda against the Austria-Hungarians (Document 3). When Serbians refused they then began the war.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Did World War I occur because everybody wanted to rule the world? If we look back at WWI, we can see that even though there are other causes such as militarism, industrialization, alliances and nationalism, imperialism is the leading cause of the war. Imperialism is when a country takes another country and makes it a subject to their rule, this is because they all want large empires. This is evidently the leading cause of the war because it spurred cutthroat competition for land and resources, ignited jealousy, and intricately intertwined nations and their colonies. Firstly, imperialism proved to be a significant factor due to the intense competition among European powers for land and resources.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although there were many possible reasons to the start of the war, militarism is what mainly caused it. World War 1 was one of the most tragic wars and all the causes like imperialism, alliances, assassination and nationalism were not as strong as…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the main causes of World War one was the growing force of nationalism. Nationalism is the large numbers of people feeling that people have of being loyal and proud of their country with the belief of that the country is better than other countries.This nationalism created a fierce competition and rivalry between Europe's power.…

    • 56 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    From 1864 to 1914 and the beginning of World War 1 many long term factors arose. These factors included the rivalry between Germany and Great Britain, the alliance system which developed due to these rivalries and Militarism. Over the course of fifty years these factors developed and lead to the creation of conflict between the great powers and in turn lead to the beginning of World war 1. In 1870 Britain and Germany were on good terms due to their previous alliance against France in the early 1800’s.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World War I started in 1914, Europe due to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Why did this happen exactly? Nationalism; the loyalty and devotion to a nation, spread to all, if not most of Europe due to Napoleon’s rise and quest to conquer and “liberate” all of Europe. Due to his successes, many recently unified countries, such as Germany and Italy have decided to endorse many nationalistic and patriotic features into their country. Another factor that has lead towards the start of World War I, is the Industrial Revolution.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Did World War 1 Start

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The causes of this War are still unsure, there are a lot of causes for it. One of them is the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, which is in part, what made the First World War occur.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    World War I Essay

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Every war has causes to start. Different wars, different causes. World War I was a conflict between the Allied Powers (France, Russia, Serbia, Great Britain and Italy) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire). (Document#3) Austria sent Serbia an ultimatum to stop all anti-Austrian activity. And then World War I began because of M.A.I.N.…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The war officially started about one month after a Serbian assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand that resulted in a declaration of war on June 28th 1914. There were many different causes of World War One, that lasted from 1914 to 1919, some included nationalism and assassinations, but the main and most prevalent cause of The War to End All Wars were imperialism, militarism, and the triple alliance and triple entente. Imperialism is a system where a powerful nation control and exploits other colonies. This happened throughout the world during World War One and is said to be one of the main causes for the war. This could have been due to the arguments that began between colonies that joined together and…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although there were many underlying reasons for the European nations to break out in war, the early days of the fighting between Serbia and Austria caused the expansion of the war, along with the alliances which failed to remain peace and actually contributed to the war. Also, the possibility of remaining neutral and prepared is always another alternative, rather than forming allies that may require the nation to enter a war. A war between Serbia and Austria caused 7 nations to enter the fighting, justified by the reason of supporting alliances previously formed and underlying conflicts.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    World War 1 Cause Analysis

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Some form of peace has existed in Europe due to the delicate power balance. However due to the rise of Militarism, and imperialism nationalism the balance, which existed in Europe was heavily distorted. Therefore, many countries were fearful for an attack. So most countries held secret meetings to discuss classified mutual defense alliances, to protect each other against threats. Because once a country was attacked or threatened, the allied countries would come to their aid. When after the the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia declared war on Austria Hungary to protect its ally. On the other side, Germany was an ally of Austria-Hungary and therefore declared war on Russia. Since France was again an ally of Russia, France declared war on Germany. When Germany crossed through neutral Belgium, to launch an attack against France, Britain joined the war since it had an agreement with Belgium. The collapse of the complicated structure of alliances caused more than 100 countries to participate in the war, even as far away as Japan, Bolivia, Canada and…

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays