Long term Causes of World War 1

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Long term causes of world war 1.

The long term, underlying causes of World War I were nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and the defensive treaty alliances of both sides. Militarism is another name for the arms race. Great Britain and Germany were distrustful of one another and attempted to keep their military might as powerful as possible. Great Britain felt the development of German naval might was a threat to their empire. Nationalism was developing in areas like the Balkans, which would lead to conflicts between the major powers. Imperialism was the desire to expand one's nation via colonies or control over other areas of the world. This also would lead to conflicts between the major powers. Once the "spark" of the assassination of the Archduke ignited the conflict in the Balkans, the alliance system would draw the major nations into the Great War.

Superficial and more fundamental causes

Nobody doubts that the 'trigger' or 'spark' was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by the Serbian Black Hand terrorists in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.

The real question is this: Why was this crisis not dealt with in a more conventional, much less destructive way? There had been several crises before in the decade before 1914 and those involving the major powers in Europe had been settled peacefully. So did something go wrong in the handling of the crisis, or did one or more of the countries involved exploit the situation to plunge Europe into war?

(The view that somehow Europe simply stumbled into World War 1 by accident is generally not accepted by historians).

It is at this point that controversy begins.

The Austrian Response to the assassination

The Austrians delivered an "ultimatum" to Serbia an ultimatum that was almost guaranteed to be turned down by Serbia. The Austrians had been looking for an excuse to declare war on Serbia and when Serbia turned down the ultimatum, Bingo!

WW1 started because of both long and short term causes

...such as: Short Term: 1) In Sarajevo, in 1914 the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serb, Gavrilo Princip. 2) Two blank checks 3) Disputes over territory, especially Morocco and the Agadir crisis 4) The rise of Serbia, trouble in Bosnia-Herzegovina (a region heavily populated with Serbs) and Austria-Hungary's suspicions of Serbia. Long Term: 1) Turmoil in The Ottoman Empire, Balkan crisis 2) Germany's twisted double dealings: Weltpolitik 3) Imperialism 4) Nationalism 5) Expansionism 6) Intense competition & power struggles among the European nations.

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Militarism, Alliances,Imperialism & Nationalism

I believe the causes of WWI was on going tension in Europe and the middle east. then one spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand like many others say, but there were 4 MAIN causes what i mean by this is.... M- Militarism A- Alliances I- Imperialism N- Nationalism Militarism: The rise of military resources was a huge part. People started to go into a state of total war where the whole country used all their resources to make guns, tanks, etc. Alliances: There were too many alliances. Every country was in to protect ...

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