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 another and the result of this was entangling Alliances. Imperialism: All of the countries were competing for land in other countries as they were expanding their borders of their empires. Nationalism: Women started work. This was the tie between Militarism and Nationalism. Everyone was preparing for this war.
WWI was caused by nationalism
WWI was caused by nationalism. When the war was declared on Germany, people burst out on the street celebrating in France, Britain etc. If the population did not support this war, the government might not have started this war!
Actually, WWI was the result of a long string events dating back to the 1890s. In short, lots of conflicts in the Balkans and the European superpowers making alliances with each other were the main causes. Germany had a huge role in this. They fought for the independence of Morocco in an attempt to break of the alliance between France and Britain. Germany also participated in an arms race. Kaiser Willian II started building up a navy, trying to surpass the one of Britain. Since Britain was an island nation, it had a gigantic navy, and what Kaiser Willian II was attempting to do was no easy feat. Germany also noticed that many of its neighbors had many colonies overseas. It then decided that it wanted a piece of the action, but by then, all the good colonies were taken. All this helped fuel the fire that was WWI.
Imperialism, nationalism & alliances like the Triple Entente
I think the causes of world war one were the long term causes like imperialism and nationalism. I think the main causes were the alliances like the Triple Entente.
The desire for power and empire, the Alliance system and the Naval Race
I think that the War was caused primarily by the long-term factors of the desire for power and empire, the Alliance system and the Naval Race. The assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand was the "Final Straw" and gave Austria-Hungary an excuse to attack Serbia.
The breakup of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe & The loss of Alsace-Lorraine by France to Germany during the 1880s
In Eastern Europe: The breakup of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe, leading to the Slavic independence movements in areas such as Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. The Serbian-Austrian relations were especially tense as Austria had demanded for an independent Albania, thus preventing Serbia from expanding into the Adriatic during the 1900s. This aggressive movement led to increased tension between Russia and Austria as Russia supported the independence movements of the Slavs. Turkey then supported Austria as she thought that they wold be able to save her from breaking even more. In Western Europe: The loss of Alsace-Lorraine by France to Germany in 1871 led to much bad feeling between the two countries. The Kaiser's self-proclaimed goal of making Germany "have a place in the sun" did nothing to ease tensions. Instead, the military buildup in Germany, especially the expansion of the Navy, drove Britain, who was alarmed at the direct challenge posed by the German High Seas Fleet to the British Royal Navy, into an alliance with France. Thus, when World War I began, everything began falling into place: Austria and the Ottoman Empire declared war on Serbia, which then caused... Russia and France to declare war on the both of them...which then led to Germany declaring war on them. In order to invade France via the Schlieffen Plan (which called for the invasion of France via Belgium), Germany invaded Belgium which was a direct violation of the neutral guarantee and that led to Great Britain's declaring war on the Central Powers. The War was on.
The little spark that set it off....
...was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria. But the underlying causes were: Imperialism, the Balkan situation, the Alliance System, Nationalism, the social and economical discontent at home and militarism (the way the military pursued policies that were harmful to peace).
...the assassination triggered WW1 ....
The assassination triggered WW1 but seriously Austria and Germany rejected a peace treaty proposed by Britain in July 26 of 1914 instead of just trying to work things out between Austria and Serbia they would rather risk a world war ,that clearly shows that Austria and Germany wanted a cause for war and that's what the assassination served as ,but it definitely didn't cause WW1
The causes of WW1 are: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism & Nationalism
The causes of WW1 are basically: Militarism Alliances Imperialism Nationalism The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was not the cause of WW1, because the assassination alone would have never sparked a general war. It may have caused a local war, but it was definitely not cause of a World war. The ultimatum that Austria-Hungary gave to Serbia caused major conflict, the blank check given to Austria-Hungary by Germany caused conflict, the rivalry in the alliances,the Balkan crisis, these factors all added up caused world war one, but not just a single event such as: the assassination of Ferdinand.
There were a lot of causes and reasons for World War 1
There were many causes of World War One. These are just some of the important ones: 1. Britain and Germany were competing for the most powerful navy in the world, causing tension in Europe. 2. Many European countries were trying to get as many colonies in Africa as they could, so there was a lot of minor fighting. The result was that European countries weren't very friendly towards each other. 3.The French didn't trust the Germans because of a war that Germany won. 4. There was a new thing called nationalism. Countries felt that if there was a war they'd win very easily. 5. Many countries wanted to be independent. 6. The heir to the Austrian throne (Archduke Franz Ferdinand) was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. The assassination caused war to be declared. Europe was a big tinderbox and the assassination was the spark.
The causes of WW 1 were many and varied and they are viewed differently by different people
The causes of World War One (WW 1) were many and varied and they are viewed differently by different people. The actual explosion that was WW 1 was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by "The Black Hand", a Serbian nationalist group who wanted the Austrian rule gone. This, and the numerous confusing alliances, all contributed to the outbreak of war, not to mention the "war climate" (suspicion, fear, and tension) because of the alliances. Once one empire declared war on another, its allies got drawn in as well when the opposing nations declared war on them, leading to the "great war"
There were 7 causes of WW 1
There were seven causes of world war one. The first one is the Franco-Prussian war. During the Franco Prussian war France lost Alsace-Lorraine to Prussia (Germany). With the loss of their land, tension was created. The second cause was the alliance systems. When the triple entente and triple alliance were created, all of the countries were trying to build up a stronger power against each other. The third cause was the Balkan Powder Keg. The Balkans were in an area that other countries wanted but they believed that if something happened there, the countries would erupt in war. The fourth cause of WWI was imperialism. All of the countries were fighting over land in Africa to increase their nationalism. Nationalism is the fifth cause of WWI. People had so much nationalism that when the war was announced everyone was signing up to be included in it. This also led to the Arms race which is the sixth cause. The Arms Race was where all of the countries were building up their military. No country wanted to be behind another country in militarism. Then the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand occurred, which is the last cause of WWI. When he was killed by a Serbian, the Balkans were outraged and sparked the war to start. By the time that the Archduke was assassinated, the world was just looking for an excuse to start the war.
ADDED:
There is an eighth reason, which is of the utmost importance and which has already been stated above: >>>"Austria and Germany [...] instead of just trying to work things out between Austria and Serbia they would rather risk a world war, that clearly shows that Austria and Germany wanted a cause for war and that's what the assassination served as <<<
According to the German historian Fritz Fischer, there is a wealth of documentary evidence that points a very clear, accusing finger at Germany. By "Germany" he doesn't of course mean all Germans, but the German General Staff. If one examines the German and Austrian documents together, it becomes very clear that there were 'hawks' and 'doves' in Vienna. At one point it looked as if the 'doves' were about to carry the day, and the consternation of the German General Staff knew no bounds. They used all their contacts and all their influence to make sure they got their 'jolly little war'. Austria-Hungary was put under immense pressure to escalate the crisis. This eighth reason is as important as the preceding seven put together.