- Russia and Serbia
- Germany and Austria-Hungary
- France and Russia
- Britain and France and Belgium
- Japan and Britain
Unfortunately World War 1 broke out because Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia then got involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.
Imperialism
Imperialism is when a country increases their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control. Before World War 1, Africa and parts of Asia were points of contention amongst the European countries. This was especially true because of the raw materials these areas could provide. The increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in confrontation that helped push the world into World War I.
Another cause for the World War was that European nations ruled smaller countries called colonies. Each country that owned these colonies and some others competed for them.
France and Britain owned a lot of colonies in Africa and Asia. Germany and Italy decided they wanted to own some colonies too; this also helped start the First World War. Countries wanted to expand their empires, so they fought for more land.
Militarism
As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military build-up. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period. Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved to war. Because Britain had a great navy, Germany wanted a great navy too. Germany and France competed for larger armies. The more one nation built up its army and navy, the more the other country felt they had to do the same.
More Powerful Countries spawned powerful armies that they believed must be used for a purpose. Germany had the strongest army, whereby Great Britain had the strongest Navy.
Nationalism
Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire for the Slavic people in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be part of Serbia instead of Austria Hungary. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War. But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each country tried to prove their dominance and power.
People believed in their country, they supported and fought for it with their life. Nationalism led European countries to compete for the largest army and navy, or the greatest industrial development.
It gave groups of people the idea that they could start their own nation. France was still mad over the loss of Alsace and Lorraine. Russia regarded itself as the protector of Europe’s Slavic people. Serbia is an independent nation, many Serbs lived in Austria-Hungary. Russia was the enemy of Austria-Hungary. Various ethnic groups resented domination and hoped to create nation of own
Conclusion
There were many reasons why world war broke out. Although an alliance had been put in place, it did not help matters. This is because instead of only two countries at war, other countries became involved. Nationalism also had an effect because each country tried to prove their dominance and power and there was a lot of competition between countries to have the best armies. Imperialism also affected the world war as many countries wanted to expand their empires, so they started to compete for colonies. Militarism was mainly to do with jealousy, as if one country increases their armies and navy, the other countries have to do so to, and this became a vicious circle. All of these long term causes provoked the war in some way or another, and competitiveness and jealously played a huge role.
By Scarlett Lamoureux 9.2