Causation of World War One
In 1900, almost every one would have agreed that to be a great country, you had to have a great Empire. Two such examples of this were France and Britain. Since 1800, they had been increasing their empires steadily. I will be looking at how the desire to expand Empires led up to one of the most bloody wars in history. The two other main causes that I think led up to the start of the First World War are: Serbian Nationalism and Germany's military build-up. Serbia was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But it wanted to rule itself. Much like the modern Northern Ireland, it had it's own Nationalist and Loyalist groups and there was a lot of friction caused by the conflicting sides. The Serbian Nationalists sought allies from other countries including Russia who would gain from disruption within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the same time, Germany was very keen to become an Imperial power(a country whose power is judged by the size of it's empire) and , to do so, it was having to build up it's navy extremely quickly because you couldn't be an empire without a large navy. Britain's may have still been the largest navy in the world, but the sudden advances by Germany made Britain nervous. A feature of this was the race to build large, powerful battleships such as the Dreadnought. In 1907, Europe was divided into two alliances, each jockeying for power over Europe and
Questions on World War One.
Questions on World War One To what extent did nationalism within the Austria-Hungarian Empire contribute to the outbreak of war in 1914? Nationalism within Austria-Hungary: a struggle for self-determination. But Austria-Hungary was brave to meet the challenge and to struggle for preservation of the Empire. Result: internally, proposal of extending the dual rule to a triple or a quadruple one; externally, nationalistic rivalries started between Austria and Serbia, between Austria and Russia. Her solution was to annex neighbouring states having fellow peoples within the Empire. It contributed to the outbreak of Austro-Serbian War. But the extension of these rivalries was caused by the alliance system and militarism. If nationalism within Austria-Hungary contributed, so did nationalism of other powers (Pan-Slavism, Greater Serbia Movement, French Revanchism, Pan-Germanism, etc.) The Great War was caused by a complexity of conflicts. To what extent was nationalism a disruptive force in Europe during the period 1900-1914? Nationalism . Nationalism aimed at national independence in initial stage 2. It looked to national expansion and domination National conflicts in the period of 1900-1914 . Nationalism in the Balkans to struggle to remain independent. - they wanted to dismember the Ottoman Empire and drive the Turks from Europe. To save the Empire, the Young Turks
The Beginning of World War One
The Beginning of World War One On the 28th June 1914, a Serbian, Gavrilo Princip shot the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. That shot sparked off a War that claimed the lives of around 10 million people. That war was called World War One. 28th June 1914 Sarajevo, Bosnia Sarajevo, a city in Bosnia was the centre of world attention during June 1914. Bosnia was part of Austro-Hungary but many of the people there were Serbs who wanted to be ruled by the neighbouring state Serbia. Serbia wanted to expand its country and wanted to control Bosnia. Most Serbs would do anything to attack Austro-Hungary, who also wanted an excuse to attack Serbia. This chance came when a Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, who was 18 at the time, shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Gavrilo was a member of the Black Hand Gang and had previously failed in two attempts that same day to kill the Archduke. He took his opportunity though, just as he was about to give up, when the driver took a wrong turning and he soon shot the Archduke and his wife. Austro-Hungary blamed Serbia for the murder and prepared its forces for attack. The next month they declared war on Serbia. July 5th 1914 Germany's position The Austrian government wanted to know whether Germany would support a war against Serbia if the Russians joined in. They needed this help because they
World War One
History Coursework- World War One . The writer and cartoonist who designed Source A are trying to send the message to British readers that the troops have hit the Somme with succession and are winning the battle. The picture in the source is a map of the Western Front being portrayed as a German or the Kaiser. The outlined face looks as though he is about to swallow Verdun but also has a look of surprise as a fist, which is labelled as 'British Army', is pummelling straight onto the Germans nose, which is where the Somme is marked. This is implying that the Britons are attacking the Somme with force, damaging the German army and having more power than them. The punch is also meant to represent the new attack on the Somme forcing the Kaiser away from Verdun. The title ' The Day Goes Well For Our Patriotic Heroes' is also another piece of lying and misleading propaganda that is giving the idea that the first day of the Battle of the Somme was successful on Britain's behalf. It also shows that we are winning the war giving people at home the thought of joining the army when in fact a considerably large amount of men have had to sacrifice their life with 20,000 dead on the first day. Both sources are propaganda supporting the success of the war when they are untrue and have miss-led readers into thinking the Battle of the Somme was a hard hitting battle when it was a very
The Causes of World War One
The Causes of World War One Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 at the hands of a Serbian nationalist secret society set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world's first global war. Since then Balkan crisis is seen as one of the several reasons of the outbreak of world war one. To determine whether this factor over whelmed other reasons we have to examine both the long-standing rivalries between the powers and also the situations in Balkan during the time. At first going through the long-standing rivalries between the great powers it will be seen texpansions in Asia and Africa. In the late 19th century European nations started to realize the necessity to put formal political control on their semi-autonomous, and independent colonies. The motive for such action was partly the rise of nationalist feelings amongst the native population and partly the growths of industrialization in Europe, which required new markets for manufactured goods. In Africa su t examples of Imperial tensions. According to historian A.J.P Taylor Germany during this time tended to intimidate Britain in Asia and in Africa to compel Britain to accept greater German dominance in Europe, thus suggesting a link between imperial conflicts and rise of tension in Europe. However such increase in tensions resulted into formation of
Explain the Causes of World War One
WHAT WERE THE CAUSES OF WWI? World War One was a turning point in history. Many scholars study this event and what caused this huge conflict. Germany used to be the sole one responsible for this war, but many controversial debates later, the blame was gradually put on the other great powers of Europe as well. In this essay, I will be analyzing the main causes of WWI, especially targeting the long-term causes. Most of these causes and events may be classified into 4 main themes: imperialism, the alliance system, militarism & nationalism. Imperialism contributed greatly to the outbreak of WWI. Imperialism is when a country takes over other lands and subjects them to their rule to extend their power and influence. In the pre-WWI era, the great powers of Europe strove to expand their empires. Germany, who only became an united nation in 1871, desired a large empire like Britain’s, who at the time had an empire that stretched out over 5 continents and colonized about 1/3 of the world. However, Germany only had a few pieces of Africa. Soon, though, they decided they wanted more. In 1896, Admiral Muller said to Prince Henry of Germany, “...either we harness the total strength of the nation ruthlessly, even if it means accepting the risk of a major war, or we limit ourselves to continental power alone.” This shows how much Germany would do for more land and power. It clearly
Causes of World War One
Causes of World War One World War I came about by a complex set of circumstances that had been building up since the late part of the 19th century. Two very important causes were the binding and cleaving alliance system, and the arms race between most countries. However, other factors contributed as well, and their importance ought not to be downplayed. The arms race was quite a derivative cause: nations implemented long peacetime conscription programs; Germany decided to expand its navy and this thus lead to a Dreadnaught making competition between her and Britain, who concluded from the Russo-Japanese war that long ranged boats were very effective; France and Germany doubled the size of their armies; intricate plans like the Schlieffen plan were made, and thus the military was very well funded and relied upon. The alliance system was the legacy of Otto Von Bismarck, the German Chancellor. He knew that France would not be on good terms with Germany for the foreseeable future, and thus he tried to have as many nations as he could allied to him. The Austro-Hungarian empire was an almost unconditional ally, given the compassionate settlement of the Seven Weeks' War and because of ethnical and cultural ties. Bismarck dreaded the idea of Russia and France allying against Germany, so whilst he was around, everything was made to attain them (unfortunately Wilhelm II did not
What Caused World War One? It has been suggested that naval rivalry was the main cause of World War One
What Caused World War One? It has been suggested that naval rivalry was the main cause of World War One because, this was one of the most significant causes of tension between some of the most powerful countries in Europe. I strongly agree that this contributed to World War One but there are also several other factors that have to be considered such as the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the First Moroccan Crisis, the Second Moroccan Crisis, the Balkan Wars and the Arms Race. Naval Rivalry When Kaiser Wilhelm announced that he intended to build a powerful navy in 1898.Britains natural reaction was to feel very threatened and intimidated, especially since Britain had been the unchallenged rulers of the sea ever since the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Britain had a vast and powerful navy, which was used to protect its large empire that was located all over the world. Germany had no real need for a navy which made Britain extremely suspicious; they suspected Germany may want control of Britain's empire. To try and prevent this from happening Britain launched the new state of the art battleship, the 'Dreadnought' in 1906. In response to this Germany built their own dreadnoughts and widened the Kiel Canal to enable its navy to enter the north and Baltic sea. This sparked off a race between Germany and Britain; build as many ships as quickly as possible, which became
Origins of World War One Alliances and Ententes
Origins of World War One Alliances and Ententes In August 1914, World War One broke out. The main cause of the war has never been established and has been among the many debates among historians studying this period. Many historians have conflicting views about what caused war to break out in 1914, and many believe there is not one cause to blame but was the result of many conflicts and disputes between different countries over a long period. There are also other causes for the outbreak of World War One including Political systems and developments, Colonial Conflicts and rivalries, The Moroccan Crises, The Balkan Wars and the July Crisis. In my opinion, Alliances and Ententes was to blame for war to break out in 1914. The main reason for this is that after Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire was shot by a Bosnian Serb nationalist. Therefore, Austria-Hungary issued Serbia an ultimatum, which they had chose to ignore, and as a result Germany, who was their ally persuaded Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. Russia, who supported Serbia, began to mobilise. This began to escalate and France, Germany and Britain consequently got involved because of their alliances or ententes. The question is without these alliances and ententes, would war have broken out in 1914? Due to the built up tension of Militarism, Nationalism and
The Causes of World War One
The Causes of World War One David Reynolds, 3H The most important reason World War One broke out is the Alliance System. The Alliance system caused other countries such as Germany (The Central Powers) to be intimidated. These Alliances caused other things to happen like the arms races and colonial rivalry. These were minor causes. The Alliances, The Triple Entente: France, Russia and Britain and the Central Powers: Germany, Italy and Austro-Hungary, were competing against each other for power. The Alliances were only meant to be an agreement to protect a country, in that agreement, from attack, not to gang up, provoke and attack other countries. That was what it was looking like as all the different countries made plans for invasion. Germany was planning to attack France and when they crushed the French they would turn and crush Russia before it was able to mobilise. This was called the Schlieffen Plan. It failed because The Russian army had mobilised as it was helping Serbia defend itself against Astro-Hungary. Britain had not wanted any part in the war, but were dragged in by the fact that Germany had ignored Britain's order to withdraw from Belgium. This leads to the fact that if the Alliances had not of been signed all the countries would not have been intimidated they wouldn't have drawn up war plans, the arms race wouldn't have happened. Even if the plans had been
