Causes of the World War 1

What is the World War 1?

First World War or the Great War, was a global war that began on 28 July 1914 and ended on 11 November 1918, It involved much of Europe, as well as Russia, the United States and Turkey, and was also fought in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia. The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I, was around 40 million, There were 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded, The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians.

Now, let's discuss the causes of the world war 1.

The major cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand—heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire—was shot to death along with his wife, Sophie, by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914 while inspecting the military of Austro-Hungarian Empire, Serbia decided to assassinate him because of his perceived threat to Serbian independence, Why did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria lead to fighting? his killer wanted to unite all serbs under one government (not austria). The austrians wanted to punish Serbia + the alliance system pulled one nation after another into the war. The murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand outraged Austria-Hungary was furious and, with Germany's support, declared war on Serbia on July 28. Within days, Germany declared war on Russia—Serbia's ally—and invaded France via Belgium, which then caused Britain to declare war on Germany. 

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The next major cause was that Austria-Hungary wanted to annex Serbia.

The other indirect causes of the war can be remembered by the word main.

Where m means militarism, a means arms-race. i means imperialism and n means nationalism.

First let's see militarism.

Many people believed that war was inevitable and that it was good for a country. People believed that war made citizens more loyal to the nation; it caused the nation to cooperate; it made the citizens more courageous. All these things were seen as a positive for the nation. Remember most people at the time believed that the war would be very short so there shouldn't be too many casualties. In 1907, there was a conference in Europe that was supposed to discuss disarmament. However, since the leaders believed that war was not only good for the country but coming soon, the conference actually became one to discuss the rules of war!! Disarmament was abandoned. 

Now, the second was the arm race in Europe.

At the start of the 1900s the European countries were preparing for war by building and supplying large armies. (except the British) The continental powers (France, Germany, Russia, Italy and Austria-Hungary) built large well trained civilian armies that could fight a war. Germany and Austria doubled their spending on arms so the others did also to keep up with them. Germany started to build a navy that worried the British so it started to develop better ships and guns. The weapons started to become more advanced and deadly with each side trying to outdo the other. * note that most countries still believed that wars would be a short, quick series of battles that would end very quickly (only weeks or the longest months).

The cause was imperialism, Colonialism and competition.

At the turn of the century, Great Britain was the most powerful empire in the world with a lot of land and access to resources. In fact, it could be referred to as 'the empire the sun never set' because it was so large and encompassed the world that at least one part of the empire would be in daylight at all times. Britain used its naval power to control the important waterways of the Suez Canal and the Straits of Gibraltar so that it could easily access the resources and the marketplaces of North America, India and China. Britain was wealthy because of its colonies. The other European countries wanted to establish their own colonies and get wealthy too. The Portugal empire, French empire, Dutch empire, Danish empire etcetera was also an empire having colinies. This would lead to conflicts between the countries as they each tried to take over territories in Africa and Asia.

Now, Nationalism.

By 1900 nationalism was a unifying force in some parts of the western world: France, Germany, and Japan. The people were unified in their love for their country and would do anything for it to survive and prosper. In other countries where there were more than one people, it helped divide nations. The minorities were often oppressed and as a result wanted their own country. In Russia the Jews and Turks were oppressed; in Austria-Hungary it was the Slavs; the Ottoman Empire oppressed the Kurds and Arabs; Japan oppressed Koreans. Nationalism would lead to conflicts as certain countries' citizens would fight for their countries, while in other areas it lead to minorities rising against their oppressors to gain their freedom and their own country.

These four causes helped guide the world slowly move towards world war.

The last indirect cause that we are going to look at helped finish the job the other four started.

That is the Alliance System.

To help them keep the power that they had, countries tried to establish special friendships or alliances with other countries. Each country sought to keep the balance of power so no one would be in a position of power and start a war. However, these alliances actually set up a condition that is war was to start between two countries, all the other countries would be drawn into it. Thus it would take a small, localized battle and make it into a large, world war. The alliances at the time were: The Triple Entente (France, Russia, Britain) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman empire). 

Alliances in Europe in 1914 (WW1)

The war started on july 1914.

The USA joined the war on 1917 but how?

In 1915, due, in part, to the volume of trade 

occurring between England, the U.S., and 

other Allies, Germany engaged in 

“Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.”

This resulted in the loss of nearly half of 

Britain's merchant marine fleet during the 

course of the war.

In 1915, a British ship, the Lusitania, was 

torpedoed and sunk by a German Submarine.

It was said to have been nothing more than a passenger ship, but in actuality it was carrying weapons to England.

1,248 people died, including 124 Americans.

But this was not the direct cause for the U.S. to enter the war.

The Zimmermann Telegram (A telegram from Germany to Mexico asking to make war against the U.S. - January 16, 1917 ) played the role in the direct cause of joining USA in war.

Arthur Zimmermann said. "We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you.”

The U.S. officially entered WWI on April 6, 

1917. As the usa joined, the russia withdrew!

Versailles. World War I (1914-1918) was finally over. ... On June 28, 1919, Germany and the Allied Nations (including Britain, France, Italy and Russia) signed the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the war. (Versailles is a city in France, 10 miles outside of Paris.)

Thank you.