World War I was one of the most deadly conflicts in history, with up to 25 countries participating and over 15 million deaths. The war was fought from 1914 until 1918 between the Allied powers, which included France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and later the U.S.A, and the Central powers – Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary. Although the Central Powers were defeated, they faced a considerably less death toll of 4 million, in comparison to the Allies’ 6 million. The war destabilized Europe and set a foundation for the world’s most destructive and fatal war, which followed just 21 years later.
It’s impossible to determine the exact spark that ignited the war, as there are numerous factors and events that led up to it. The main cause of World War I is a controversial and argued subject. I believe that there isn’t a nation or event that is solely responsible, it was a series of events that just built up and escalated into one big cataclysmic event. Nationalism was the most important cause for World War I to break out in 1914 due to all the countries’ conflicting nationalistic pride, which strongly contributed to alternate factors, such as militarism, alliances, and imperialism. The countries’ actions to defend and support their nation and beliefs were the principal cause.
The desire of numerous countries to prove themselves as the superior nation caused tension, resulting in war. Countries started to build up their naval and military forces in order to have advantage over rival forces. An example of this is Britain’s Dreadnaught, which was a battleship launched in 1906 that made a huge impact in naval warfare – it gave Britain a tremendous advantage over Germany. Britain’s desire for such advantage were most likely triggered by the German Naval Laws, which were Germany’s plans to build a navy superior to Britain’s. Both countries just build up their navy to outdo the other. The event that most people think of when thinking of the cause of the war is the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. The Archduke was assassinated a month before the war officially started in Bosnia & Herzegovina, by Gavril Princip, a young member of the Black Hand. The Slavic people in Bosnia & Herzegovina urged to leave Austria Hungary and join Serbia. The Black Hand was a secret military society that intended to unite all of the Serbians in Austria-Hungarian territories. In 1871 the German Empire was formed. Pan-Germanism was the desire for all German-speaking countries to be unified, forming a strong alliance for the country – something that is key in war. Germany sought to claim its position as a superior nation – one to be careful of. Through careful planning they managed to manipulate small and vulnerable countries to work for their advantage, isolate France, forge alliances, and claims colonies in Africa. On the other hand, one could argue that the actions discussed weren’t acts of nationalism, but merely just progression in the countries. I would disagree as I think that the countries only strived to prove their dominance and power, and only desired to progress due to this.
Militarism was another defining cause that led to the outbreak of war due to the new impacting weapons and naval technologies that were introduced. All of the alternate factors of the war link to the main idea of nationalism, and militarism is no exception. Without a country’s pride and determination to be a dominant power, there wouldn’t be that drive for militaristic excellence. Like the Spartans, the European powers had to invest in a strong military in order to establish their roles as superior forces. As I previously mentioned the Germans and British desired to constantly out do one another resulting the Dreadnaught, and the passing of the German Naval Laws.
The Von Shchlieffen plan was Germany’s method it would enforce if facing the danger of a two front war. It was the idea to take a large force through Belgium, and give France a quick fatal blow. Then Germany would focus all its attention to its eastern front against Russia. Although there had been no obvious signs for the war that was brewing, Germany was already getting ready for it. It had a great psychological effect on enemy and allies. As mentioned earlier, Germany had goals to isolate France. They did their best to provoke France until it cracked. In the summer of 1870 France declared the Franco-Prussian War. This was due to Germany’s meddling. Otto Von Bismarck released a manipulated account of a meeting between King Wilhelm I of Prussia and Count Vincent Benedetti, the French ambassador to Prussia, in which the Count came across as demanding, and the King refused his demands. Bismarck had France right were he wanted them as they made the first move and declared war, just as he anticipated. As a result of the Franco-Prussian war, Germany gained the much desired, German speaking Alsace-Lorraine.
The Age of Imperialism began around 44 years before the war. Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, and other countries took over other less developed areas and influenced or colonized them, increasing their power. The British Empire was spread over five continents and France controlled a large amount of Africa. Since Germany entered the race late, it needed to compensate and gain some land. Britain ran into some problems with some farmers in the Transvaal Republic, Africa, who fought for their independence. Frustrated with the Boers and after two wars, the British rounded up the Boer population and put them in concentration camps. The British’s method of controlling the Boers caused controversy and influenced the resulting allies. The Germans did their part of deteriorating its relations with Britain by sending the Kruger Telegram. Kaiser Wilhelm II sent a message to Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, the president of the Transvaal Republic, congratulating and supporting the Boer efforts in their uprising against the British. Maintaining and gaining territories around the globe caused plenty of tension between the European nations. The demand for control over the territories of the declining Ottoman Empire resulted in the Crimean wars. Britain and France’s relationship was put to test as they were on the verge of war due to the Fashoda incident. British and French forces collided at the Nile in Africa and Britain with its strong navy was left victorious. Although both countries had a hunger for land after the Fashoda incident they began to cooperate with one another and even formed The entente cordial of 1904 - An agreement between Britain and France that gave Britain control over Egypt and French control over Morocco. It’s significant because it shows the cooperation between the British and the French, strengthening their alliance. All of the imperialism related conflicts and their results revealed who was on whose side.
As mentioned earlier, Germany was finding its place and attempted to make room for itself as a new dominant power. It tried ever so hard to make other countries look bad (Britain and its handling of the Boer wars), break up already formed alliances, and support smaller forces. Morocco was a French and Spanish protectorate from 1912 until its independence in 1956. Germany supported its independence because it wanted to see France and Spain fight for it. However it was a waste of effort as nothing happened. It demonstrated how Germany tried rile, and pit countries up against each other while it stands back and watches. Germany granted Austria-Hungary a “blank cheque” signifying it’s unlimited support for the country and it’s punishment on Serbia. The alliances between countries are a significant reason as to why World War I became such a big thing that it was. We also saw Germany siding with a smaller force with the Transvaals. Before the war numerous countries formed alliances between one another. Two of Europe’s big forces, Germany and Austria-Hungary formed the dual alliance, in which they vowed to aid one another in the event that they are attacked by Russia or then neutrality in the event that one is attacked by an alternate power. Russia and Serbia vowed to be loyal to one another, so as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia after they failed to accept their ultimatum, Russia naturally went in to defend Serbia. Germany being loyal to its agreement with Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia. Britain, Russia, and France formed the Triple Entente, so as Germany went on to attack France via Belgium, Britain entered the war. Due to the Anglo-Japanese alliance, Japan was another British ally who entered the war. The United States and Italy joined the party late. As you can see this domino effect turned out to be highly catastrophic.
It is evident that Nationalism played the prime role in igniting the war. The Assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the immediate event that led to war, but we see a great amount of nationalism there as well. From this event the Bosnian and Herzegovinian’s sought after freedom for its nation from Austria Hungary and after the assassination and the literal cause of the war, was Serbia’s national pride that restricted them from agreeing with Austria-Hungary’s ultimatum which demanded them to censor their country, to rid their country of Anti-Austrian-Hungarian organizations and to brainwash their youth and population via education and media. All of the events and causes discussed were simply just a long row of dominoes being lined up, and the assassination of the Archduke was the push on the first domino. The countries all had unresolved conflicts with one another that they kept bottled up and it just exploded. No matter how long they prolonged it, war was inevitable.
