the spark
The immediate cause of the war was the June 28, 1914. This was
the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassinator (Gavrilo Princip) was a
Bosnian Serb citizen of Austria-Hungary and member of the Black
Hand Gang. The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against the Kingdom of Serbia
activated a series of alliances that set off a chain reaction of war declarations.
Russia gets ready to help the Serbs after Austro-Hungary blamed Serbia for the murder and declares war. Afterwards, Germany declared war on Russia, France and Belgium because the Germans were worried. Then Britain declared war on Germany. It is like dominos, one thing leads to another.
the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassinator (Gavrilo Princip) was a
Bosnian Serb citizen of Austria-Hungary and member of the Black
Hand Gang. The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against the Kingdom of Serbia
activated a series of alliances that set off a chain reaction of war declarations.
Russia gets ready to help the Serbs after Austro-Hungary blamed Serbia for the murder and declares war. Afterwards, Germany declared war on Russia, France and Belgium because the Germans were worried. Then Britain declared war on Germany. It is like dominos, one thing leads to another.
Long term causes
MAIN:
Militarism (Arms Race) - the attempt to build up a strong army and navy gave nations the means and will to make war. Alliances - in 1882, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. This alarmed, France, Britain and Russia. By 1907, they had all joined the Triple Entente. Europe was divided into two armed camps. Imperialism - the desire to conquer colonies, especially in Africa. This brought the powers into conflict - Germany wanted an empire. France and Britain already had empires. Nationalism - the belief that your country is better than others. |
How did each of the four long-term causes helped to increase the likelihood of war?
These causes are significant to why war started. For example Imperialism was one cause. European nations ruled smaller countries,
called colonies, and competed with each other to amass more colonies. Gathering colonies became known as Imperialism. Both France and Britain had many colonies in Africa and Asia. Now Germany and Italy decided they wanted a colonial empire too. They were jealous of the countries that had other places where they could gather raw materials and cheap labour. This increased the likelihood of war because if Germany and Italy did expand their empires, they would get a lot of benefits such as more raw materials from countries (Africa) and those countries may get benefits too. More people would have had jobs too and so more money would have been made. More land would be owned as well. Another reason is Nationalism. This is the belief that your country is far better than others. This obviously made other nations assertive and aggressive because they now have a bad reputation. However countries did have alliances too. An alliance is an agreement made between two or more countries to give each other help if it is needed. When an alliance is signed, those countries become known as Allies. A number of alliances had been signed by countries between the years 1879 and 1914. These were important because they meant that some countries had no option but to declare war if one of their allies. declared war first. |
An Arms race is a competition between nations to have the most powerful weapons. This was known as militarism. The British had introduced the 'Dreadnought', an effective battleship, in 1906.
The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships. Causes of war-Horrible histories |