UNIT 2 WORLD WAR I

Causes of World War I – Underlying and Immediate Causes

Causes - Underlying or
Long Term Causes / Explanation
imperialism
  • the policy of one
nation acquiring
another country
or region /
  • European nations - Great Powers - established colonies to create empires
  • they exploited the land and resources
  • they wanted raw materials and markets for their manufactured goods
  • European empires aggressively pursued colonies in Africa
  • Germany in conflict with Britain and France
  • Russia, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman empires wanted to control Balkans (refer to Figure 2-3 p.27)

militarism
  • a nation’s policy of
maintaining armed
forces ready for war /
  • Great Powers developed strong military to protectcolonies
  • Britain had the largest navy and Germany wanted to match it
  • Britain built the Dreadnought and Germany built it as well (refer to Figure 2-2 p.27)
  • France concerned about German military strength
  • arms race increased tension

alliances
  • agreement among
nations toward a
common goal /
  • rivalries between Great Powers resulted in alliances
to support and protect one another
  • Triple Alliance - Germany and Austria-Hungary
vs
Triple Entente - France, Britain, Russia
  • Great Powers hoped alliances would reduce the threat of war
  • alliances made it easier for a country to be drawn into war

nationalism
  • pride and patriotism
in one’s nation /
  • Great Powers’ nationalism fueled imperialism
  • intense nationalism existed in Balkans as Austria-Hungary contained Slavs who wanted independence
  • Serbs in Bosnia wanted independence from Austria
  • Serbia wanted control of Bosnia and unite Slavs to from Greater Serbia

Causes - Immediate or
Short Term Causes / Explanation
  • Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
/
  • June 28 assassination of Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Bosnia by Serbian Gavrilo Princip of the Black Hand triggered a chain reaction that started the war

  • Schlieffen Plan
/
  • August 2 Germany invades neutral Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan for attacking France

Source:Causes of the First World War -Counterpoints p.26-30

Europe Prior to World War I

Causes of World War

Which cause was most responsible for World War I?

  • imperialism
  • militarism
  • alliances
  • nationalism
  • Schlieffen Plan
  • assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

Criteria for Selecting Significant Facts

Significant Causes
  • the event may not have occurred if the cause was not present
  • the direction or intensity of the event would be altered
  • the influence on the event is obvious

Cause / Reasons/Evidence