Causes of World War I

Causes of World War I The “-ism’s” (Nationalism, Militarism, Imperialism)

World War I: • Known as “The Great War” • Occurred during the years 1914-1918 • A difficult war which claimed millions of lives • Left a scar on the Earth……

Causes of WWI: M= Militarism A= Alliances N= Nationalism I= Imperialism A= Assassination

Militarism: when a military force of a country gets a lot of attention from the government. (For Example: When a government helps economically to improve the military force) • At a time in Europe, there was a competition to have bigger armies and navies. • In the 1900’s , there was an “arms race” between countries. Armies in both France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914. • Countries like Germany were upgrading their armed forces, which made other countries fear an attack. • Some countries felt like they needed to agree to war and help attack other countries or they would be attacked! • Germany had the biggest increase in the military! • Great Britain and Germany both increased their navies during this time period.

Alliances: we all know you feel stronger with some support…… • Countries in Europe had signed treaties with other countries because they thought making alliances would promise peace; • Each country would be protected by the allied countries in case of war~ • This helped WWI to begin because it made the war a global crisis instead of a local one. …….why would alliances be considered a cause of the World War??????

Alliances that were made: • The countries of the “Allies” in WWI included: Russia Belgium France Greece British Empire Portugal Italy U.S. Japan Romania Serbia

Central Powers: • The countries of the Central Powers included: -Turkey -Germany -Austria-Hungary -Bulgaria The alliance system helped caused WWI……

Nationalism: share a feeling of same customs and culture • Probably the biggest cause of WWI! • Makes people proud of their country • Countries built up their armies, added more weapons for more power • Example: Most important reason for Serbia to enter WWI was Serbia didn’t want to be a part of the Austria-Hungary Empire anymore and wanted to be it’s own country. …so how did Nationalism help cause the war????

Imperialism: when a country’s wealth and power increase by invading and taking over more land • By 1900~ the British Empire was ruling colonies over the 5 continents, and France had control of large areas in Africa. • At that time, industry was rising and countries needed new markets so some countries wanted to expand to take over MORE land and MORE resources. • The British felt endangered by Germany’s fast economic growth….that’s when some countries in Europe (like Germany and Italy) felt jealous and felt they needed to expand and conquer more land.

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: • June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Royal Prince of Hungary) and his pregnant wife Sophie while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was a part of Austria-Hungary. • This was a protest to Austria-Hungary having control of Bosnia. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia. • This assassination led to Austria- Hungary declaring war on Serbia.

Russia began preparing its army due to its alliance with Serbia….and Germany declared war on Russia. • Allied countries had to support each other and thus……… World War I began.. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was not accidental and was a major factor for causing the war.

The countries didn’t expect the war to last this long, cost so much, be so devastating or to claim so many lives, but WWI did. • Germany lost a lot during the war. This country wouldn’t want to be at war if it had known the cost or results….casualities. • Through killing, WWI was won! • Humans killed each other for power!

Causes of World War I