What caused World War I?

Answer 1

Superficial and more fundamental causes

The 'trigger' or 'spark' was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by the Serbian Black Hand terrorists in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The real question is this: Why was this crisis not dealt with in a more conventional, much less destructive way? There had been several crises before in the decade before 1914 and those involving the major powers of Europe had been settled peacefully. So did something go wrong with the handling of the crisis, or did one or more of the countries involved exploit the situation to plunge Europe into war? (The view that somehow Europe merely stumbled into World War 1 by accident is not accepted by historians). It is at this point that controversy begins. Austrian Response to the Assassination The Austrians delivered an ultimatum to Serbia that was almost guaranteed to be turned down by Serbia, but in the event, Serbia accepted nearly all the points. Austria then declared war because it had not been taken in its entirety. It has become fashionable (at high school level) to claim that the Austrians had been looking for an excuse to declare war because of lingering disputes between the two countries. It is probably more accurate to say that Austria was trying to clip Serbia's wings and deny it a coastline. On July 5, 1914, Germany (which had reasons of its own for war) had given Austria a "blank check", or unconditional guarantee of support in its actions against Serbia.

Provocations and Disputes:

•Disputes over territory, especially Morocco (including the Anglo-French-German Agadir crisis of July 1911)

•The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (a region densely populated with Serbs) by Austria in 1908 (the Balkan Crisis)

•Germany's gunboat diplomacy, meddling and conflicting alliances: "Weltpolitik."

•Imperialism, nationalism, expansionism during the final stages of world Colonialism - the intense competition and power struggles among the European nations. Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism & Nationalism The growing tensions between the European countries were caused by:

•Militarism

•The trend toward developing military resources, both for national defense and for the protection of colonial interests. Countries prepared for total war, using much of their resources to make armaments. [However, the concept of militarism is problematical and needs more definition].

•Alliances

•There were too many alliances, often conflicting ones. Every country was pledging to protect others, creating entangling mutual protection schemes.

•Imperialism

•As fewer areas of the world were left to colonize, countries were competing for existing colonies and seeking to expand their borders with neighboring nations.

•Nationalism

•Jingoism and national unity were promoted by governments as a means of maintaining popular domestic support. In many countries, women were increasing their role in the workforce. This greatly expanded the available labor for industrial development, freeing manpower for the military while maintaining the production of armaments. Everyone was preparing for this war.

WWI was caused by nationalism.

When the war was declared on Germany, people burst out on the street celebrating in France and Britain. If the population had not been primed to support the war, the government might not have started it! WWI was the result of a long string of events dating back to the 1890's. Conflict in the Balkans and sophisticated European alliances were the main causes. Germany had a huge role in this. They fought for the independence of Morocco in an attempt to break the alliance between France and Britain. Germany also participated in an arms race. Kaiser Wilhelm II started building up a navy, trying to surpass Britain's fleet. Since Britain was an island nation and had many overseas colonies, it had a gigantic fleet, so what the Kaiser was attempting to do was no easy feat. Germany wanted to increase its colonial empire, and most of the positive colonies were already taken. These actions and policies helped fuel the fire that was WWI. The Triple Entente and The Central Powers Long-term feuds and disputes, caused by imperialism and nationalism, resulted in the "Triple Entente". England, France, and Russia created an informal alliance opposed to the "Triple Alliance" of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. When war finally broke out, it was between the Entente and its supporters and the Central Powers ). The breakup of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine by France to Germany 1871. In Eastern Europe: The breakup of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe, leading to the Slavic independence movements in areas such as Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia. The Serbian-Austrian relations were especially tense as Austria had demanded an independent Albania, thus preventing Serbia from expanding into the Adriatic during the 1900s. This aggressive movement led to increased tension between Russia and Austria as Russia supported the independence movements of the Slavs. Turkey then supported Austria to gain Austrian support. In Western Europe: The loss of Alsace-Lorraine by France to Germany in 1871 led to much ill feeling between the two countries. The Kaiser's self-proclaimed goal that Germany "have a place in the sun" did nothing to ease tensions. Instead, the military buildup in Germany, especially the expansion of the Navy, drove Britain (alarmed at the direct challenge posed by the German High Seas Fleet to the British Royal Navy) into an alliance with France. When World War I began, everything began falling into place: Austria and the Ottoman Empire declared war on Serbia. This caused Russia and France to declare war on the both of them. And this led to Germany declaring war on Russia and France (who were allied with Britain). To attack France via the Schlieffen Plan (invasion of France via Belgium), Germany invaded Belgium. This direct violation of the neutrality guarantee led to Great Britain's declaring war on the Central Powers. The Great War started. German Military LeadershipAccording to the German historian Fritz Fischer, there is a wealth of documentary evidence that points a very clear, accusing finger at Germany. By "Germany" he doesn't, of course, mean all Germans, but the German General Staff. If one examines the German and Austrian documents together, it becomes very apparent that there were 'hawks' and 'doves' in Vienna. At one point it looked as if the 'doves' were about to carry the day, and the consternation of the German General Staff knew no bounds. They used all their contacts and all their influence to make sure they got their 'jolly little war'. Austria-Hungary was put under immense pressure to escalate the crisis. This eighth reason is as important as the preceding seven put together. There is a theory by Arno Mayer that the whole period from about 1910-1945 was one of profound crisis in Europe. In most countries the old elites, especially the land-owning classes, were experiencing immense difficulty in adapting to the results of industrialization and were genuinely alarmed at the prospect of losing any real role in society.

They were also haunted by the specter of unrest and revolution. As a result, they were only too happy to deflect conflict from the domestic scene to foreign affairs and to form dangerous local alliances with new-style right-wing extremists.

One of the striking features of the specific crisis that developed as a result of the Sarajevo assassination is that few of the great powers attached much value to maintaining the peace. Even if Arno Mayer overstates his case slightly, it is interesting, and it would be a mistake just to dismiss it. Japan and Greece were persuaded to join on the side of the Triple Entente of France, Russia, and Britain. The Germans ordered the sinking of all American ships to Britain, so America joined in 1917, too late to do much. The allies took on an offensive doctrine, so they gained ground. The German economy was ruined due to it only being able to trade with Austria and Turkey. Italy made a break in the standstill with Austria-Hungary, knocking Austria out of the war. The Turks lost Arabia and surrendered. Germany stood alone. Without allies, and economically ruined, Germany surrendered.

Answer 2

The real causes of World War I included politics, secret alliances, Imperialism, and nationalistic pride. However, there was one single event, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, which started a chain of events leading to war.

Answer 3

A 19 year old Serbian man named Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Ferdinand's wife Sophie, otherwise known as Sopherl