What was the biggest cause of World War 1?

Answer 1

There are 5 main causes for World War 1 and 1 catalyst. A cause is different than a catalyst. The causes led up to the war, but the catalyst actually began the war.

The Causes:

1. entangling alliances

-Germany had created many alliances with Russia and Austria. They were all thought up by the tsar's chancellor, Bismark. Russia also had an alliance to France (who was mad at Germany for taking a piece of land called Alsaz Lorraine earlier). France was also allied to Britain. Russia then backed out of their alliance with Germany and Austria. Bismark wanted France to be isolated so that France would not attack Germany. He wanted to avoid war at all costs.

2. arms race

- Britain had the best navy in the world at this time. Germany wanted to become allies with Britain so that France would be isolated (and would therefore not attack Germany). They decided to build a better navy to impress Britain. It did not work. Britain went and made even better ships. This just kept going.

- There were also many advances in technology, including the machine gun and other new weapons.

3. nationalism

- each country wanted to prove that they were important.

4. Imperialism

- the different countries had been competing for territory in Africa and wanted to keep those territories.

5. bad leadership

- After the tsar that Bismark had be chancellor to died, the new tsar forced Bismark to retire. He then messed with Bismark's web of alliances and they fell apart. Russia left the alliance with Germany and Austria and joined France and Britain.

With all of this is the Balkan wars. The Balkans are the area of smaller countries south of Austria and east of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Russia wanted a piece of land on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. All of the other European countries did not want this. However, Serbia (a Balkan country) was constant;y backed by Russia. When they took over some coastal area, Russia got it too.

That led to the 2 Balkan Wars which ended with Russia getting no coast on the Mediterranean and Austria having the ability to annex Bosnia (where many Serbian people lived. The Serbs were not happy. When the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand went to Bosnia on a stately visit shortly after the annexation of Bosnia, he was assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist. This was the catalyst of the war. It was what began the war.
It was caused mostly by the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife.
Some causes why world war one happened are the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the sinking of The Lusitania, the Zimmerman Note, and the breaking of the Sussex Pledge.

The number one cause of World War 1 was that every single major European Power at the time wanted war and was just looking for an excuse to declare it and start moving troops.

The Lusitania and the Zimmerman Note came much later and thus were not causes of World War 1, all they did was draw the US in to end the war.

______________

Four causes? Chauvinism, militarism, shortsightedness and fear.
M-Militarism- To build up your armies

A-Alliance-To have an ally

I-Imperialism- To conquer other countries,etc.

N-Nationalism- To think that your country is the best

Answer 2

Just a continuation of European infighting and empire building that had been going on since Alexander the great. Austria trying to keep its empire. Serbia wanting its freedom. Serbian rebel kills Austrian Duke. Austria attacks Serbia to maintain Austrian Empire and punish Serbia. Russia backing Serbian rebellion. Germany backing Austria. France and England backing Russia, and trying to put down Germany's increasing power in influence.

Answer 3

The primary cause for World War 1 was the June 28th, 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip. Austria-Hungary's resulting demands against the Kingdom of Serbia led to the activation of a series of alliances which within weeks saw all of the major European powers at war. As a consequence of the global empires of many European nations, the war soon spread worldwide.

Answer 4

There were five main causes of WWI. An easy way to remember them is using the acronym MANIA.

M- militarism - each country was building up an army. there was a naval arms race as well as for infantry.

A- alliances: a formal agreement or treaty between two or more nations to cooperate for specific purposes. -> all the countries were making alliances (triple alliance, triple entente) and this caused the "powder keg of Europe" (powder keg because as soon as one country declared war the alliances caused all of Europe to explode in war)

N- nationalism: the desire for national advancement or independence.

I- imperialism: the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.

A- assassination (of the arch duke Francis Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip of the black hand [terrorist group]) **this is the only short term cause of the war, the others are long term**