MAIN Causes of WWI

MAIN causes of WWI

• Militarism

• Alliances

• Imperialism

• Nationalism

Militarism

• glorification of armed strength

• “spiral model of conflict”

Largest army

Russia

Military leaders had

a lot of influence (inflexible plans)

• “blood and iron” accomplishes goals

Alliances

unification of Germany threw off balance of power

Bismark initiated them with

the aim to isolate France

Dual Alliance

alliance with Austria-Hungary

• both agree to support each other if attacked by Russia

Three Emperor’s League

Germ, A-H, Russia

• if one signatory was attacked, the other 2 would stay neutral (fell apart 4 years later)

Triple Alliance

Germ, A-H, Italy

• all agreed to support each other if attacked by France

Reinsurance Treaty

Germ and Russia

Terms of the Reinsurance Treaty

• both would respect each other’s spheres of influence in the Balkans

• would stay neutral if either was attacked by a third country

Shifting alliances

• Kaiser Wilhelm II became king

• Bismark resigned 2 years later (threw off alliances)

Bismark resigning

• allowed alliances to lapse

• did not re-new Reinsurance Treaty (Russia goes looking elsewhere)

1894

Russia & France allied

10 years later: 1904

France & GB allied

3 years later: 1907

France, GB, and Russia = Triple Entente

Imperialism

countries viewed each other as dangerous rivals in the struggle for power and prestige

Imperialism fueled

international affairs and pressured European states to form alliances

Nationalism

not all ethnic groups had achieved nationhood

Slavic minorities in the Balkans &

ethnic groups in the A-H empire wanted their own states

Nationalism

(or excessive pride in one’s country)

• fueled the rivalry between European powers

The “Powder keg of Europe”

most unstable area

• a land of strong nationalistic aspirations who have been dominated by Ottomans and A-H

European powers also

had interest in the most unstable area

The “spark”

Gavrilo Princip shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

heir to the Austrian throne

Princip was a member of the

Black Hand (terrorist group)

Germ issued a

“blank check” to its ally A-H

After the July Ultimatum,

Austria declared war

Russia mobilized

mobilize - call up troops for battle

Germ declares war on

Russia first

Germ declares war on

France second

GB declares war on

Germ

Soon,

all European powers were engaged in war