Essential Question: What were the causes and consequences of World War 1?

Contextualization before the world war 1:

European nations were expanding their powers and competed for raw materials across Asia and Africa. Social and political developments left to the shifting of powers and global tensions. Alliances were made that committed nations to defense systems. The immediate cause of the war was rooted from nationalism in the Balkans. Serbian nationalists protesting independence from Austria-Hungary (AH) control and later assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This begins the start of the World War.

Immediate Causes: Heir to the AH throne is assassinated by member for the Black Hand, nationalists Serbian movement. Afterwards AH sends an ultimatum but Serbia rejects this because it had difficult requirements and believed that they are not responsible for the Black Hand’s actions. A-H Declares war on Serbia and they ally with Germany. Serbia allies with other slovic nations including Russia. Britain later joins with Serbia and later Japan.

Long-Term Causes of the Great War: Other causes included long brewing tensions within Europe. remember with acronym MAIN.

M: Militarism, European powers competed against each other for the strongest army. (with help from Industrial Revolution) Germany had the strongest army, Britain next in line.

A: Alliances, European nations formed secret alliances. They helped each other when one was attacked. Triple Entente: Britiain, France, and Russia. Later known as the Allies with Italy, Japan, China, and the US. Their rival was the Triple Alliance: Germany, AH, and Italy. Italy switches over to the Allies. Ottomans and Bulgaria join later and they become the Central Powers.

Imperialism: Alliance system was made because European nations had rivalry for global domination. This was through overseas colones and they fought each other for colonies in Africa, which later become the driving force over time for tensions in Europe.

Nationalism: Like Serba fought for self determination against AH, arabs did the same against the Ottomans.

Consequences of the War:

• downfall of many monarchies

• redrew maps of Europe and Middle Eat as empires AH and Ottoman Empires fell

• Germany lost all their colonies

• end of colonialisms

• new technologies and deadly weapons (rise of communism, genocide)

• shift of power from Europe to US

• Germany was to take full blame for the war