Causes of World War I

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Causes of World War I
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Long Range Causes

• Beliefs in Europe
• Before 1914, the world appeared to be getting
  better and better
• Modern science and industry
• Darwin and Marx
• Social and economic problems were solvable
• Confidence in Superiority
• All recent wars had been short and easy
• Technology produce new weapons
• Boredom and decadence

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Long Range Causes

• Militarism
• After Napoleon, large National armies were the
  norm
• Conscription became common practice
• 1900s arms race to keep up with other nations
• Large armies needed to support competitive
  Imperialism
• Brinkmanship

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Long Range Causes

• Nationalism
• Created Germany and Italy in 1870s
• Tearing apart Austria-Hungary
• Social Darwinism only strong nations would
  survive

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Long Range Causes

• Alliances
• European powers did not want to be isolated
• Central Powers Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
• Triple Entente Britain, France, and Russia

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Long Range Causes

• Internal Dissent
• Ethnic Tensions
• Collapse of the Ottoman Empire
• Britain wished to keep the region stable
• Series of Balkan Wars, Ethnic Minorities fought
  for independence
• Nationalist passions inside Austria-Hungary

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Long Range Causes

• Internal Dissent
• Working Class anger
• Socialist groups in many European countries were
  organizing
• Surge in Marxist beliefs

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Immediate Causes

• Crisis in the Balkans
• Ottoman Empire was collapsing
• Serbia resisted Ottoman influence and wanted
  independence
• Austria-Hungary wanted control of Serbia
• Russia wanted an independent Serbia

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Crisis in the Balkans

• Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated on
  June 28, 1914
• Gavrillo Princip and the Black Hand
• Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia,
  accusing them of harboring terrorists July 23

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Crisis in the Balkans

• After reassurance of support from Germany,
  Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28
• Russia mobilizes to support Serbia on the same
  day
• Germany orders Russia to stop mobilization, and
  declares war on August 1 when they do not

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Crisis in the Balkans

• Germany follows the Shlieffen Plan (already in
  place) and declared war on France on August 3rd
• Great Britain declares war on Germany on August
  4th
• A regional dispute becomes The Great War

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Who Started the War?

• Germany?
• The Versailles treaty placed the blame on Germany
• Belief that German aggression was the cause of
  the conflict

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Who Started the War?

• Austria?
• The first to declare war
• Archdukes assassination is the spark
• Serbia?
• Backed the terrorists
• Refused to cooperate with Austria

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Who Started the War?

• Russia?
• Their refusal to stop mobilization set off the
  system of alliances
• All the Western powers?
• Course of Militarism, Nationalism, and sense of
  superiority had been pursued for decades