Focus Question 1: What Were The Main Causes of World War I?: Nationalism

Focus Question 1: What Were The Main Causes of World
War I?
On 28th June 1914, the Black Hand Assassins killed the Arch Duke Franz
Ferdinand. Austria believed the assassination was planned by the Serbian
government and blamed them entirely. They decided that war would be the only
option to rectify the situation.
Exactly 1 month after the Arch Duke dies, Austria-Hungary declares war on
Serbia. In preparation for this declaration of war, Austria sought assurance from
Germany that they would back them up should Russia become involved, as
Russia had agreed to back Serbia unswervingly. Germany agreed to these terms
and delivered an ultimatum to Russia to not intervene. Russia refused this
ultimatum and they were now at war with not only Austria, but also Germany.
Britain tried to settle the matter peacefully, but unfortunately to no avail.
Germany then pulled France in to the war, giving them an ultimatum to not back
Russia in a war between them and Germany. France declined and declared war
on Germany. Germany then attempted to take Belgium. By attacking Belgium,
this pulled the last of the major European powers, Britain, into the war.
Nevertheless, contrary to popular opinion, the assassination of the heir to the
Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was not the cause of WWI. The
assassination was merely a trigger point that set off a series of events in which
the alliance bound countries threatened ultimatums and eventually dragged
each other all into a full scale European war.
Nationalism:
One of the most prominent causes of the war was the growing sense of national
pride in ones country. Countries with national pride this strong were prepared to
do almost anything for their country, regardless of the consequences to other
nations. This could include anything ranging from promoting their nations rights
in media, to rebelling against controlling nations in a bid to rule themselves.
Historians describe these actions as Nationalism. Nationalism is viewed
throughout European history in instances such as Serbia wanting to break away
from Austria-Hungary and the nationalist rallies in countries such as Turkey,
Austria-Hungary and Russia. Occasionally, nations would not stop at merely
ruling themselves, as they considered themselves to be a superior race to
others, (and at this time conflicts and war were heavily romanticised), which
leads us to our next cause of war.
Imperialism:
With Nationalism growing stronger and stronger everyday, some countries
turned to building overseas colonies and empires to prove themselves as the
superior power. This is referred to as Imperialism and lead to European powers
becoming very ambitious and focused on their own interests. This colony grab
made some countries feel very uncomfortable as they could be attacked at any
time, and this was a constant threat to the peace that the countries all wanted. A
famous example of the colonial rivalry is when Germany demanded all of the
French Congo in exchange for France being able to keep control of Morocco.
Although they put various ultimatums forward, they still did not achieve control
of the entire French Congo, eventually only leaving with two strips of land. There
is no denying that the colony grabbing rivalry caused friction and discomfort
between the European nations and so it is viewed as a crucial cause of World War
I. This growing tension between the nations lead to decisions having to be made
to ensure the safety of their country, leading us to the next cause of WWI.
Alliance System:
In order to ensure their countries safety, several alliances with fellow European
powers were made. Alliances with powerful European countries meant that if
another country tried to attack them, an ally was sure to step in and help them
keep control of their own country. At this point in European history, tensions and
the threat of war was rising so quickly that building alliances was viewed as
something that became a necessity to survive. By the time the war was
announced, the main European powers had become locked in two opposing
alliances called the Triple Entente, (containing Britain, France and Russia), and
the Triple Alliance, (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy). By locking
themselves in an Alliance System like this, it meant that if one power stepped
out of line, all the other powers then had to step in, making a war inevitable. This
is often viewed as the main tipping point of the war, as instead of stabilizing
Europe like it was meant to, it really just pitted them all against each other
making a mass-scale conflict inevitable. With tensions rising and the alliances
preparing for war, we reach our 4th and final point.
Militarism:
One of the most physical causes of WWI has to be the enormous military expansion
by the European powers leading up to the boiling point. Britain's navy was the most
superior as they made sure that their naval fleet was equal to any two naval fleets in
the world put together. This made Germany uneasy and they decided to counter this
by improving their own navy. This kept Germany and Britain stuck in a naval race,
trying to become the most powerful naval fleet. Germany also had a very impressive
army, which made other nations, (such as Russia), uncomfortable, so they began to
build upon their army. Countries at this time believed that the only way to keep the
peace was to prepare for a war. Nationalists and imperialists, as well as
manufacturers of arms, all argued that if the nation could defend itself successfully,
there would be no chance of attack by another country. Unfortunately this just lead
to tension, competition and last but not least conflict. Finally saying enough is
enough, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Russia, backing Austria-Hungary
begins to mobilize their troops. Germany, backing Serbia, declares war on Russia.
Germany also declares war on France, and as a result of this Britain gets involved
and declares war on Germany.
As a result of a strong sense of nationalism, a greed to have the most colonies and
most impressive arms, and a heavy alliance system, war became inevitable. People
stopped asking 'will there be a war?' and began asking 'when do we go to war?'. All of
these causes slowly boiled together until a trigger event, (the assassination of the
Arch Duke), blew it all up and threw the countries into a war that they had spent
years preparing for, yet at the same time were not totally prepared for.

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