Causes Of World War 1 Critique Essay

There are four main causes of World war one. They are Nationalism, Imperialism, and Militarism and alliance system. But the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand pushed the countries into war. The war is a like explosives and the assassination was the spark that triggered it. Ferdinand’s assassination by the Black Hand a Serbian nationalist secret society set Austria-Hungary against Serbia. This started a line of events that would bring each country into the war one at a time. These line of events was caused by the alliance system.
Each country was brought in to the war because of an allegiance to the other. Because if the assassination Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia but Russia was allied to Serbia so Russia attacked Austria Hungary but Germany was allied with Austria-Hungary so Germany attacked Russia but France and Russia are allied so France attacked Germany and Britain had a treaty with Belgium and the German war plan involved going through Belgium so Britain sided with France and Russia. More of the world was brought in because Britain and France had a huge
empire of even more countries bringing them into the war as well. Imperialism is when a country increases their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control. Before World War 1, Africa and parts of Asia were constantly contested for amongst the European countries. This was because of the raw materials and wealth these areas could provide. The increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in confrontation that helped push the world into World War I.

As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period. Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military began to have a greater in?uence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved to war. The war was because the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina no longer wanted to be part of Austria Hungary but instead be part of Serbia.
In this way, nationalism led directly to the War. But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each country tried to prove their dominance and power. I think the biggest cause is the alliance system because that is why it became a world war and not just a war bet ween Austria Hungary and Serbia. Without an alliance system the war would have been a quick one as well because Serbia on its own doesn’t have much of army.