Causes of World War I

Causes of World War I

Learning Objective: Examine the causes of World War I

​1. According to the graph, what change occurred between 1890 and 1914?

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​2. How did this change influence the coming of war?

Causes

​5 overall causes of WWI

• ​4 long-term causes

  • ​Militarism

  • ​Alliances

  • ​Imperialism

  • ​Nationalism

• ​1 short-term

  • ​Assassination

• ​MAIN vs. MANIA

Multiple Choice

Formal friendship between nations are called

• treaties

• clubs

• alliances

• democracies

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best defines 'The belief that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests.'?

• Militarism

• Alliances

• Imperialism

• Nationalism

Multiple Choice

Britain had the largest navy of any nation before the First World War. This tidbit is an example of...

• Imperialism

• Militarism

Multiple Choice

Germany's foreign policy of Weltpolitik encouraged aggressively expanding the German Empire. This is an example of...?

• Imperialism

• Militarism

Multiple Choice

What is a devotion to the interests and culture of one's nation?

• Imperialism
• Alliance
• Nationalism
• Militarism

​Nationalism & Pan-Slavism

• ​Russia and Serbia wanted to unify all Slavic people and create a Slavic state

• ​Slavic Countries are located in the Balkans

  • ​Serbia

  • ​Bulgaria

  • ​Croatia

  • ​Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • ​Macedonia

• ​Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, angering many

​Short Term Cause

• ​June 28, 1914 - Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo by Serbian nationalists

  • ​Heir to Austro-Hungarian throne

  • ​Nationalist Group = Black Hand

    • ​Wanted liberation for Serbians living outside of Serbia

• ​Assassination attempt was a hot, hot mess

  • ​Archduke was riding in an open air car on his way to give a speech

  • 7 young men were along the road and threw a bomb at the car​, hit the back of the car, injured some but they continued on

    • ​Bomb thrower took cyanide and threw himself into the river. Poison didn't work and the river was too low to drown in so he was arrested

​Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

• ​Ferdinand had the car continue toward city hall and gave his speech

• ​Return route was supposed to be altered for safety but no one translated that news to the drivers who spoke Czech, not German

• ​Driver took a wrong turn and got yelled at. He slowed the car down right in front of Gavrilo Princip

  • Member of Black Hand, 1 of the 7 in the assassination attemp​

• ​Princip fired two shots, killing the Archduke and his wife

​Austria-Hungary's Reaction

• Formal reaction from Emperor Franz Josef took 3 weeks

• Argued that the Serbian government was involved with Black Hand

• Wanted to extend control over the Serbians and crush nationalist movements ​

• ​Issued an ultimatum to Serbia

  • ​Demanded that the assassins be brought to justice

  • ​Wanted to nullify Serbia's sovereignty

• ​Expected and anticipated Serbia rejecting ultimatum

  • ​Would give them grounds to declare war against Serbia

• ​Sought aid from Germany in the event that Serbia's ally Russia got involved

Multiple Choice

Name of the person who was assassinated that started War World 1?

• Woodrow Wilson

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand

• Vladimir Lenin

Multiple Choice

Leading up to WW1, why were most European countries building up their military?

• To take over smaller countries to gain access to resources

• They knew war was coming

• European countries were in alliances with each other

• The United States had declared war on Europe

​One Thing Led to Another

• ​July 28, 1914 - A-H declares war on Serbia

• ​Russia announced mobilization of its army (expected to take ~6 weeks)

• August 1, 1914 - ​Germany viewed Russia's mobilization as an act of war against A-H and declared war against Russia

• ​August 3, 1914 - France was allied with Russia and found itself, by extension, at war with Germany

• ​August 4, 1914 - Germany invades neutral Belgium to get to France

• August 4, 1914 - ​Britain had a treaty with both France and Belgium and pledge to defend Belgium

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MANIA

• ​1864-1871 - Prussian Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, used war to unify Germany

• ​Once unified, turned towards maintaining peace in Europe

• ​Saw France as greatest threat to peace and believed they wanted revenge for their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War

• ​Wanted to isolate France because "as long as it is without allies, France poses no danger to us"

• ​1879 - creates the Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary

• ​1882 - Italy joins Dual Alliance, forming Triple Alliance

MANIA

• 1881 - Germany made a treaty with Russia

• 1890 - Kaiser Wilhelm II forced Bismarck to resign and changed Germany's foreign policy

  • ​Did not with to share power with anyone and wanted to assert his own power

• ​1890 - Wilhelm II let the treaty with Russia lapse (end)

• ​1892 & 1894 - Russia formed a defensive treaty with France out of retaliation

  • ​Exactly what Germany did not want as this would force them to fight two fronts instead of one

• ​Began a shipbuilding program to make the Germany navy equal to the British navy

MANIA

• ​Germany's militarism alarmed Great Britian

• ​Great Britain formed an entente (alliance) with France

• ​1907 - Britain made an entente with both France and Russia forming the Triple Entente

  • Britain was not required to fight with France and Russia if they were attacked but would night fight against them

• ​By 1907, Europe divided in two

  • ​Triple Alliance

  • ​Triple Entene

​Powder Keg

Powder Keg: a barrel of gunpowder; a dangerous or volatile situation

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​During the early 1900s, the Balkans were considered a powder keg.

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​Why?

​European Alliances

• ​Triple Entente/Allies

  • ​France

  • ​Great Britain

  • ​Russia

  • ​Italy (it changed sides)

• ​Triple Alliance/Central Powers

  • ​Germany

  • ​Austria-Hungary

  • ​Ottoman Empire (Turkey)

Multiple Choice

Who were the 2 main central Powers

• Austria-Hungry & England
• France and England
• Austria-Hungry and Germany
• France and Germay

Multiple Choice

United States, France, Russia, Serbia, Britain belonged to which alliance?

• Triple Alliance

• Triple Entente

Multiple Choice

Why did Russia get involved in WWI?

• Their heir was assassinated
• Their ally Serbia became involved in the conflict
• Germany invaded Russia
• Japan defeated Russia to start a war

Multiple Choice

The German invasion of Belgium brought which country into the war?

• Britain

• Russia

• Italy

• Serbia

Poll

Which factor played the most important role in starting World War I?

• Militarism

• Alliances

• Nationalism

• Imperialism

Open Ended

Explain why you chose the factor you did from the previous slide.