Causes Of World War One

World War One or 'The Great War' as it became known, occurred due to many causes, some of
which still remain unexposed today. The obvious trigger for the war was the assassination of the
heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on 28th
June 1914. The assassination occurred during the Archduke's visit to Sarajevo, the capital of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Archduke was targeted due to the general feeling amongst
Serbians that, once appointed to the throne, Ferdinand would continue the persecution of Serbs
living within the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Just moments after the two had been
shot; authorities arrested the culprit, Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian student, who was believed to
have been linked to the Serbian terrorist organization, The Black Hand.

Causes of the war also dealt with such ideologies as Nationalism, Imperialism and militarism
along with the prominent alliance systems in Europe all strongly affected the outbreak of the
war. All of these factors where established in many of Europe's 'Great Powers' which consisted
of Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia.
During the late nineteenth and into the twentieth century’s, Nationalism was a prominent
movement that had spread itself across Europe. All major powers had strong feelings toward the
concepts of supporting their own nation. Nationalists believed that their own nation's needs must
be met before that of other nations. These strong beliefs sometimes became obsessive as
nationalists became so proud of their nation that they strived for it to become richer and more
powerful than any other.

This wave of national pride became a major problem for the Austro-Hungarian Empire as they
attempted to maintain a form of order and control within the annexed area of Bosnia. This power
was placed under threat due to the Slavonic people’s dislike of their Austro-Hungarian superiors
and their desire to attach themselves to Serbia and create an independent state to be known as
Yugoslavia, or 'The Land of the South Slavs.' This was seen as the reason for the assassination of
Ferdinand and his wife.

The assassination gave Austria-Hungary the ideal excuse to declare war against Serbia. An
ultimatum was issued to Serbia stating that it must agree to all terms described in the ultimatum
in order to avoid war. Austria-Hungary gave Serbia 48 hours to reply and clearly stated that all
terms must be met and complied with. Serbia agreed to all terms of the ultimatum bar one. This
concerned Austro-Hungarian officials entering Serbia to perform an investigation into the
assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife. As the Serbians denied this request, it is believed
by some historians that the young operatives sent to kill Ferdinand were not only nationalistic
students but also as scapegoats used by the Serbian government to carry out their dirty work.
Imperialism was present in Europe for some time before the war broke out, as each of the great
powers aimed to expand their boundaries into new areas in order to exploit the opportunities that
the new land held. Just as England had done for centuries, it had become desirable to seek out
new land to rule under the laws and cultural beliefs of the 'mother' country.

The numerous conflicts raging within the confines of the Balkans since March 1912 had many
historians, such as Remak, believing that the First World War was simply the Balkan War that
had raged out of control and spread across Europe. The Balkans had been a problem in Europe
for over a century as it was ruled by the Turkish 'Ottoman Empire.' This empire had become so
dilapidated that the many different ethnic groups within the area wanted to break away becoming
free of Turkish rule, and create their own independent nations.

This particular theory is supported by the fact that all of the Great Powers in Europe had a vested
interest in this area of Europe. Within the Balkans, the Slavic people were rising up against
Austria-Hungary who had annexed Serbia and not allowed the independent state that the Slavs
desired. Russia, who also consisted of Slavs, was involved due to its ethnic ties to the Slavs
residing in the Balkans. Britain and Germany both developed interest in the area for the same
reasons. At the time, Britain held the bulk of trade from Europe to distant markets such as the
Middle East and Asia. Germany saw the Balkans as an ideal prospect to gain, as it was adjoined
to their ally, Austria-Hungary and was in an ideal position to establish a trade headquarters,
dealing to the same markets as the British. After its embarrassment at the hands of Bismarck and
the Germans in 1871, France had held a bitter grudge and looked to gain control of the Balkans
simply to frustrate and achieve revenge against Germany.

Austria-Hungary was willing to go to war with Serbia as long as they could be assured of
Germanys support in the matter. The Germany Kaiser, Wilhelm II, provided this support for their
neighboring ally through a telegram to Emperor Franz Joseph II. This telegram is known today
as the "Blank Cheque." It was this reassurance that prompted Austria to declare war on Serbia,
which set off a chain reaction of conflicts. This theory is what another historian, Gilbert, believes
provoked war, saying that "The Austrian foreign minister was 'fired up' for war against Serbia,
but needed Germanys support.

In the early part of the twentieth century, militarism was as prominent as ever, with the recent
industrial revolution being the main factor. As materials for weaponry and other war structures
could be produced with less effort and in greater volume, countries were attempting to increase
their stocks of weaponry and other instruments of warfare.

Two nations that were pitted against each other in a head-to-head situation were Britain and
Germany. At the turn of the century, Britain controlled the largest empire on earth and also had
the largest and most powerful navy on earth. It was required that Britain have such a large and
powerful navy in order to protect their overseas territories and also to maintain sea routes
between their various territories and colonies.

The German Kaiser was extremely envious of Britain for having a larger navy than that of
Germany's and ordered the production of new Dreadnought-class battleships. Britain responded
to the Germans attempt to equal its navy by creating a navy so large and powerful that no other
nation's navy would ever contemplate an attack. This head-to-head production period was known
as the "Arms Race" and created more tension between the two nations.

Within Europe during the early years of the twentieth century, a system of military alliances was
formed to provide European powers with a sense of security before the commencement of the
war. Two rivaling alliance systems where established.
The Triple Alliance consisted of the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary that had
existed since 1879 when Bismarck had befriended the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the
agreement, both countries pledged that they would go to the aid of the other if attacked by
Russia. This was done to ensure that Germany would always have an allied nation on its border
if war were to occur. Italy later joined this alliance in 1882, which remained intact until the
beginning of World War I. The conditions of the alliance changed after Italy was added and
stated that countries would aid any other that was under attack from two or more countries.

The other alliance: The Triple Entente was made up of Great Britain, France and Russia. As a
result of Germany’s build-up in naval resources, Great Britain was forced to abandon its
isolation policy and adopt allies. France joined Great Britain in 1904. Unlike the Triple alliance,
this agreement contained no promises of military support, although the two powers began to talk
of joint military plans. The Triple Entente was completed when Russia joined in 1907.

A country hoped to discourage an attack from its enemies by entering into a military agreement
with one or more other countries. In case of an attack, such an agreement guaranteed that other
members of the alliance would come to the country's aid or at least remain neutral.

The alliance system has been attributed by numerous historians as the defining cause of the war's
outbreak and spread throughout Europe. As the two key alliances strengthened, a potentially
disastrous situation was created whereby if any single country was to provoke or be involved in
any conflict, allied nations of both sides would come into the conflict to assist any allied nation
and would eventually cause mass war. Fritz Fischer, a German historian, believes that Germany
was looking to provoke war by making the assumption that Russia had not mobilized, and
allowed Austria to invade Serbia with the belief that no retaliation would come from Russia.

Of the belief that Russia was not mobilized and therefore, were unprepared for war, Austria
declared war on Serbia on 28th July 1914, exactly a month after the murder of Franz Ferdinand
and his wife.
Russia responded to this attack by partially mobilizing and going to war against Austria-Hungary
in order to protect their Slavic relatives, which was followed by Germany's demand that Russia
demobilize immediately. The Russians refused Germany's demand and the Kaiser declared war
on Russia and France.

The Germans were sticking to a prior plan known as the Shlieffen plan. This involved Germany
going to war with France and Russia. In the plan, German was to use two arms of their army in
order to trap the French forces. One small arm would defend along Germany’s border and the
much larger right side would encircle French forces by invading Belgium. The German army
proceeded to invade Belgium and by August, Belgium was almost completely under German
dictatorship. This invasion complicated matters further as Great Britain were brought into the
war due to a prior treaty being signed with Belgium that included the defense of the country if it
was invaded.

Just as predicted, the war that initially began due to an assassination on an Austrian leader grew
into a colossal battle that enveloped the entirety of Europe. Alliance systems drew nations into
the conflict that, had it not been for past agreements, would have steered clear.

The Balkans proved to be the lynchpin in regards to the outbreak of the First World War. From
the minor conflicts in the region, violence and warfare spread over four years of fighting and
resulted in the death of some ten million people. It could be said that Gavrilo Princip, the young
Bosnian student who assassinated Franz Ferdinand was responsible for the mayhem and despair
that occupied the four years to follow in Europe, for had he not assassinated Ferdinand and
provided the initial spark for conflict, the events from 1914 to 1918 may have been vastly
different.