World War I was called the “war to end all wars” or “the great war” but what caused this “ great war”? Most historians believe there are five main causes: Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Many people use the acronym “M. A. N. I. A.” to remember these causes. The immediate cause of World War I is the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand because a Serbian Black Hand member assassinated the Archduke, it made Austria-Hungary declare war on Serbia, and Germany and Russia got involved because they were allies with those countries. Furthermore, the person who shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife was Gavrilo Princip. The Black Hand group originally planned …show more content…
The History website staff had said in one of their articles “Seeing his opportunity, Princip fired into the car, shooting Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range. Princip then turned the gun on himself, but was prevented from shooting it by a bystander who threw himself upon the young assassin. A mob of angry onlookers attacked Princip, who fought back and was subsequently wrestled away by the police. Meanwhile, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie lay fatally wounded in their limousine as it rushed to seek help; they both died within the hour.” Austria-Hungary then demanded Serbia to take the blame for his death and when they did not, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia happened to be Serbia’s ally and started to mobilize troops to support them. Germany (Austria-Hungary’s ally) then declares war on Russia because they want to help out their ally. Thus causing the first World War. Moreover, there are groups of people who blame Imperialism for the war. Imperialism built up competition between …show more content…
Militarism, alliances, nationalism, and imperialism all contributed to the tension between countries but the assassination was the main thing that sparked it. Most people still blame Germany for the overall cause of the war; however a Serbian did kill the Archduke and Germany was just helping out it’s ally. The “great war” ended in 1914 with many dead, or MIA. World War I only heightened the tension between countries. Soon after in 1939 the second World War would