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Causes of World War One

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Causes of World War One
Causes of World War One

There were many reasons why World War One broke out: imperialism was taken into effect, nationalism and unification of nations was very popular, alliances all over Europe were established and glorifying one’s military rapidly rose. World War One started in July of 1914, and lasted until November 1918. The primary cause of WW1 was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; however, alliances developed prior to the war and the glorification in country’s military made the call for war nearly imperative.

Militarism is when a country builds a strong military with the intention to use it when it is thought necessary. A nation will glorify it’s military and impose a threat to surrounding nations, which will lead those nations to establish larger, stronger, and more potent militaries. This was the case with Germany and France: Germany began to build up a forceful army in order to prepare for defense against France if necessary. This made the French feel threatened, and influenced to initiate in building an even larger army. This caused WW1 because both nations felt a threat against each other. Another example of militarism that caused WW1 was Germany building a large navy, as opposed to Great Britain. Again, Germany managed to impose a threat towards another nation, causing for that nation to feel obligated in establishing a stronger navy than Germany’s. Every nation at this point in time felt they had to have the biggest and strongest form of military in order to feel a sense of protection. The main cause of WW1 was the attack against Franz Ferdinand, who was the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary had control over Serbia, and Serbs did not like this. The Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group, wanted Serbia to be free from Austria-Hungary’s rule. This caused WW1 because the nationalism in the Black Hand drove them to attack Ferdinand in order to try and gain back Serbia’s control in its land. The goal of

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