Was the death of one single man worth over 60 million casualties? Or was it Something more ? What was the real Underlying cause of the war that changed millions of lives? in the summer of 1914 Europe went into war with itself. It was a war that many expected to be short. In fact, it lasted more than four long, terrible years, taking the lives of millions of combatants and civilians. The Underlying causes of world war I were mainly alliances, imperialism and militarism.
The first underlying cause of World War I is Alliances. .Alliances caused world war I by alliances due to Russia providing support for Serbia and Germany supporting Austria-Hungary. An example of this is that on Document A it shows both Serbia and Russia had a special ethic tie due to both of them having nations that had the Majority of slaves inhabiting it , therefore when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia had to assist them as Germany does the same for Austria-Hungary. Therefore causing World War I as all the Nations are helping each other to fight …show more content…
In Document C it shows the Growth in Armaments from 1890-1914 . The growth of Armaments is a Prime example of Militarism of World war I due to Nations eventually are going to use the weapons the build. Another example of Militarism being the underlying cause of World War I is found in Document D The Hammer or the Anvil which quotes” We don’t want to be become… the slaves of Humanity ‘ slaves of humanity.’ But we’ll only be able to keep ourselves at the fore if we realize that there is no welfare for us without power, without a strong army and a strong fleet.” This is stating that without an strong army on ready to fight in a instance Germany will be trampled by other strong nations. Therefore Germany and other Countries had the same idea and invested in weapons and war and therefore with all these weapons on standby they’ll eventually use