Five Factors That Contributed To The Outbreak Of World War I

In 1914, WWI began with the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. . This lead to a battle between the central powers and the allied powers. Germany, Austria- Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire were the countries that made up the central powers. The allied powers consisted of countries such as Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States. As an outcome, their were drastic changes in the countries politically, economically culturally, and socially. There were many factors that contributed to the outbreak of WWI. They revolved around the 5 major causes of militarism, alliances, nationalism, imperialism, and assassinations. It's usually known for its acronym M.A.N.I.A. The three
main factors that contributed to the outbreak of WWI were alliances, nationalism and imperialism.

One of the many factors that contributed to the outbreak of WWI were alliances.
In WWI, alliances were very beneficial because colonials could join forces in order to achieve a certain/common goal or gain more power. They were created as a union or association for mutual benefits/joining between groups with mutual interests. Back then alliances were mainly made up of two groups central powers and triple ententes. In document 1, the map shows pre-WWI alliances. The countries that maintained central powers were Germany, Austria Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Meanwhile, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Spain were the very few countries that remained neutral. This meant they did not support either sides in this battle. Lastly, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Belgium, and Portugal were the many countries that had triple entente. Also in document 3, the image showed multiple countries forming alliances with each other to turn against other countries. They also traded amongst each other to gain resources that their country couldnt normally obtain. For instance, France, Belgium, England and Russia formed an alliance to turn against Germany. Although in return Germany only targeted back at Russia. Austria and Serbia were beginning to turn against each other. Then you have Italy who seems to remain neutral in this situation. Overall, alliances were formed to gain more power and to benefit countries as a
whole.

Nationalism was a form of patriotism that represented extreme pride in one's country superior feelings.
Colonials used this technique to create conflict against each other in order to gain independence amongst their own country. After WWI, the signing of the Treaty Of Versailles created nine new nations. For instance, in document 4, there was a poem written by James Thomson about the unofficial national anthem of Great Britain. In the poem it said ¨The nations not so blest as thee.¨. This signified that the nations that were not blessed as countries such as Great Britain would soon be corrupted. Then those who were free would be killed with envy and dread everyone else. It also said ¨Britons never will be slaves¨. Meaning they would never be another nations slave. In document 5, there was a newspaper written by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrevic about the origins of WWI. It talked about how the war was unavoidable and that it was determined our duty for this country. People used nationalism in order to represent their pride and honor towards their
country.

Imperialism was a policy that allowed countries to examine in order to gain more power socially, politically, economically, or militarily. In document 2, there was a data chart that represented the size of colonial empire in the 1913. It showed that Britain was the colonial that obtained the largest population. This was most likely because they had more land and power. Also Russia and Austria-Hungary were the colonials that had the smallest populations. They probably lost a lot of land and resources during battles. Imperialism determines which colonials used how much money due to their populations. Also their advantages because they had more resources and became stronger in power.

In conclusion, the three main factors that contributed in the outbreak of WWI were alliances, nationalism, and imperialism. Alliances allowed countries to work together in order to achieve a certain goal or gain more power in self defense. Nationalism allowed countries to represent their patriotism and gain independence. Imperialism allowed countries to take over land and resources. This topic is relevant because it demonstrates the strategies people developed throughout the years to protect our country and make us what we are today. Alliances, nationalism and imperialism were the three main factors that contributed to the outbreak of WWI.