Unit One: Canadian History Since World War One: 1914-1939
The Causes of World War One
1. Militarism: the belief in the power of strong armies/navies to decide issues
- Germany began to build up their armies
- European nations became alarmed by others military power
- Each country tried to build larger/more powerful war machines; new technology
2. Alliance System: Alliances- groups formed in Europe to support each other in attack
- War between two nations would involve more than one country
- Triple Entente- Russia, Britain, France
- Triple Alliance- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
3. Nationalism: a feeling of deep loyalty to one’s own land
- Germany wanted to make empire
- Nationalism strong in Serbia à led to assassination of Duke Franz Ferdinand
4. Imperialism: industrialized countries building oversea empires; desire to have a bigger empire
- Major imperialist countries à France, Britain, Russia
- Germany wanted to expand/dominate on global scale, but by the time they wanted to build own empire, no valuable territories remained
5. Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, 1914
- Serbian Gavrilo Princip shot Austro-Hungarian Duke Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, on the road back from City Hall; goal was to crush Austria-Hungary’s nationalism
This was a catalyst: an event that sets off a chain reaction of other events
- Austro-Hungarian government blamed Serbian government for deaths of Ferdinand/Sophie
- With Germany’s support, Austria-Hungary sent Serbia an ultimatum (demand by one government that another government accept its terms or face the threat of war)
- Main terms of the ultimatumà Serbia should put down hatred against Austria-Hungary, punished all involved in assassination plot, allow Austro-Hungarian officials to enter Serbia and help crush terrorist movements (Black Hand)
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