Nationalism Was A Significant Cause Of World War I

World War I broke out across the continent of Europe causing massive destruction along the way. A war like this did not just simply happen overnight, it had many preconditions and precipitants that lead to the whole continent getting into a World War. There were four major ideas that led the nations of Europe to take up arms against each other. The precipitants include the death of France Ferdinand all the way to the declaration of war. These major ideas were nationalism, imperialism, technology and industry, and alliances. These ideas caused so much controversy that it changed Europe forever.
Nationalism was a significant cause of World War I. The idea of nationalism was created by Fichte and Mazzini. Fichte gathered Germany as a nation by
The industrial revolution played a key role in getting industry and technology started. Industry began to boom with the creation of new technology. As time went by and as resources became available technology began to explain to artillery and arms. The great powers needed to protect their newly acquired land and power from the other nations around them. Also the more power a nation gain the more of a threat they became to the surrounding nations. This fear of being attacked lead to the arms race. According to Bulow “to battle its way through in the struggle for existence without strong armaments on land and at sea, have not yet been found.” This confirms the fact that for a nation to survive they need a strong army on land and at sea to protect itself from other nations who want to become more powerful. So the creation of warship began along with the creation of better fire arms. With this new technology the nations would need a place to store or dock them. “The fact that a navy such as ours cannot so without safe harbors, defenses, and supply centers on the high seas.” The colonies that nations acquired through imperialism came into play here. The ports were used for warships to protect the land and power that was acquired by the great powers. Having these warship ready to attack on such short notice led to tension in Europe. Conflict between nations began to occurred frequently which eventually led to
The Entente Cordiale was formed which consisted of three great powers. Those powers were Great Britain, France, and Russia. The Entente Cordiale cleared put land disputes between France and Great Britain as well as formed an alliance. This alliances was formed because Great Britain and France feared that Germany had become too powerful and would try to overtake some of their colonies or their nations all together. Germany also had formed an alliance to protect itself. This alliances was known as The Triple Alliance which consisted of Germany, Austria Hungry, and Italy. These alliances would eventally lead to the outbreak of World War