What fueled World War I?

Answer 1

Superficial and more fundamental causes

The 'trigger' or 'spark' was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by the Serbian Black Hand terrorists in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.

The real question is this: Why was this crisis not dealt with in a more conventional, much less destructive way? There had been several crises before in the decade before 1914 and those involving the major powers in Europe had been settled peacefully. So did something go wrong in the handling of the crisis, or did one or more of the countries involved exploit the situation to plunge Europe into war?

(The view that somehow Europe simply stumbled into World War 1 by accident is generally not accepted by historians). It is at this point that controversy begins.

Austrian Response to the Assassination

The Austrians delivered an ultimatum to Serbia that was almost guaranteed to be turned down by Serbia, but in the event Serbia accepted almost all the points. Austria then declared war on the grounds that it had not been accepted in its entirety. It has became fashionable (at high school level) to claim that the Austrians had been looking for an excuse to declare war because of lingering disputes between the two countries. It is probably more accurate to say that Austria was trying to clip Serbia's wings and deny it a coastline.

On July 5, 1914, Germany (which had reasons of its own for a war) had given Austria a "blank check", or unconditional guarantee of support in its actions against Serbia.

Provocations and Disputes

• Disputes over territory, especially Morocco (including the Anglo-French-German Agadir crisis of July, 1911)
• The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (a region heavily populated with Serbs) by Austria in 1908 (the Balkan Crisis)
• Germany's gunboat diplomacy, meddling and conflicting alliances: "Weltpolitik"
• Imperialism, nationalism, expansionism during the final stages of world Colonialism - the intense competition and power struggles among the European nations.

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism & Nationalism

The growing tensions between the European countries were caused by:

• Militarism The trend toward developing military resources, both for national defense and for the protection of colonial interests. Countries prepared for total war, using much of their resources to make armaments. [However, the concept of militarism is problematical and needs further definition].
• Alliances There were too many alliances, often conflicting ones. Every country was pledging to protect others, creating entangling mutual protection schemes.
• Imperialism As fewer areas of the world were left to colonize, countries were competing for existing colonies, and seeking to expand their borders with neighboring nations.
• Nationalism Jingoism and national unity were promoted by governments as a means of maintaining popular domestic support. In many countries, women were increasing their role in the workforce. This greatly expanded the available labor for industrial development, freeing manpower for the military while maintaining the production of armaments. Everyone was preparing for this war.

WWI was caused by nationalism

WWI was caused by nationalism. When the war was declared on Germany, people burst out on the street celebrating in France and Britain. If the population had not been primed to support the war, the government might not have started it!

WWI was the result of a long string of events dating back to the 1890's. Conflict in the Balkans and complex European alliances were the main causes. Germany had a huge role in this. They fought for the independence of Morocco in an attempt to break the alliance between France and Britain. Germany also participated in an arms race. Kaiser Wilhelm II started building up a navy, trying to surpass Britain's fleet. Since Britain was an island nation, and had many overseas colonies, it had a gigantic navy, so what the Kaiser was attempting to do was no easy feat. Germany wanted to increase its own colonial empire, and most of the good colonies were already taken. These actions and policies helped fuel the fire that was WWI.

The Triple Entente and The Central Powers

Long-term feuds and disputes, caused by imperialism and nationalism, resulted in the "Triple Entente". England, France and Russia created a common alliance opposed to the "Triple Alliance" of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. When war finally broke out, it was between the Entente and its supporters and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, see below).

The breakup of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine by France to Germany during the 1880s

In Eastern Europe: The breakup of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe, leading to the Slavic independence movements in areas such as Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. The Serbian-Austrian relations were especially tense as Austria had demanded an independent Albania, thus preventing Serbia from expanding into the Adriatic during the 1900s. This aggressive movement led to increased tension between Russia and Austria as Russia supported the independence movements of the Slavs. Turkey then supported Austria to gain Austrian support.

In Western Europe: The loss of Alsace-Lorraine by France to Germany in 1871 led to much bad feeling between the two countries. The Kaiser's self-proclaimed goal that Germany "have a place in the sun" did nothing to ease tensions. Instead, the military buildup in Germany, especially the expansion of the Navy, drove Britain (alarmed at the direct challenge posed by the German High Seas Fleet to the British Royal Navy) into an alliance with France. When World War I began, everything began falling into place: Austria and the Ottoman Empire declared war on Serbia. This caused Russia and France to declare war on the both of them. And this led to Germany declaring war on Russia and France (which were allied with Britain). In order to attack France via the Schlieffen Plan (invasion of France via Belgium), Germany invaded Belgium. This direct violation of the neutrality guarantee led to Great Britain's declaring war on the Central Powers. The War was on.

The Peace Plan

After the archduke's assassination triggered WW1, Austria and Germany rejected a peace treaty proposed by Britain on July 26 of 1914. Instead of trying to work things out between Austria and Serbia, Germany wanted a cause for war. The assassination served as a spark, but it definitely didn't "cause" WW1.

There were many reasons for World War 1

There were many causes of World War One. These are just some of the important ones: 1. Britain and Germany were competing for the most powerful navy in the world, causing tension in Europe. 2. Many European countries were trying to get as many colonies in Africa as they could, so there was a lot of minor fighting. The result was that European countries weren't very friendly towards each other. 3.The French didn't trust the Germans because of a war that Germany won. 4. There was a new thing called nationalism. Countries felt that if there was a war they'd win very easily. 5. Many countries wanted to be independent. 6. The heir to the Austrian throne (Archduke Franz Ferdinand) was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. The assassination caused war to be declared. Europe was a big tinderbox and the assassination was the spark.

There were Seven Causes of World War One

The first one is the Franco-Prussian war. During the Franco Prussian war France lost Alsace-Lorraine to Prussia (Germany). With the loss of their land, tension was created. The second cause was the alliance systems. When the triple entente and triple alliance were created, all of the countries were trying to build up a stronger power against each other. The third cause was the Balkan Powder Keg. The Balkans were in an area that other countries wanted but they believed that if something happened there, the countries would erupt in war. The fourth cause of WWI was imperialism. All of the countries were fighting over land in Africa to increase their nationalism. Nationalism is the fifth cause of WWI. People had so much nationalism that when the war was announced everyone was signing up to be included in it. This also led to the Arms race which is the sixth cause. The Arms Race was where all of the countries were building up their military. No country wanted to be behind Another Country in militarism. Then the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand occurred, which is the last cause of WWI. When he was killed by a Serbian, the Balkans were outraged and sparked the war to start. By the time that the Archduke was assassinated, the world was just looking for an excuse to start the war.

The Eighth Reason : German Military Leadership

According to the German historian Fritz Fischer, there is a wealth of documentary evidence that points a very clear, accusing finger at Germany. By "Germany" he doesn't of course mean all Germans, but the German General Staff. If one examines the German and Austrian documents together, it becomes very clear that there were 'hawks' and 'doves' in Vienna. At one point it looked as if the 'doves' were about to carry the day, and the consternation of the German General Staff knew no bounds. They used all their contacts and all their influence to make sure they got their 'jolly little war'. Austria-Hungary was put under immense pressure to escalate the crisis. This eighth reason is as important as the preceding seven put together.

There is also an interesting book by David Fromkin:

• Europe's Last Summer: Who started the Great War in 1914?(2004)

Nationalism and Domestic Policies

There is a theory by Arno Mayer that the whole period from about 1910-1945 was one of profound crisis in Europe. In most countries the old elites, especially the land-owning classes, were experiencing immense difficulty in adapting to the results of industrialization, and were deeply alarmed at the prospect of losing any real role in society. They were also haunted by the spectre of unrest and revolution. As a result they were only too happy to deflect conflict from the domestic scene to foreign affairs and to form dangerous domestic alliances with new-style right-wing extremists. One of the astonishing features of the specific crisis that developed as a result of the Sarajevo assassination is that few of the great powers attached much value to maintaining the peace. Even if Arno Mayer overstates his case slightly, it is interesting and it would be a mistake just to dismiss it.