World War I “MANIA”:Causes of the War

What events and actions led to the start of WWI?Why was WWI different than any war before it?

How did world leaders react?

MANIA before the war• Militarism—when a nation’s armed forces come

to dominate a country’s national policy– glorification of the military and war itself

• Alliances—treaties in which each nation involved pledges to defend the other if attacked by an aggressor (a military “buddy system”)

• Nationalism—pride and patriotism in one’s nation/country, often to an extreme

• Imperialism–domination by a country over the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region

• Assassination—planned killing/murder (in this case, of an important leader)

Militarism

THE GOOD• Having a large, strong

army made citizens feel patriotic

THE BAD• When one nation is

militaristic, its neighbors often do the same to protect their own people

• This fuels an arms race, creating tension

MAJOR MILITARISTIC POWERS:

Germany: build up of armsUntersee boats (U-Boats)

Militarism Questions• What causes

militarism?• What is its main

purpose?

caused by the desire to protect overseas

colonies from other countries its purpose is to protect & defend

1910-1914 Increase in

Defense Expenditures

France 10%

Britain 13%

Russia 39%

Germany

73%

Militarism Questions• What did the major countries do to

prepare for both offense (attacking others) and defense (protecting themselves)?

-increased stocks of arms-more modern weapons-built strategic railways

Alliances

European Alliances

Germany

Italy

Great Britain

France

Russia

Austria-Hungary

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Alliances Questions

• What is the main purpose of an alliance?

purpose is to protect themselves from opposing armed

forces

Alliances Questions

• What did the leaders of alliances in the late 1800s hope would happen?

hoped no country would attack another, since it would provoke that country’s allies to fight as well

Alliances Questions

• Why do you think so many alliances were made? If there had been unrest in Europe, how would alliances help?

alliances were made because Europe wanted peace & these were a way to keep countries from fighting

Alliances Questions• In the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907, there

are some examples of why Great Britain and Russia allied despite the fact that they had been rivals. What are some of these examples?

-they were greatly threatened by Germany

-didn’t like Wilhelm II’s aggressiveness

-Germany became a bigger enemy to Great Britain than Russia had been

Alliances Questions

• How were alliances a cause of WWI?

-alliances drew other countries into war when two countries began fighting

-had been made secretly, causing suspicion

-heightened war tension

-Germany was surrounded

Imperialism

THE GOOD• Good for imperialistic

powers, who were able to gain resources.

THE BAD• Nations subject to

imperialism felt exploited and often powerless

• Caused rivalry among imperialist powers and mistrust in general

MAJOR IMPERIAL POWERS:

EnglandItaly?

Imperialism Questions

• What was the main purpose of imperialism?

purpose was to expand empire as far as possible

to become more powerful

Imperialism Questions

• How might a country defend a colony/territory it controlled that was hundreds of thousands of miles away?

it might need a large army

it might need a large/fast navy

Imperialism Questions

• What might happen with so many colonies/territories that were so close to possible enemies, such as in Africa?

two countries might claim the same territory as their own

fighting might easily break out

Imperialism Questions• What did colonial rivalry (similar to

imperialism) lead to indirectly? What were the relationships among the powers like?

-formation & strengthening of alliances-intense arms race-relationships hurt because all wanted the

same things

Imperialism Questions

• How did imperialism help cause WWI?

each country wanted to be better than others

each country wanted to keep its power

Nationalism

THE GOOD• Having a large, strong

army made citizens feel patriotic

THE BAD• When one nation is

militaristic, its neighbors often do the same to protect their own people

• This fuels an arms race, creating tension

MAJOR MILITARISTIC POWERS:

Germany: build up of armsUntersee boats (U-Boats)

Nationalism Questions• What is nationalism? What are the

two different kinds of nationalism?

nationalism is a strong devotion to a national group or culture

1) desire of subject people for independence

2) desire of independent nations for dominance & prestige

Nationalism Questions

• What areas did France lose to Germany in 1871? How would you feel as a person who lived in that area? What would you do?

Alsace-Lorraine was lost to Germany

upset because I didn’t have a say in all of the sudden having a new government

Nationalism Questions

• Which country had the largest overseas empire? Which kind of nationalism did this country have?

Great Britain

second kind, to keep dominance & prestige

Nationalism Questions

• How was nationalism a cause of WWI?

some areas had a lot of ethnic unrest & wanted their own countries

ex: Serbia & Austria-Hungary

Assassination

• The “spark” that started WWI

• On June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist who believed that Bosnia should belong to Serbia

• The region this happened, called The Balkans, was considered a “powder keg” for tension:– Dfda

– Dfeddf

– dfdfd

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie at

Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914

• Gavrilo Princip after his assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The Point of No Return

• Austria blamed Serbia for Ferdinand’s death and declared war on Serbia.

• Germany pledged their support for Austria -Hungary.

• Russia pledged their support for Serbia.

• Germany declares war on Russia

• France pledges their support for Russia

• Germany declares war on France

• Germany invades Belgium on the way to France

• Great Britain supports Belgium and declares war on Germany

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Great Britain

France

Russia

Italy

Germany

Austria-Hungary

Ottoman Empire