Causes of WWI
World War I started due to a culmination of several long and short term factors involving aspects of nationalism, imperialism, militarism, alliance systems, and physical conflicts occurring over a forty year period. The industrial revolution brought around a radically different Europe than there had ever been before and it made nations compete and be wary of each other politically, economically, and militarily. This tension among the leadership of the European nations was supported by the rising nationalism within each nation. Economic and imperial competition and fear of war brought the nations into alliances and an increase in arms manufacturing. Nationalism was very strong within the European nations because of their strong sense of brotherhood and ethnic culture. Nationalism is what led to the unification of Germany in 1871 after a series of wars commanded by the Prussian leader Bismark. Along this path towards German unification was the Franco-Prussian war ending in a French defeat. The war's end left the French bitter after the loss of their Alsace-Lorraine. This was the first of many clashes between Germany and France which strengthen their hatred of one another. Nationalism brought a problem for German ally, A
Such a hatred of Austrian rule in the Balkns led to the creation of many anti-Austrian militant groups in the area, the most popular being the Black Hand. To counter the French occupation of Tunisia, the Triple Alliance was formed in 1882 with Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Italy because of the Italian resentment towards France. However, this led to a British increase of naval warships to counter Germany. Britain had the largest navy in the world, highly envied by the German Kaiser William II. Being a Russian ally, France mobilized. Interrogations of the assassin uncovered links to Serbian government officials. The Emperor's League was threatened with the Balkan conflicts in 1887, arousing Russian suspicion of Austria-Hungry; however, a policy of reinsurance treaties repaired the damage, maintaining the neutrality of both nations in the event of war. Britain was the commander of the seas, but Germany had the largest army in Europe. Imperialism was another factor that led to increased rivalry within Europe. We know why Europe was ready for a war. Great Britain, Germany, and France all need foreign markets to fulfill the needs promted by the industrial revolution. The clashes only strengthened the British-French relationship and hurt the German relationship with the two nations.
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