History

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The major causes of the World War I between the years 1914-1918 were due to immediate and long causes as well (Beckett, 2014). Militarism is one of the long-term cause of the war. The attack of the German-speaking peoples land near the Rhine River by Napoleon during the Napoleonic and the Franco Prussian war triggered the decision by Otto von Bismarck to unify the German state preparing itself to defend against France. The decision to defend its territories made German to build large armies, an act that kept France at ease building a standby army for retaliation. The act also forced the British to build a large navy as they felt insecure.

Alliances were also a great trigger to the World War I. The triple Entente popularly the Allies and the Triple alliance also known as the central powers, were the major alliances that were formed before World War I (Beckett, 2014). The triple entente was created in the efforts to counter the triple alliance and consisted France, Russia and Great Britain. The triple alliance consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. Another long-term cause of the war was nationalism. Germany felt unstoppable after the Franco Prussian war. The French on the other side were embarrassed by the Germans and therefore found it necessary to regain their pride. The growth of the pan Slavism in the protection of Russia made the regions around Serbia unstoppable and this created instability among the allies.

Imperialism is another long-term cause of the world war I. Majority of the nations around the globe were competing for the control of colonies in the quest to regain land, influence as well as resources. Germany in specific attempted to control the lands in Africa the territories to which France and Britain were already established. Germany in 1905 and 1911 attempted to bar France from imposing a protectorate in Morocco, but France made close allies with British against Germany in attempt to keep Germany out of Africa restraining it from building itself into a threatening power.

Despite many of the causes of the war being long term, short term causes were also an immediate trigger to the war. Assassinations at the time were rampant all over the globe. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28 of the year 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia by Gavrilo Princip, an affiliate of the Black Hand that was associated with the Serbian nationalist group, became responsible for the immediate start of the war (Williamson Jr, 1998).

Archduke Ferdinand was next in line of the Australian throne, and the assassination was a huge shock to Franz Joseph, his uncle. Though Franz Joseph did not want war, the government in Vienna was so much prepared for war, and therefore Joseph was required to submit a harsh ultimatum to the Serbians to avoid war. The Serbians did not meet the demands, compelling Austria and Serbia to engage in war, and on 1914 July the 28th Austria had declared war. The Russians have declared their help to Austria through the provision of supplies and soldiers, initiated war against the Germans. The tangle of alliances had now on each other’s neck, and this brought many of the countries into war.

The Americans had tried as much as possible to keep out of the war though she was involved in trade with the nations associated with war. The unrestricted submarine warfare that was introduced by the Germans on 9th January 1917 provoked Woodrow Wilson and asked the Congress to declare war on Germany thereby joining the triple entente (Smith, 2017). The joining of the US in the war was a success as it boosted the triple entente leading to their victory.

References

Beckett, I. F. (2014). The Great War: 1914-1918. Routledge.

Smith, L. A. (2017). US Effects on Allied Strategic Decision Making during the First World War. US Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth United States.

Williamson Jr, S. R. (1998). The Or1g1ns of the War. The Oxford illustrated history of the First World War, 9.