What were the causes of World War One? Year 9 Topic 1 What were the causes of World War One?

Alliance System Triple Alliance Italy Austria-Hungary Germany Triple Entente Russia Britain France

Nationalism, Imperialism, Militarism, Alliances Nationalism - the belief that your country is better than others. This made nations assertive and aggressive. Imperialism - the desire to conquer colonies, especially in Africa. This brought the powers into conflict - Germany wanted an empire. France and Britain already had empires. Militarism (Arms Race) - the attempt to build up a strong army and navy gave nations the means and will to make war. Alliances - in 1882, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. This alarmed, France, Britain and Russia. By 1907, they had all joined the Triple Entente. Europe was divided into two armed camps, to help each other if there was a war.

Franz Ferdinand’s Assassination Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Josef of Austria, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este (Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Josef; German: Erzherzog von Österreich-Este) was an Archduke (like a prince) of Austria and, from 1896 until his death, next in line to be the emperor of the former country called Austria-Hungary. He was killed in the city Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip. Because of this, Austria declared war against Serbia, which started the first World War (look at the Alliance system to understand why!)

The Schlieffen Plan Germany had been preparing for war long before 1914. In fact, Germany had started drawing up a plan for war - the Schlieffen Plan - in 1897. It took nine years to finalise, but it was based on the theory that Germany would be at war with France and Russia at the same time. It did not prepare for many of the events that occurred in July and August 1914. It was based on the belief that, if the country went to war, Germany would be faced with a war on two fronts with France and Russia. The plan assumed that France was weak and could be beaten quickly, and that Russia was much stronger, but would take longer to mobilise its army. The plan began to go wrong on 30 July 1914, when Russia mobilised its army, but France did not. Germany was forced to invent a pretext to declare war on France (3 August 1914). Things got worse when Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 because, in a Treaty of 1839, Britain had promised to defend Belgium. Germany had not been expecting Britain to go to war to help Belgium.

Websites http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir1/schlieffe nplanrev1.shtml http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/menus/world_war_on e/The_Great_War_Causes.php