Long term and short term Causes of WWI Long term and short term

Causes of WWI As 1914 dawned, a combination of four major factors: militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism set the stage for war in Europe.

LONG TERM CAUSES M A I N ILITARISM LLIANCES MPERIALISM ATIONALISM

militarism

Militarism The gradual building of military, navy and weaponry of a particular nation. Very competitive. Similar to an arms race Nations wanted to be known for their strength and dominance and the building of a military force was huge. Germany began building their military arsenals to compete with Britain (navy) and Russia (army)

Alliances

Alliances The formation of bonds or relationships between certain nations promising one another mutual military support if either is attacked by another country. There were two major alliances in Europe in 1914: Triple Entente (Allies): Britain, Russia, France and supports. Central Powers: Italy, Austria-Hungary, German and supports.

Alliances The network of military alliances established a system in which even a small conflict could quickly spread throughout the entire continent.

Imperialism The formation of colonies away from the nation of origin. This was also very competitive among nations and animosity between countries increased. Can you guess which country had the largest imperial empire during the 19th century? Britain’s empire stretched over one quarter of the entire world’s land mass.

Nationalism An extreme from of patriotism or pride in one’s nation especially marked by a feeling of superiority over other countries.

The assassination of archduke franz ferdinand

The assassination of archduke franz ferdinand On June 28th 1914, a radical Serbian nationalist shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. In response, Austria-Hungary made some demands of Serbia for shooting their leader. An interesting point is that when the assassination was happening, it is said that Sophie instinctively threw herself over Franz to protect him (but at that point he had already been shot in the neck)

The assassination of archduke franz ferdinand How old do you think this man was? He was 19 years old when he assassinated the arch duke So he was too young to receive the death penalty but he got a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison which was brutal conditions (especially malnourishment) and because of this he contracted skeletal tuberculosis and he died in prison in 1918 – he actually had to have his right arm amputated and he weighed about 88 pounds when he died After the assassination he tried to commit suicide several times (once attempted by cyanide poisoning but the cyanide was past date and did not work and then another time he tried to shoot himself but the gun was wrestled from him) Gavrilo Princip

How the War Spread Serbia did not agree to all of the demands of Austria-Hungary following the Archduke’s death. August 1, 1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Due to the military alliance, Russia sides with Serbia. Germany sides with Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia and France. Germany invaded neutral Belgium on the way to attacking France. Great Britain had an agreement with Belgium to assist them if they were ever attacked & France was an ally so Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4th, 1914. Canada as a part of the British empire automatically was entered into the war.

Based on the causes mentioned in today’s class, do you think that World War I could have been avoided? Explain your reasoning on a piece of looseleaf and hand in to Ms. Snikeris before the end of class. 