Title: Causes of World War 1 M.A.I.N

Cause # 1: Militarism Policy of aggressive buildup of a country’s military Could be used to intimidate, threaten or take over other countries Kings wore military uniforms to show how much they valued the military Germany and England competed for the toughest military – arms race

Countries created more military weapons “just in case” Countries created more military weapons “just in case”...they were preparing for conflict

Cause # 2: Alliances By 1914, Europe divided into 2 alliances (groups) for mutual benefit Triple Alliance = Germany, Italy & Austria-Hungary Triple Entente = Russia, France, & Britain Any fights in Europe would cause other countries to be dragged into the drama

Alliances were messy Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary Germany declared war on Russia & France Great Britain declared war on Germany

Great Britain’s declaration of war against Germany made the conflict a true “world war”.

= Allies

Cause # 3: Imperialism Europeans wanted to control other nations to gain profits and raw materials By 1900, England controlled 1/4 of the entire world. WOW! And other countries were jealous. Drama! This intense competition between Western powers for empires led to conflict!

Cause 4: Nationalism Intense pride, loyalty and devotion to a nation - can lead to conflict Self-determination = ethnic groups should have their own nation When groups claim the same areas, it leads to tensions & fighting

This was the “IMMEDIATE SPARK” Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his wife Sofia (next leaders of Austria-Hungary) June 1914 during a parade in Bosnia Killer was a member of the Black Hand a Serbian nationalist group who was upset that Austria-Hungary had taken over Bosnia The Assassin

This was the “IMMEDIATE SPARK” Austria was MAD MAD MAD MAD MAD someone had messed with their beloved nation Austria told Serbia that they had 3 days to decide - avoid being punished by giving up their independence to Austria But Austria attacked them before the 3 days were over with their many weapons... And that’s when other countries showed their MILITARISM, ALLIANCES, IMPERIALISM and NATIONALISM (M.A.I.N.) - Russia attacked Austria-Hungary World War 1 started

Alliance System You be my friend and I’ll be your friend At this time there were the: Triple Alliance (Central Powers) – Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary Triple Entente (Allies) – Great Britain, France, Russia (Later the United States