Ch. 25 THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY CRISIS: Ch. 25 THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY CRISIS: WAR AND REVOLUTION AP THEMATIC QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT: How did the breakup of the Ottoman Empire cause crises that led to World War I? How did imperialist rivalries and the breakdown of Bismarck’s alliance system lead to war?

FQ: What were the long-range and immediate causes of World War I? Nationalism Internal Dissent Militarism Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. “Blank Check” from Emperor William II of Germany.

Nationalism Early 19th century liberals argued that the organization of European states along national lines would maintain peace. Nationalism led to competition, rather than cooperation. Each nation-state acted in it’s own interest, using brinkmanship as their main form of diplomacy.

Internal Dissent Within the Austrian Empire, Slavic minorities in the Balkans wanted to create their own nation-states. Dreams of nationhood also took place with the Irish in the British empire and the Poles in the Russian empire. Argument: “the desire to suppress internal disorder may have encouraged some leaders to take the plunge into war in 1914.”

Militarism A policy of aggressive military preparedness, in particular, the large armies based on mass conscription and complex, inflexible plans for mobilization that most European nations had before World War I. Military Size in 1914 Russia – 1. 3 million Germany & France – 900,000 Britain, Italy and Austria – Between 250,000 and 500,000

The Outbreak of War: The Summer of 1914 Austria-Hungary and Russia both battled over the control of former Ottoman territory in the Balkans. Serbia was supported by Russia and determined to create an independent Slavic state in the Balkans. Bosnian activist who worked for the Black Hand, (a Serbian terrorist organization) assassinated the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife.