United in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War – strong nationalist movements and revolutions Rapid growth during the 19 th century as a result of ambitions to become the strongest empire in the world – encouraged public support for military buildups and for a country’s use of force to reach its goals Wanted to build up her influence in every part of the world Nationalists were looking for ‘their place in the sun’ as they felt slighted by the other industrial powers, and felt they had a right to colonize and they were as good as the rest, maybe even better. Went into serious conflicts with all other major powers of Europe except for Austria-Hungary from 1890 to 1914 Felt that Britain was restricting her power with its Royal Navy Expansionist nationalism – Lebensraum (living space) – an ideology in Germany at the time that they needed more living space – expanding their borders by war German thought that she was superior enough to protect the Russians from attacking Austria-Hungary, when it was about to declare war on Serbia.

In 1870 Britain was the most industrially advanced country in Europe Possessed the largest overseas empire and the largest navy in the world Did not want to trouble herself with the continental affairs of Europe Main concern was to preserve her overseas empire and her overseas trade by maintaining a large navy Before 1890 Britain’s chief enemies were France and Russia – common colonial interests (e.g. India, Burma, Thailand, Egypt…) After 1890 Germany went on increasing her naval strength, threatening British naval supremacy and the British overseas interests, and German became Britain’s chief enemy In 1906 the British Navy launched the Dreadnought, the first modern battleship, as a response to the quick emerging German navy. it had greater firepower than any other ship of its time. When the war was declared on Germany, people burst out on the streets celebrating in Britain – people’s influence over the government

The French Revolution (1789 – 1799) brought forward the idea of nationalism One of the dominant powers in Europe for centuries – Napoleon I and II Defeated by Germany in 1871 – Franco-Prussian war Lost two provinces, Alsace and Lorraine. She also had to pay heavy indemnities as a result of the defeat The defeat felt like a total humiliation In addition, Germany’s unification led to tensions in France – rise of another power may damage their dominance in Europe National pride – greatest ambition was to recover the two lost provinces Also wanted to prevent another defeat by Germany – looked overseas to gain colonies, like Morocco to increase her national prestige Sought to strengthen her position by forming diplomatic alliances with other important powers in Europe – Russia + Britain Nationalism made the French want to seek revenge against Germany for their loss in the Franco-Prussian War

Nationalism caused Russia to turn against Austria-Hungary because Russians were Slavs, and so were Serbians, due to nationalism Russia felt like that it had the duty of protecting the Slavs from threat Russia wanted to increase their influence in Balkans but have faced great disappointment in that, this later led to Russia backing up Serbia in the war because if Serbia was defeated, Russia would have no hope of influencing Balkans

In the years before WW1 Austria-Hungary was particularly concerned about Slav nationalism, which it saw as a vehicle for Russian influence and interference. Multinational so nationalism was a threat to the Austrian Hungary Empire Consisted of Czechs, Croats, Slovenes and Serbs – conflicting national groups Pan-Slavic movement in Russia seen as threat to Austria-Hungary – the Pan- Slavs wanted the Hapsburg Empire (Austria-Hungary rulers) to rearrange so that Slavic groups can be in one state. Same as Serbia, Austria-Hungary had large areas of land with different nationalist groups who had different ideas, and many wanted to break away from Austria-Hungary

Assassinated the Archduke to Austria-Hungary for revenge Franz Ferdinand’s visit to Sarajevo was seen as a challenge to their nationalist aspirations for the Serbs in Bosnia Serbian Nationalism = uniting all southern Slavs in a single state ruled and dominated by Serbia Had areas of land which belonged to different nationalist groups who all wanted freedom and their own independent state Motivated Serbs in Serbia to join with the people with the same ethnicity in Austria-Hungary to create the “Greater Serbia”, this caused the formation of nationalist Serbian groups which eventually led to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Had the support of Russia which encouraged their nationalist ideas

The nations competed with each for the largest army and navy, they each tried to prove their dominance and power over others Some groups wanted to form their own independent nation Strong beliefs of nationalism added to the bucket of gun powder building up to the war, it also turned countries against each other Strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy and Germany Nationalist became popular for people who shared the same language and culture in the 1800s Nationalism towards own country led to the building support for military Nationalism was a catalyst to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Contributed to the formation of the alliance system because the countries did not feel stable without having allies while all other countries had growing military power Caused countries to dislike each other

“None loomed as dangerous and irrational as rampant, virulent, passion- filled nationalism” - Samuel Williamson “New” nationalism developed – national glorification – this ideology was influenced by pseudo-scientific racial and Social Darwinist theories. – Samuel Williamson Competitiveness in imperialism amongst powers lead to nationalist passions which caused war because of what it led to – Gordon Craig “The changes that took place in the map of Europe between 1859 and 1878 increased the opportunities for friction between the major powers and inflamed the resentments of minor ones.” – Gordon Craig