THE ROAD TO WORLD WAR I Section 1

4 M.A.I.N. CAUSES OF THE WAR  M ilitarism  A lliances  I mperialism  N ationalism

MILITARISM  The aggressive preparation for war, which was growing.  Mass army growth heightened tensions after 1900  Conscription (military draft)  European armies size x2 between  Vast and complex plans by military leaders  Millions of soldiers mobilized (the process of assembling troops and supplies for war)

ALLIANCES  Two loose alliances formed in Europe out of rivalries:  Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1882  Triple Entente: France, Great Britain, and Russia in  Revenge, self-interest, and crisis i.e. the Balkans, tested these alliances  Willing to use war to preserve their power, but originally formed alliances to promote peace

IMPERIALISM  European nations competing with other European nations to amass more colonies  Imperialism  Build up national wealth and influence  Germany and Italy had a growing desire for colonial empire  Global competition for land caused confrontations/ conflict  Why do you think Germany and Italy wanted more colonies?

NATIONALISM  Each country thought theirs was the best  Emphasized their interests and culture above those of other nations.  Darwin, survival of the fittest  Led to competition of building the largest armies/ navies  Led to subject people wanting to form independent nations of their own i.e. Slavic minorities in the Balkans  What made certain European countries think they were better than everyone else?

ASSASSINATION IN SARAJEVO  Serbia wanted independence from Austria-Hungary; Russia supported this  Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to Austrian throne, & his wife Sophia assassinated on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia.  Gavrilo Princip, member of the Serbian terrorist group “the Black Hand”  assassinated archduke and his wife  Princip and other conspirators wanted Bosnia to be a part of a larger, independent Serbian kingdom.  Why do you think Princip’s motivation was to assassinate the archduke?

IMPACT OF ASSASSINATION  Austrian leaders wanted to attack Serbia, but feared Russia would intervene  Emperor William II of Germany gave Austria-Hungary a “blank check” promising their support if war broke out with Russia  On July 28 th, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia  Czar Nicholas II of Russia ordered partial then full mobilization of the Russian army against Austria-Hungary

CONFLICT BROADENS  Germany considered mobilization an act of war  Germany warned Russia to halt mobilization in 12 hrs, Russia ignored them so Germany declared war on Russia on Aug 1  General Alfred von Schlieffen drew up the military plan for Germany known as the Schlieffen Plan

SCHLIEFFEN PLAN  Two-front war with France and Russia  A few troops against Russia… Germany invades France through Belgium  Plan called for defeating France, then Russia  So on Aug 3 Germany declared war on France, and ordered Belgium to allow German troops through  By Aug 4, Great Britain declared war on Germany for violating Belgian neutrality; all great powers of Europe were at war