2. Austria-Hungary Empire Flag
World War 1:
Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire with his wife Sophie

3. Europe in 2017

4. Europe before World War 1
Triple Alliance: German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italian Empire Triple Entente: British Empire, French Empire, Russian Empire

5. Causes of WW 1: #1 - Imperialism
Imperialism – the act of one country acquiring dominance (and sometimes ownership) of another country or region.

6. Causes of World War 1: #1 - Imperialism
A world of Empires
British Empire (the sun never sets)
French Empire (strong in Africa and Indochina)
Russian Empire (doing well… for now…)
Austro-Hungarian Empire (struggling to survive)
Ottoman Empire (dying a slow, painful death)
German Empire (only 40 years old)

7. Causes of World War 1: #1 - Imperialism
Britain and France had successful empires; Germany did not. When Germany decided it wanted to build an empire, this produced conflict.
In addition… Britain and France had already taken most of the good stuff.
Germany HAD acquired military and industrial strength and decided to proceed aggressively, which caused concern for the other great powers.

8. The Scramble for Africa

9. Other Imperial Desires
Russia: Most of their ports freeze in winter.
The Black Sea (in the Balkans) is warm.
Let’s get some territory there!
Oh wait… A-H also wants to get territory there…

10. Causes of World War 1: #2 - Militarism
The early 1900’s was an era of military competition between Europe’s major powers.
Militarists believed that war was a good way to advance a countries interests.
Examples:
All men aged were fully trained for war in these countries:
Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Germany

11. Causes of World War 1: #2 - Militarism
“Two-Power Standard”
British policy of making sure their navy was always bigger than the next 2 largest navies combined
This caused an…
Arms Race
Germany had the strongest land-army, and then tried to build a bigger navy than Britain.
Britain built dreadnoughts (but this one is French)
Germany built them too. Britain built more. Then Germany built more too. Etc…
Balance of Power
All the countries had to continue building larger and larger militaries to avoid becoming weak

12. Causes of World War 1: #3 - Nationalism
Nationalism – A patriotic loyalty among people who have common bonds of language, culture, and tradition. Moreover, a desire to have political control over their own affairs.

13. Nationalism Nationalism was a cause of the war in two ways…
1. Nationalism as evident in the actions of the major powers.
Example: Germany wanted to acquire an empire.
Example: France wanted revenge for the Franco-Prussian war.
Example: Great Britain had pride in their imperial accomplishment and wanted to defend who they were.

14. Poor Ottoman Empire 
This area of Europe is called “The Balkans”. IDK why.
The Ottoman empire controlled all of the Balkans until about 1750
Since then, they slowly lost more and more as the empire declined
The “lost” territories became independent countries, or “nations”
1913, they lost everything except Turkey
Nationalist movements in those territories were a major factor

15. Nationalism
2. The Austro-Hungarian Empire struggled, especially after they invaded and took over Bosnia in 1913.
Many minority groups were ruled over by the empire.
After A-H invaded and took over Bosnia, the Bosnians, but also many other minorities in A-H, got really angry and started protesting
“The Black Hand” terrorist/nationalist group (like the FLQ)
The Austro-Hungarian Empire believed that in order to survive they needed to repress the minorities.

16. Causes of World War 1: #4 - Alliances
Triple Alliance (Central Powers) – Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy agreed to support each other if attacked.
Triple Entente (Allied Powers) – France, Russia, and Britain loosely agreed to support each other if attacked.