1. Causes of world war I

2. At the beginning of the 20th C
At the beginning of the 20th C., most of Eastern and Central Europe was dominated by 3 weak and crumbling Empires:
- Austro-Hungarian
- Ottoman
- Russian

3. #1 - The System of Alliances in Europe:
in order to reduce their vulnerability to attack, many countries had formed alliances or agreements
Triple Entente vs. Triple Alliance
Great Britain Germany
France Austria-Hungary
Russia Italy (*)

4. this system was supposed to help maintain the peace in Europe:
- a declaration of war or an attack against
one member of the alliance/entente,
meant a declaration or attack against all
the members
this system actually had the opposite effect...everyone was drawn into conflict!

5. #2 - Militarism:
“the political goal of a country to continually increase its military power”
European countries, in particular Great Britain and Germany, had expanded their militaries in an effort to maintain a “balance of power”
- millions spent by these countries to build
“modern” armies
- an “arms race” was now on

6. Germany - built the strongest army in Europe
Great Britain - built the strongest navy in Europe
- they built the HMS Dreadnought
- largest battleship ever new technology

7. #3 - Nationalism:
”the attitude of profound loyalty towards your country, people, culture”
many nationalities (smaller countries) within the 3 large empires (Ottoman, Austro- Hungarian, Russian) resented being dominated by a foreign power - they wanted to be free, independent nations
when A-H took control of Bosnia- Herzogovinia (a province in the Balkans), the Serbs were outraged - did not want to be controlled by A-H

8. #4 - Imperialism:
“the increase of military and political power for economic gain” 
many European countries were fighting over “colonies” in Africa, Asia and South America
- more colonies = more $$ for the Empire
- the race to claim territories became competitive
- European Empires/countries took the colonies resources, made products and sold them for a profit....no money back to the colonies!

9. largest Empire = Great Britain
- they felt threatened by Germany’s desire
to expand their territory

10. Events Which Began WWI
the Austro-Hungarian Empire was made up of many ethnic groups:
- Austrians, Hungarians, Slavic peoples...
in 1908, Austria-Hungary “annexed” Bosnia- Herzogovinia
- these provinces rejected the Empire’s control
- they wanted to join the new Serbian state
- Serbia, which claimed B-H as part of “Greater
Serbia” (most of the population of Bosnia was
Serbian) encouraged “nationalists” from B-H to
join them...

11. one of these nationalists was
Gavrilo Princip
June 28, 1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Crown Prince of A-H, and his wife were visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia
- members of the terrorist group “Black Hand” were waiting along the
procession route
- Gavrilo Princip assassinated
the Archduke and his wife

12. Schlieffen Plan
in 1905, Gen. Alfred Von Schlieffen (Germany) had planned the invasion of France by passing through Belgium
idea was to conquer France and then turn around and fight Russia
they thought that the plan was worth the risk IF they defeated France quickly
problem - Great Britain was allied with
Belgium....

14. Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of the assassination of the Archduke
- they declared war on Serbia
Serbia was allied with Russia
- Russia mobilized its army and declared war on Austria-Hungary
Germany was allied with Austria-Hungary
- Germany declared war on Russia

15. France was allied with Russia
- France declared war on Germany
Germany declared war on France
- they enacted the Schlieffen Plan and invaded France via Belgium
Belgium was allied with Great Britain
- Great Britain declared war on Germany
- Canada, part of the British Empire, was now at war vs. Germany also