1. The Back Story

2.  40 years of peace prior to the start of the war  Tension started to rise in 1914 Europe  Based on Militarism and Alliances

3.  1864, German Kingdom of Prussia launched wars to unite German states into one nation  1870, Prussians attacked and defeated France  France and Germany became enemies  Germany aligned with Italy and Austria-Hungary  Became the Triple Alliance  1871, Prussia unites Germany  Birth of the powerful German Nation

4.  New Alliance scared Russia  Feared that Austria-Hungary would move east towards Russia  Common interest against Germany and Austria- Hungary  1894, Franco-Russian Alliance  Aid to the other country if they went to war with the Triple Alliance

5. The aggressive build-up of armed forces to intimidate and threaten other nations.

6.  Britain wanted to defend weaker nations against stronger nations  Germany was becoming a powerful nation

7. Britain used its Navy to defend the island nation Both nations raced to build warships

8.  Britain, France, and Russia  Triple Entente  Friendly understanding to support each other in war without a written agreement

9. NATIONALISMRIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION  Feeling of Intense pride in one’s homeland  European Nations viewed others as competition and were willing to go to war  Nationalism and Imperialism were at odds  Many nations wanted independence from the Empires formed by Imperialism  People who share a national identity should have their own country and government  Nations wanted independence  Serbs  Bosnians  Croats  Slovenes

10.  Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited Bosnia  Assassinated by Serbian National  Serbian Government hoped that the attack would start a war with the Austria-Hungary Empire

11.  Austria-Hungary relies on Germany for support after the attack  Serbia relies on Russia and France for support  July 28 war erupts  Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia  August 1, Germany declares war on Russia  August 3, Germany declares war on France

13.  Needed to go through Neutral Belgium to get to France  Britain declared war on Germany when the Germans crossed into Belgium  Allies  Great Britain  France  Russia  Italy  Central Powers  Germany  Austria-Hungary