For this research project, I searched for the causes of the First World War and how it changed the world. One of the main reasons I choose this subject is because I have played over 500 hours of the World War I based video game Battlefield 1, which motivated me to learn more about it. World War I was also one of the most important wars ever fought for many different reasons.
First, World War I was one of the most destructive and costly wars ever fought in modern human history. It introduced a wide variety of innovations that affected society and the modern world in general. At the beginning of the War armies had no real automatic weapons, aircraft, or motorized vehicles. By its end every nation had adopted the advances in weaponry. It changed societies because of the involvement of the civilians, no longer was a war confined to an isolated battlefield, there was widespread rationing of food and resources for the war effort, and the loss of civilian life was staggering.
Many of the political causes of World War I can be traced back into the late 18th century and early 19th century and the development of nationalism. In Merriam Webster dictionary, nationalism is defined as a loyalty and devotion to a nation. According to an article on Alphahistory.com, this idea of cultural superiority led to an overconfidence of the citizens in the rightness of their countries policies. In fact, “A new and aggressive nationalism, different from its predecessors, emerged in Europe at the end of the 19th century… The new nationalism engaged the fierce us/them group emotions – loyalty inwards, aggression outwards – that characterise human relations at simpler sociological levels, like the family or the tribe. What was new was attaching these passions to the nation… In its outward-looking dimension, the new nationalism was fully a movement of the ‘age of imperialism’ – of the ‘great game’, the ‘scramble for Africa’, the enterprise of great powers.” Lawrence Rosenthal, historian
So all across Europe countries began training more soldiers for their militaries, developing weapons in case of a breakout of hostilities, signing treaties, forging alliances and so forth all to get an upper hand on their rivals.
According to an article on EBSCO, Statesmen everywhere noticed this, and actually tried on several occasions to get countries to disarm themselves, once in 1899, and another try in 1907, obviously to no avail. Many European countries stated there arming was for nothing more than “self-defense”. Even though many of the countries had fought numerous imperial conflicts to assert their supremacy. Tensions didn’t really get worse until 1905, when the first of four crises and two small, local wars occurred. The first crisis occurred in Morocco, in 1905, when Germany stepped in to help support Moroccan independence from France, and ended in 1906, thanks to a peace conference in Algeciras, Spain. The second crisis happened in 1908, between the Balkans and Austria-Hungary annexing a part of Bosnia Herzegovina.
In 1911, there was another crisis in Morocco between France and Germany once more, this time Germany sent a Warship to protest French encroachment within the West-African country. The same year, Turkey wasn’t very happy with Italy trying to annex a part of the Northern Tripoli region, so with the French and Germans busy, They declared war on each other, and that was the first local war before World War 1. The last minor, local war fought before the world war happened were the Balkan wars in 1912 and 1913. These war were the main reason people in Europe started to spend tons of money on military preparedness and precautions. All of that was right before the war began in 1914. Following these crisis situations and the after effects of the Crimean War, intertwined alliances the stage was set for a war to end all wars.
It was at this point in history that the incidents occurred which led to the war. On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a young member of the Greater Serbian Movement, ran up to the Archduke’s car, and opened fire with a pistol, killing not only the Archduke, but his wife as well. After the assassination, Princip, tried to kill himself by swallowing a cyanide pill, but to no avail. He stayed in a Czech prison until his death in 1918. Austria was furious with Serbia, and sent an ultimatum of ten demands, one including permission for Austria sending in a military expedition into Serbia to crush the movement. Serbia actually accepted all but two of the demands, even with agreement on a majority of the points of demand, Austria felt the reply wasn’t good enough.
At this point Russia got more involved and tried to get Austria to modify its ultimatum. In July, 1914, Viscount Grey of Fallodon, Sir Edward Grey organized a peace conference to try and settle the Austro-Serbian dispute. However, Germany, refused the peace offer. According to various articles and historical fact on the 28th of July, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. As countries entered the war based on treaty obligations it was like watching dominoes fall throughout Europe. Country after country declared war on each other forming to sides essentially, the central powers made up of Germany, Austria-Hungarian empire, and the Ottoman empire. The allied side consisted of Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia, with the last major country declaring war on one of the central powers being the United States on April 26, 1917 according to historical archives. The war would last for over 4 years and end with the fall of the Russian Empire, German Empire, Austria-Hungary empire, and Ottoman empire. In its final tally, the allies would impose harsh penalties on the Central Powers, ranging for the loss of territory, restitution, disarmament, and surrender of colonial possessions. The death toll of both servicemen and civilians reached over 18 million people, new countries were formed, and a lot of unresolved issues were left behind by a war weary populace.
In all, the main causes of World War I were some grudges and tensions between the various European countries. In spite of its brutality and destructiveness, it introduced new technologies like aircraft, tanks, and machine guns. It also led to an attempt for nations to try and work together in the league of nations. Also, it is important to know that it set the stage for a greater more destructive war less than thirty years later, and set the stage for some of today’s problems.
Originally published 15.10.2019