First world war

On 1 August 1914, the world was at peace, or at least no one was killing anyone else at the behest of
the state. By 1 September, there were half a million casualties. By the end of 1918 over eight and a
half million people had died in an orgy of violence. Most of Europe entered the war and almost all
the land fighting was in Europe or around the Mediterranean. Moreover, it seemed predominantly a
war of the European powers - the leading combatants were the so-called Allies of Britain, France and
Russia on one side and Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other.
Three views On what caused the First World War?
There is still no consensus. Broadly there are three views: first it was accidental; second, it was
deliberate; and third, it was inevitable. We shall look briefly at all three.
According to the accident theorists, war came about because there was a general misperception of
other people's intentions and motives. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians thought they could get
away with a small war in the Balkans to improve their position vis-a-vis the Serbians. They did not
think the Russians would enter the war. They had not really expected Britain to come into the war.
Though they expected a war with France at some stage they had not expected it to coincide with a
war in the East. Indeed, the German High Command were particularly anxious to avoid a two-front
war in which they fought France in the West and Russia in the East.
On the other hand, the analysts who belong to the deliberate point of view say that if we see the
entry of the United States into the war in 1917 as a response to German submarine warfare, it would
not be wrong to say that breaking out a war situation translating into a global war was a deliberate
intention that we come to know after exploring the different actions or policies of the Allied and
Central powers.
The inevitability school of thought argues that the structure of the international system was at fault.
There was a group of highly armed states, many of whom had grievances against other states. Some
of these grievances derived from the later growth of some states in economic terms. In addition to
this, militarism, imperialist tendencies, politics of alliances and sense of nationalism show that facing
a catastrophic global war was inevitable.
Four Long Standing Causes
The reason why war erupted is actually much more complicated than a simple list of causes. While
there was a chain of events that directly led to the fighting, but the actual long standing root causes
are much deeper and part of continued debate and discussion. In the below, we are going to discuss
four long-standing causes of World War 1.
Militarism: Militarism means glorifying military power, keeping a large standing army, prepared for
war and Arms race for military technology. Militarism is also stands for a belief or the desire of a
government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it
aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. European nations had submarines, tanks,
gasses, machine guns and airplanes that made warfare more deadly. As the world entered the 20th
century, an arms race had begun among the different states. By 1914, Germany had the greatest
increase in military build-up. Moreover, Great Britain and Germany both had greatly increased their
military strength in this time period. This increase in militarism helped to push the countries involved
into war.
Imperialism: It means getting involved politically and economically in other countries in order to
gain wealth and power. Imperialism is also a name of state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending
power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic
control of other areas. European nations, in need of raw materials, fought for colonies in Asia &
Africa Imperialism led to rivalry and mistrust amongst European nations. Imperialism is when a
country increases their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control. Before
World War I, Africa and some parts of Asia were points of contention among the European
countries. This was especially true because of the raw materials these areas could provide. The
increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in confrontation that helped
push the world into WW I.
Mutual Defense Alliances: Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defence
agreements that were likely to pull them into battle. These treaties or Agreements meant that if one
country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, there two
major alliances that divided the world into two blocks: Triple Alliance among Austria-Hungary,
Germany and Italy and Triple Entente among Britain, France and Russia. In addition to this, I am
going to mention two other important alliances or treaties that created a particular environment for
global war.
Nationalism: it means the feeling that specific nation, language or culture is superior to all others. It
was the nationalism that gave birth to competition among the different states and rivalry developed
for territory and markets because at that movement these were the most important things to be a
powerful country. So, nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to
the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each country tried to prove their dominance
and power.
Some Other Causes
1. Division of Europe into Two armed Camps:
Europe had been divided into two armed blocks: The Triple Alliance among Germany, Austria-
Hungary and Italy and The Triple Entente among Britain, France and Russia. The relations between
these blocs were most antagonists as was clear from the attitude they took in the settlement of
various political crisis from 1905 to 1913.
2. Growth of a Militant Germany:
Germany from the very outset was a military state. She was the product of the blood and iron policy
used by Bismarck and the same policy continued even after the achievement of Independence.
German due to its ambitiousness began to increase its power and influence in the international
market. As the greatness of Britain was mainly due to her naval supremacy. So, Germany must be
equally strong at sea if she wanted to be a world power. To achieve this, it changed its foreign policy
clashing with Britain.
3. Competition in Armaments:
The increased Germany military and naval development evoked a race in armaments and all the great
powers of Europe started raising the strength of their armies and naval forces. This unhealthy
competition further accentuated the bitterness that had already existed among the members of the
two blocs and brought the war nearer.
 4. Franco-German Rivalry over Alsace and Lorraine:
France had not forgotten her defeat in 1870-71 and had not reconciled herself to the loss of Alsace
and Lorraine. The German annexation of these Provinces was a running sore in the body politic of
France. The strained relations between the two countries were led toward the making of a stage for
global war.
5. Provocative attitude of Kaiser:
Kaiser was the military commander of Germany. The administration of Germany was dominated by
the army as the civilian authority was definitely subservient to it. The army often used hostile
language and exhibited a bellicose attitude towards the members of the Triple Entente. The Kaiser
himself had asserted on a previous occasion that if he had not kept his people under control, there
would have been a war with England long ago.
6. The Balkans Problems:
No single event influenced the outbreak of the war in 1914 more than the Balkan Wars of 1912-13.
The clash of interests of the Great Powers in the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan Peninsula became the
bone of contention between Austria-Hungary supported by Germany and Serbia aided by Russia. So,
it was the most outstanding cause of the First World War.
Immediate Cause
The immediate cause of World War I that made the aforementioned items come into play (alliances,
imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-
Hungary. In June 1914, a Serbian-nationalist terrorist group called the Black Hand sent groups to
assassinate the Archduke. Their first attempt failed when a driver avoided a grenade thrown at their
car. However, later that day a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assassinated him and his
wife while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was part of AustriaHungary. This was in protest to
Austria-Hungary having control of this region. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to mobilize
due to its alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. Thus began the expansion of the
war to include all those involved in the mutual defence alliances.
WORLD WAR I – SUMMARY OF EVENTS
The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (June 28, 1914) was the main catalyst for
the start of the Great War (World War I). After the assassination, the following series of events took
place:
 July 28 - Austria declared war on Serbia.
 August 1 – As Austria’s ally, Germany declares war on Russia, an ally of Serbia.
 August 3 – Germany declares war on France, an ally of Russia and immediately begins an invasion
of neutral Belgium.
 August 4 – Great Britain, an ally of France, declares war against Germany.
 The United States (President Wilson) declares that the United States will remain neutral
 How America Get Involved
The Sinking of the Lusitania: German U-boat warfare sinks the Lusitania, a British boat with 128
Americans on board. Americans become increasingly upset over German submarines sinking non-
military ships.
The Zimmerman Note: German ambassador to Mexico proposed an alliance between Germany and
Mexico against the US. For their effort, Mexico would receive the lands of New Mexico, Arizona
and Texas. Americans found out about this and become outraged.
Economic Interests: The American businessmen were very interested in the Allied victory and
many such as J.P. Morgan helped fund British and French war efforts with approximately $3 billion
in loans and bond purchases. If the Allies would be defeated by the Central Powers, they probably
wouldn’t be able to repay their debt to their US lenders. Many businessmen therefore supported
them.
German Atrocities in Belgium: One factor that had a major influence on American public opinion
was the invasion of neutral Belgium and stories of German atrocities in the country which shocked
and outraged the Americans. Stories of unarmed civilians being killed, and small towns being
destroyed circulated throughout the press. Although some of the stories were British propaganda,
they left a strong anti-German sentiment among Americans. As a result, in 1917 America declared
war against Germany.
Who Declared War on Who?
 Austria-Hungary Declares War on Serbia
 Russia Declares War on Austria Hungary
 Germany Declares War on Russia
 Germany Declares War on France
 England Declares War on Germany and
Austria Hungary
After War Alliances
Britain, France, Russia and Italy and America (Allied powers)
Austria-Hungary, Germany (central powers)
Use of different weapons and strategies
Machine Guns, poisonous Gases, Airplanes, Submarines. They also used new strategies, especially
trench warfare: defending a position by fighting from the protection of deep ditches.
Conclusion:
Before the first world war Europe had not experienced a major war involving most of its dominant
states for a century. Not only this war was truly a world war, but it was also the century’s first total
war. It marked the end of one epoch in world politics and the beginning of another. The First World
War unleashed a series of changes that brought the age of European global hegemony to an end and
ushered in the world we know today.

Consequences
The list of these changes is long: the outbreak of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the creation of
the Soviet Union on the bones of the old Russian empire; the emergence of the United States of
America onto the world stage; the shift of financial and economic power from London to New York;
the break-up of the Austro–Hungarian and Ottoman empires in central Europe and the Middle East;
the first major stirrings of nationalism in Europe’s overseas empires; a bitter sense of betrayal in
Germany that helped to bring Hitler to power 15 years later; new opportunities for Japan to expand
its holdings in Asia; and a disastrous economic legacy that made it nearly impossible to restore the
health of the world economy.

The fighting ended on 11 November 1918 at 11 o'clock, a day and time which is still celebrated as
Remembrance Day in many countries, though the remembrance of past massacres has done little to
prevent future ones.