THE FIRST WORLD WAR
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Identify the key countries of WW1.
State the factors responsible for WW1
Highlight the impacts of the first world war.
KEYWORDS: War ,Alliance ,Militarism, Nationalism ,Imperialism.
Introduction
The first world war started from 1914 and ended in 1918.
The war is considered to be one of the largest wars in history, because it witnessed the
death of about 15 -19 million people around the planet.
Key Actors of the war.
The key countries in the war are; Germany , Austria Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman
Empire( present day Turkey and surrounding regions) which made the CENTRAL POWERS.
On the other hand was Great Britain, France, Russia, and later the United states of America
which made up the ALLIED POWERS.
CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Historians have different approaches to explaining the causes of the first world war.
Some historians have grouped the causes of the war into two:
Remote causes: these are the underlying causes of the conflict that have been building up
over the years, Nationalism, Imperialism, militarism and Alliances.
Immediate causes: The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.
Imperialism
● European leaders believed that one way of making a nation’s economy stronger was
by having colonies in the 1900’s.
● Several European nations had empires across the globe, which were under their
control (primarily for raw materials and markets to sell British goods)
● Prior to WW1 Britain and France were the world's most powerful colonising powers.
● As Britain and France expanded their empires it resulted in increased tensions
among European powers.
● This is because the empires were acquired through coercion.
● It is the increased tension that further led to the different alliances.
● In other cases, European nations competed over the same colonies and this added
to the harsh feelings between some European nations.
● The increasing confrontations and desire for greater control led to WW1
Alliances.
At the height of imperialism, countries throughout Europe created alliances pledging to
support each other if war ever broke out between the ally and another great power.
Prior to WW1 the following alliances were firmly in place.
● Russia – Serbia
● France - Russia
● Germany – Austria Hungary
● Britain – France – Belgium
● Japan – Britain.
To protect themselves in case of war, Europe was divided into alliances in the 1890s.
On one side stood Germany, Austria Hungary, and Italy, which formed the Triple Alliance
(later called the Central Alliance).
On the other hand stood Russian, France and Britain, called the Triple entente (Allied
Powers)
With these alliances, any dispute involving any nation from these alliances threatened to
involve all others.
Militarism
This is the mad race for armament.
It began after the Franco-Prussian war. Every major power began to stock up armament in
the name of self defence and peace.
As a result, if one county increased its armaments, other countries were compelled to do the
same.
The atmosphere was filled with fear, apprehension and mutual hatred.
Assassination
The Sarajevo incident was the immediate cause of the first world war.
This was the assassination of the heir apparent to the throne of Austria Hungary Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, and his wife on the 28 of June 1914 at Sarajevo, in Bosnia (a part of
Austria Hungary)
The couple were shot by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Serbian nationalist terrorist group
called the “Black Hands”.
Germany had given Serbia a blank check assurance ( meaning that they have their support
in case of war)
Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia.
Russia, who had an alliance with Serbia started mobilising forces.
Seeing this, Germany attacked Russia, and this began the first world war.
Following these events, world war 1 moved into full force from 1914 through 1918, ending
with the signing of Treaty of Versailles by the Central powers and the Allied powers.
Assignment
Identify two impacts of the first world war.
