The Causes of World War One Essay - 1104 Words

The Causes of World War One Some people believe that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was the primary cause of World War I, but it was just one event that triggered the conflict. Many other events and political beliefs combined to lead thirty-two nations into war. Resentments from earlier wars, advances in technology and military strength and a chain of alliances all contributed to the first Great War of the Twentieth Century. The United States tried to remain neutral, but it was pulled into the Great War, and changed America forever. In the years before the war, Europe was very unstable. Nationalism, the belief that loyalty to a persons nation and its political and economic†¦show more content†¦At the same time, both Bulgaria and Turkey, who lost land in the Balkan Wars, wanted revenge. Meanwhile, other countries of Europe were busy building military strength. The nations of Europe did not trust each other. Some people believe that Germany was most responsible f or World War I, because it wanted to become the strongest power in Europe (Ruggenberg). By the early 1900s Germany had the best army in the world and was building a strong navy. This made other nations nervous, and the British developed the Dreadnought, the first modern battleship. Germany began building ships to defeat the Dreadnought and developed submarines (U-boats). France worked to build a stronger army and increased the time people had to serve in the military from two to three years. All the other nations of Europe began to spend much more money to make their armies extremely powerful. During the four years between 1910 and 1914, Germany and Austria both doubled the amount of money they spent on their militaries (Craig, 484). Technology made it possible to develop new weapons such as the machine gun. This made it possible to kill more enemies at one time and fight longer and harder than ever before. Another development was that the military had a bigger effect on g overnment policies, and sometimes military leaders were more powerful than civilian leaders (Craig, 485). At the same time, the countries of Europe were competing with one anotherShow MoreRelatedThe Causes of World War One1993 Words   |  8 Pagesï » ¿ World War One or ‘The Great War’ and its causes are still a hotly debated subject till today. There are many important causes and reasons for the war, some more important than others. Not only did the war cause a lot of disruption, chaos and death, it also set the scene for other wars to take place, which is one main reason why it was so significant in History. Many of the causes link and relate to each other and have different relative importance, when compared, to contributing to the outbreakRead MoreWorld War One Causes1240 Words   |  5 PagesThe First World War began as a test of strength among the might nations of Europe. 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