Home — Essay Samples — History — Imperialism — Main Causes of World War 1: Discussion
Main Causes of World War 1: Discussion
- Categories: Imperialism Nationalism
About this sample
Words: 645 |
Updated: 16 November, 2023
Words: 645 | Page: 1 | 4 min read
The essay explores the causes of World War 1, which took place from 1914 to 1918. It begins with a brief overview of the war's timeline and the major countries involved, including the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, the United States of America, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The essay then delves into the four main causes of the war: Militarism, Nationalism, Imperialism, and Alliances.
Militarism is discussed as the policy of maintaining a strong military force and a readiness to use it aggressively for defense. The significant arms buildup and military spending by various countries, including Germany, are highlighted as contributing factors to the outbreak of the war.
Nationalism is described as the strong attachment to one's own nation and culture. It is explained how nationalism led to conflicts, including the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which triggered Austria's desire for revenge.
Imperialism, the expansion of a nation's power by dominating other countries, is presented as a factor due to the competition among European powers over control of African resources and territories.
Lastly, the essay discusses the role of Alliances, where countries formed partnerships to defend each other, often resulting in a domino effect of declarations of war.
Table of contents
- Causes of World War 1
Video Version
Causes o f world war 1, nationalism and imperialism.
A Good Hook Examples for WWI Essay
- A Glimpse into the Trenches: Step back in time and experience the chilling reality of life in the trenches of World War I. In this essay, we’ll immerse ourselves in the harrowing tales of soldiers who faced the horrors of the Great War.
- The War to End All Wars: Explore the monumental impact of World War I on global history. In this essay, we’ll dissect the events that led to the war, the key players, and the lasting consequences that continue to shape our world today.
- The Poetry of Conflict: World War I inspired a generation of poets to capture the raw emotions of battle. Join us as we analyze the powerful verses and poignant imagery that emerged from the trenches.
- Lessons from the Great War: As we commemorate the centennial of World War I, it’s crucial to reflect on the lessons learned from this catastrophic conflict. This essay delves into the war’s impact on diplomacy, technology, and the human spirit.
- Unsung Heroes of WWI: Beyond the famous generals and political leaders, there were countless unsung heroes in the Great War. In this essay, we’ll shine a light on the remarkable stories of bravery and sacrifice from the trenches to the home front.
- Strachan, H. (2014). The First World War: To Arms. Oxford University Press.
- MacMillan, M. (2013). The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914. Random House.
- Fay, S. B. (1928). The Origins of the World War (Vol. 1). The Macmillan Company.
- Gildea, R. (2003). Children of the Revolution: The French, 1799-1914. Harvard University Press.
- Kennedy, P. M. (1980). The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860-1914. Allen & Unwin.
Cite this Essay
To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:
Let us write you an essay from scratch
- 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
- Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours
Get high-quality help
Verified writer
- Expert in: History Government & Politics
+ 120 experts online
By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email
No need to pay just yet!
Related Essays
2 pages / 899 words
4 pages / 1595 words
4 pages / 1650 words
3 pages / 1150 words
Remember! This is just a sample.
You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.
121 writers online
Still can’t find what you need?
Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled
Related Essays on Imperialism
Imperialism is defined as one country’s domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. In the late 1800s, Europeans colonized countries, traded slaves, gold, and many other various resources. One of [...]
The narrative of African American resistance to imperialism is a multifaceted and deeply rooted aspect of American history. From the era of slavery to the civil rights movement, African Americans have continuously confronted [...]
American imperialism, the expansion of the United States' influence and territory beyond its continental borders, has been a defining feature of the nation's history. From the late 19th century to the present day, the United [...]
Hotel Rwanda is a powerful film that depicts the horrors of the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Directed by Terry George, the movie showcases a true story of how a hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina, saved countless lives amidst the [...]
Some claim the domino theory was the key reason for the US intervention in Asia as it halted communist progress, The Domino Theory was the belief that communism was spread from one nation to its neighbours and so on. It was [...]
Colonialism is a consistent theme within the history of Africa. It laces through the formative tapestry of the majority of African states today including Nigeria. Lagos was invaded by British forces in 1851 and formally annexed [...]
Related Topics
By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.
Where do you want us to send this sample?
By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.
Be careful. This essay is not unique
This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before
Download this Sample
Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts
Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.
Please check your inbox.
We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!
Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!
We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .
- Instructions Followed To The Letter
- Deadlines Met At Every Stage
- Unique And Plagiarism Free
- Modern History
The four MAIN causes of World War I explained
In 1914, a chain of events set off by the shot of a lone assassin in Sarajevo plunged the world into its first truly global conflict.
However, the reasons of this catastrophe ran far deeper than just this single event. In fact, Europe had been simmering for decades, bound together by fragile alliances, fierce rivalries, and the ambitions of empires.
Every decision, every treaty, and every political move, the great powers edged closer to war.
What, then, were the forces that made such destruction almost inevitable?
To explain the causes of the war, historians have tried to simplify it down to four main causes.
They create the acronym: MAIN.
Imperialism
Nationalism.
While this acronym is a useful way to remember the range of causes , it is important to be aware that this is a modern construction used to simplify very complex ideas.
One of the most commonly discussed causes of WWI was the system of alliances that existed by 1914, the year the war started.
An 'alliance' is an agreement made between two countries, where each side promises to help the other if required.
Most of the time, this involves military or financial assistance. On occasion, it also involved political obligations which may not always lead directly to military action.
Regardless, when an alliance is created, the countries involved are known as 'allies'.
By the dawn of the First World War , many European countries had entered into one or more alliances with other countries.
The most important of these was the Triple Alliance, which was formed in 1882, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. This created a powerful bloc in the centre of Europe.
In response to the Triple Alliance, the Triple Entente was formed in 1907, uniting France, Russia, and Britain in a loose agreement to counterbalance the power of Germany and its allies.
However, there were some notable examples of countries that tried to remain out of the alliance system.
This included neutral nations like Switzerland and the Netherlands, which had policies of neutrality that kept them out of the entangled alliance systems.
What made the formation of alliances an important cause of WWI, was the fact that these alliances were designed for mutual defense: meaning that if one member was attacked, others were bound to defend them.
So, if just one country attacked another, most of Europe would immediately be at war, as each country jumped in to help out their friends.
Imperialism, as a concept, has been around for a very long time in human history. Imperialism is the desire to build an empire for your country.
This usually involves invading and taking land owned by someone else and adding it to your empire.
By the 19th century, many European countries had been involved in imperialism by conquering less advanced nations in Asia, the Americas or Africa.
In fact, the fierce colonial competition for territories in Africa, known as the ' Scramble for Africa ', meant that nations like Germany, Britain, and France vied for dominance by seizing large tracts of land from smaller nations.
By 1900, the British Empire was the largest imperial power in the world. It controlled parts of five different continents and owned about a quarter of all land in the world.
France was also a large empire, with control over parts of south-east Asia and Africa.
By 1910, Germany had been trying to build its own empire to rival that of Britain and France and was interested in expanding its colonial holdings.
Germany's aggressive foreign policy was known as Weltpolitik, and it expressly aimed to expand its influence and challenge Britain’s dominance, particularly in terms of colonial acquisitions and naval strength.
This meant that when an opportunity for a war of conquest became available, Germany was very keen to take advantage of it.
Militarism is the belief that a country's army and navy (since air forces didn't exist at the start of WWI) were the primary means that nations resolved disagreement between each other.
It also glorified military power, which led to the belief that military solutions were desirable or inevitable when seeking a resolution to international conflicts.
As a result, countries like to boast about the power of their armed forces.
Some countries spent money improving their land armies, while others spent money on their navies.
Some countries tried to gain the advantage by having the greatest number of men in their armies, while others focused more on having the most advanced technology in their forces.
Regardless of how they approached it, countries used militarism as a way of gaining an edge on their opponents.
Kaiser Wilhelm II , the German Emperor from 1888 to 1918, invested a lot of time and effort into the militarization of Germany, especially in a more aggressive stance in European diplomacy.
An example of this competition for a military edge can be seen in the race between Britain and Germany to have the most powerful navy.
This led to a naval arms race between Britain and Germany, starting in around 1900.
However, Britain had developed the most advanced battleship of the age, known as a ' dreadnought ’, in 1906.
The Germans were so impressed by this, that they increased their government spending so that they also had some dreadnoughts.
So, by 1914, Britain had 29 dreadnought battleships, while Germany had 17.
The final of the four causes is nationalism. Nationalism is the idea that people should have a deep love for their country, even to the extent that they are willing to die for it.
Throughout the 19th century, most countries had developed their own form of nationalism, where they encouraged a love of the nation in their citizens through the process of creating national flags and writing national anthems.
Children at schools were taught that their country was the best in the world and that should it ever be threatened, that they should be willing to take up arms to defend it.
The growing nationalist movements created strong animosity between countries that had a history of armed conflict.
A good example of this is the deep anger that existed between Germany and France.
These two countries had a recent history of war and struggle over a small region between the two, called Alsace-Lorraine.
Germany had seized control of it after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, which the French were deeply upset by.
As a result, France believed that it should be willing to fight and die to take it back.
Conflicts and Crises
In the two decades before WWI started in 1914, there were a number of smaller conflicts and crises that had already threatened to turn into global conflicts.
While these didn't start the global war, it does show the four causes mentioned above and how they interacted in the real world.
The Moroccan Crisis
In 1904, Britain recognized France's sphere of influence over Morocco in North Africa in exchange for France recognizing Britain's sphere of influence in Egypt.
However, the Moroccans had a growing sense of nationalism and wanted their independence.
In 1905, Germany announced that they would support Morocco if they wanted to fight for their freedom.
To avoid war, a conference was held which allowed France to keep Morocco. Then, in 1911, the Germans again argued for Morocco to fight against France.
To again avoid war, Germany received territorial compensation in the French Congo as part of the 1911 Agadir Crisis in exchange for recognizing French control over Morocco.
The Bosnian Crisis
The nation of Austria-Hungary had been administrating the Turkish regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1878, but they formally annexed it in 1908.
The country of Serbia was outraged, because they felt that it should have been given to them. As a result, Serbia threatened to attack Austria-Hungary.
To support them, Russia, who was allied to Serbia, prepared its armed forces. Germany, however, who was allied to Austria-Hungary, also prepared its army and threaten to attack Russia.
Luckily, war was avoided because Russia backed down. However, during the Balkan Wars of1912-1913, Serbia and its allies gained territory from the weakening Ottoman Empire.
This led to heightened tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which would contribute to the regional instability that would soon escalate into World War I.
Further reading
What do you need help with, download ready-to-use digital learning resources.
Copyright © History Skills 2014-2024.
Contact via email
- Undergraduate
- High School
- Architecture
- American History
- Asian History
- Antique Literature
- American Literature
- Asian Literature
- Classic English Literature
- World Literature
- Creative Writing
- Linguistics
- Criminal Justice
- Legal Issues
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Political Science
- World Affairs
- African-American Studies
- East European Studies
- Latin-American Studies
- Native-American Studies
- West European Studies
- Family and Consumer Science
- Social Issues
- Women and Gender Studies
- Social Work
- Natural Sciences
- Pharmacology
- Earth science
- Agriculture
- Agricultural Studies
- Computer Science
- IT Management
- Mathematics
- Investments
- Engineering and Technology
- Engineering
- Aeronautics
- Medicine and Health
- Alternative Medicine
- Communications and Media
- Advertising
- Communication Strategies
- Public Relations
- Educational Theories
- Teacher's Career
- Chicago/Turabian
- Company Analysis
- Education Theories
- Shakespeare
- Canadian Studies
- Food Safety
- Relation of Global Warming and Extreme Weather Condition
- Movie Review
- Admission Essay
- Annotated Bibliography
- Application Essay
- Article Critique
- Article Review
- Article Writing
- Book Review
- Business Plan
- Business Proposal
- Capstone Project
- Cover Letter
- Creative Essay
- Dissertation
- Dissertation - Abstract
- Dissertation - Conclusion
- Dissertation - Discussion
- Dissertation - Hypothesis
- Dissertation - Introduction
- Dissertation - Literature
- Dissertation - Methodology
- Dissertation - Results
- GCSE Coursework
- Grant Proposal
- Marketing Plan
- Multiple Choice Quiz
- Personal Statement
- Power Point Presentation
- Power Point Presentation With Speaker Notes
- Questionnaire
- Reaction Paper
- Research Paper
- Research Proposal
- SWOT analysis
- Thesis Paper
- Online Quiz
- Literature Review
- Movie Analysis
- Statistics problem
- Math Problem
- All papers examples
- How It Works
- Money Back Policy
- Terms of Use
- Privacy Policy
- We Are Hiring
World War 1 and World War 2, Essay Example
Pages: 2
Words: 590
Hire a Writer for Custom Essay
Use 10% Off Discount: "custom10" in 1 Click 👇
You are free to use it as an inspiration or a source for your own work.
The two world wars made significant impacts in the world, which are experienced in various regions and by various groups even today. One of the greatest similarities evident in the two wars is the parties involved in the wars. In both cases, the war was between two parties. While the Allies and the Central Powers were the parties in the First World War, the Axis and the Allies were the parties in the Second World War. The Allies of the First World War included Russia, France, United Kingdom, and Triple Entente. The Central Powers included Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. However, Italy later withdrew from the war after Austria-Hungry took the offensive
World War I was triggered by the death of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke F. Ferdinand. He was the successor of the reigning ruler. The assassination was done by a Yugoslav nationalist. This was seen as war against Austria-Hungary. Therefore, the kingdom’s allies were gathered in readiness for retaliation. On the other hand, the Second World War was triggered by German’s invasion of Poland because it wanted to expand its empire. Subsequently, France and most of the commonwealth countries had declared war on Italy and Germany. Thus, the Second World War began. However, China and Japan were already at war prior to these incidences.
In both wars, the United States’ first attempt was to stay neutral to all parties. However, this attempt did not last long after the United States was pressured to take a stand by the other countries. In both wars, the United States ended up aiding the Allies. President Woodrow Wilson aided the WW1 while Franklin Roosevelt oversaw the second one. This occurred after the United States realized that the Germans were acting as the villains. The United States aided in military and weaponry resources, funds, healthcare and food, amongst other resources. In both cases, the country was on the winning party.
While the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and the Holocaust are the most memorable war crimes in the Second World War, the genocides in Greek, Assyria and Armenia are the most memorable in the First World War. Armenian genocide occurred under ethnic cleansing. This was done by the Ottoman Empire because they perceived the Armenians as the enemy. The Russians were also involved in the death Jews, and Germans because they killed them in thousands. In the Second World War, the Holocaust involved the death of many Jews who were said to be in millions. These Jews were in concentration camps. The Atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima killed more than 166, 000 people within the first four months. These bombings were done by the United States, the China republic and the United Kingdom, which had urged Japan to surrender from the Pacific War, a continuation of the Second World War, without any success. The aftermath of these bombings are still experienced even today.
While the first world War resulted to the change of larger entities (empires/countries) such as imperialistic foreign policies of Italy, French Republic, Ottoman, Austria-Hungarian, British, Russian, and the German Empires, the Second World War influenced individuals. For example, the women in the United States and other significant regions were significantly impacted towards working and fighting for their rights. During the warring period, they had taken up the factory jobs and other jobs to safeguard their families as the majority of the men were in the warring countries. When the war ended, they still wanted to work. This led to the women’s campaigns for their right to work and do other activities that were limited to the men.
Stuck with your Essay?
Get in touch with one of our experts for instant help!
Communism, Essay Example
Representation of God in Different Periods, Essay Example
Time is precious
don’t waste it!
Plagiarism-free guarantee
Privacy guarantee
Secure checkout
Money back guarantee
Related Essay Samples & Examples
Relatives, essay example.
Pages: 1
Words: 364
Voting as a Civic Responsibility, Essay Example
Words: 287
Utilitarianism and Its Applications, Essay Example
Words: 356
The Age-Related Changes of the Older Person, Essay Example
Words: 448
The Problems ESOL Teachers Face, Essay Example
Pages: 8
Words: 2293
Should English Be the Primary Language? Essay Example
Pages: 4
Words: 999
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
The effects of World War I can be seen around the world even now, more than one hundred years after its end; however, there is still no consensus as to its cause. In the words of Alfred Korzybski, “the dest…
The Causes of World War One. Over a long period, most countries in Europe made joint defense treaties that would help them in battle if the need arose. This was for defense purposes. For instance, Russia linked with Serbia, Germany …
The First World War (WWI) was fought from 1914 to 1918 and the Second World War (or WWII) was fought from 1939 to 1945. They were the largest military conflicts in human history. Both …
Although it is challenging to pinpoint a singular cause for the war, several factors leading up to it serve as valid explanations for the outbreak of World War 1. This essay explores four primary causes of World War 1: …
Lists covering some of the major causes and effects of World War I, international conflict that in 1914–18 embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the United States, the Middle East, and other regions. The war was …
One of the most commonly discussed causes of WWI was the system of alliances that existed by 1914, the year the war started. An 'alliance' is an agreement made between two countries, where each side promises to help the …
World War I was triggered by the death of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke F. Ferdinand. He was the successor of the reigning ruler. The assassination was done by a Yugoslav nationalist.
World War I, international conflict that in 1914–18 embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the U.S., the Middle East, and other regions. It led to the fall of four great imperial dynasties and, in its …
Notably, the formation of alliances and imperialism were the long-term causes, while the death of Archduke Ferdinand and Serbia’s failure to honor the ten-point ultimatum were the immediate causes of WW1. Get a custom essay on The …