Causes of World War I 1914-1918

Long-Term Causes of War Europe was in so much conflict it was a powder keg waiting to explode and the powder was… Militarism Alliances Industrialization Nationalism

Militarism (glorification of the military) European leaders knew there was a war coming so they start to prepare Increase the size of their armies and stockpile weapons Germany was the frontrunner and Britain wanted to keep up Creates an arms race This guaranteed that the next war was going to be deadly Machine guns, tanks, submarines, airplanes

Alliances (making friends) Another way to prepare for war Allied Powers or Triple Entente: France, Russia, and Great Britain…US later Central Powers or Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Italy If one of these countries went to war than all of them would go to war as well…would ensure that war would be deadly

Industrialization (economic competition) Fueled by imperialism (the more overseas colonies the wealthier a nation was) Trade Industrial output (out produce other countries) Germany was threatening America’s dominance

Nationalism (devotion to one’s nation) Nations are starting to have pride in the majority ethnic group in their country Countries reject that they are collections of different ethnic groups Fueled by Social Darwinism

Short Term Cause (Immediate Cause) Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria- Hungary He and his wife were killed by Princip a Serbian nationalists (wanted Serbia to be part of Bosnia not A- H, also supported by the Allied Powers) who believed that the Archduke was a tyrant A-H investigates…Serbians are non compliant…A-H declares war

Alliances are Tested After A-H declared war there is a domino affect in one short week a world war had started Russia began to mobilize to help its ally Serbia…Germany declares war on Russia…France has Russia’s back and declares war on Germany…Germany invades neutral Belgium to get to France and then Great Britain declared war on Germany

Trench Warfare On each front (east and west) of Germany trenches were dug in the ground for cover Led to deadly stalemate The area between two opposing trenches was known as “no man’s land” because this was the most dangerous place to be Mustard Gas was a new technology that could be used to attack the enemy without getting too close to the trenches…lingered on the battlefield for days Leaves chemical burns (blisters) or can burn the respiratory system if not fatal Now a gas mask is part of a soldiers uniform

What Will America Do? President Wilson encouraged America to be neutral (Washington’s suggestion) Three Opinions of the War Isolationists (aka Neutralists): the war is none of our business Interventionists: the war did affect America Internationalists: took the middle road (Pres. Wilson) But many Americans still chose sides and were affected indirectly…many Americans were immigrants from the countries at war Most side with Britain and France

America’s Neutrality is Tested ( Unrestricted Submarine Warfare) Germany set up a blockade around Britain using u-boats or submarines…went undetected and unrestricted Germany attacked British passenger liner the Lusitania…America is outraged but remained neutral To keep the US out of the war, Germany promised, in the Sussex Pledge, not to sink passenger or merchant ships…they broke this promise

America Gets Ready for War Expanded the size of the US Army and started building more warships (militarism) Wilson runs for a successful reelection in 1916 on the slogan “he kept us out of war”

America Abandons Neutrality Germany resumes its unrestricted submarine warfare Zimmerman Telegram was intercepted by the British Germany tries to gain Mexico as an ally by giving back Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to Mexico upon a German victory America is outraged by the attempt and US declared war on Germany in 1917