Unit VI. The Great War

A. Causes of the Great war

A. Causes of the Great War (MAIN) 1. Militarism a. The glorification of military power; arose in many nations in Europe during the late 1800’s *Led to fear and suspicion as nations became more willing to use military force to attain national goals *An arms race ensued, in which great powers competed with each other to expand their armies and navies -one of the fiercest rivalries was between Britain and Germany 2. Alliance Systems a. Increased tensions and suspicions led nations to form alliances *Nations agreed to defend each other in case of an attack *By 1914 several alliances had already been formed, two which would prove to be rather important -Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy -Triple Entente: France, Great Britain, and Russia

Alliance Systems during WWI

A. Causes of the Great War (cont’d) 3. Imperialism a. Imperialistic nations competed for colonies and economic supremacy *France and Germany competed especially for colonial gains in Africa *Great Britain and Germany competed industrially -Germany had industrialized rapidly, and the British felt threatened -Because of their mutual competition with Germany, Great Britain, and France began to form close ties with each other 4. Nationalism a. Germany and France *Nationalism was strong in both countries, especially after the 19 th century revolutions -unified Germany was proud of its growing military and industrial strength -France wanted to regain the position as a leading European power *France had lost the Franco-Prussian War in 1791, so tension btw the two nations increased -many French wanted revenge on Germany b. Pan-Slavism *The movement tried to unify all Slavic people under Russian protection -resulted in Russia coming to the aid of many smaller eastern European nations, especially in the Balkans, which were controlled by the Austria- Hungarian empire