1. Causes of the First World War
Canadian History 30F

2. Crash Courses How World War I Started Part 1 9 minutes
Who Started WWI Part 2 11 minutes

3. militarism
In the early 20th century there was a massive build up of military arsenals in Europe
The competitive arms race between countries like Great Britain, Germany and Russia led to a dangerous stockpile of weapons
Advances in technology also led to deadlier weapons ex. machine guns, subs

4. Imperialism
Refers to the British Empire, which stretched ¼ of the globe
Other countries, like Germany, were in competition with Great Britain
Animosity grew as competition increased for global territory

5. Nationalism The growing desire for nationhood was popular in Europe
The Austrian-Hungary empire was home to 50 million ethnic minorities such as Ukrainians, Serbs, and Bosnians and many desired independence
Events in Bosnia and Herzegovina would play a huge role in the outbreak of the war

6. Military alliances
There were two key alliances that had evolved in Europe
The Triple Entente (Allies) was made up of France, Russia, and Great Britain
The Triple Alliance (Axis) included Austria- Hungary, Germany and Italy
This network of alliances allowed a small conflict to quickly spread into something much larger

7. Assassination
On June 28th, 1914 Archduke of Austria- Hungary Franz Ferdinand was shot by a Serbian nationalist
When Aus-Hung declared war on Serbia, Russia came to its defence
When Russia began to mobilize its army Germany immediately declared war on Russia and then on France
When the German army invaded Belgium Britain declared war on Germany (Aug 4), which meant Canada was automatically at war as well

8. Canada in 1914
Canada PM for the duration of the war was a Conservative imperialist named Robert Borden
Borden pledged there would be no conscription in Canada
Canada’s initial wave of volunteers was 30,000 (within one month of war declaration)
Between unemployment and adventure many were eager to fight

9. The Western Front

10. Trench Warfare
After the initial German advance was halted in late 1914, a long period of trench warfare emerged
Soldiers would live in the trenches for two week periods at a time moving from front-line to support-line and to the reserve line
Attempts to advance from trench lines to advance on the enemy would result in thousands of deaths at a time for both sides