Part 1

Causes of
the first
world war
 Imperialism and the Age of Empires

Since the 15th century, the great powers were

always prepared to participate in war because of
the aggressive expansion of territory by European
nations. Also in the 19th century Massive
industrialization fueled the Great Powers' desire to
expand their domains greater, to obtain resources.
Germany (who was struggling to establish its
presence) started an aggressive campaign to
establish itself as an imperial power. Naturally,
this goal brought it into conflict with other imperial
powers, in particular Britain and France.
 Increasing Militarism

Imperialism generated nothing but trouble,

promoting distrust and tension among the Great
Powers. Germany's aspiration to be a major power
drove it to build up its military to match Britain's
naval strength. In return, Britain significantly
increased the size of its navy and built the HMS
Dreadnought, the largest and fastest battleship in
the world. This buildup of militarys also forced
France who had long standing grudges with Germany
to arm itself in a desperate attempt to maintain the
balance of power. This arms race amplified
international tensions, and by 1914 Europe had
become an armed camp.
 The Role of the Balkans

With the limited land resources in Europe, the

Balkans (Geographic region on the Adriatic Sea in
southeastern Europe) gained the interests of the
great powers. Several nations were located in the
Balkans, including Slovenia, Serbia, and Croatia.
Russia's approach to gain influence to the region was
to promote Pan Slavism, which secure access to
warm water ports. Austria-Hungary saw Pan-Slavism
as a threat to its power because it would lose its
influence in the region if they united. While The
Ottoman Empire had already lost its hold of the
Balkans and feared losing even more territory.
 The False Security of Alliances

The extreme competition in Europe created with in

the great powers lead to a rush for alliances. At the
start of the 20th century, all great powers were either
in an alliance. This promoted security because if you
knew everyone else was going to attack you if you
attacked, you would think twice before attacking.
Unfortunately this was the case and in fact this had
the opposite effect because it drew countries in war
easier and in ww1 one event dragged all of Europe
with it.
 The Threat of Nationalism

During the expansion of the great powers in Europe,

chaos was rampant which seemed to have created
momentum for nationalism in many colonies on both
sides of the spectrum. Nationalism at the time was
either being proud of your mother land or proud of
your own cultural identity. In the Balkans many
Slavs wanted independence. Also during this time a
group called the Black Hand was formed made up of
Bosnian Serbs who wanted to unite Slavic people to
form a Greater Serbia. Austro-Hungarian
imperialist saw this as a deadly idea and that it had
to be crushed.
 A Chain Reaction

During June of 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was

deployed to Sarajevo to exhibit Austro-Hungarian
empires imperial rule. Unfortunately, little did Franz
know was that this would be his last visit, this is
because his stay would be cut short by the Black
Hand assassination. This careless action would burst
the bubble between the great powers and start the
 A Chain Reaction
first world war. Once Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia
for the assassination and delivered them with an
ultimatum, which was fully accepted a war started
between them. Subsequently Germany then declared
war on both Russia and France. As a result of
Germanys actions, Belgium and Luxembourg were
required to be annexed, which forced Britain to join
the war to protect its ally, which also drew all British
colonies consequentially (including Canada)