CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

NATIONALISM• Extreme pride and devotion to your country

• Primarily seen in the Balkans

• Many nationalistic groups lived there

• Groups:

• Serbs

• Slavs

• Fought against foreign rule of

• Ottomans

• Austria-Hungary

IMPERIALISM• Countries wanting to take over other areas to not only have control, but to take resources

and raw materials

• Creates rivalries amongst European nations – leads to issues and increased tension

• Countries fighting for imperialist control:

• Germany

• Italy

• Austria-Hungary

• Great Britain

• France

• United States

MILITARISM• Building up of weapons and means to wage war

• Done by many to protect their interests

• Militarism was capable because of the vast industrial power of these nations

• As one country built up military another would do the same

• Started by Germany

• Spread to France and England

ALLIANCES• Nations started to make agreements to protect each other in case of attacks

• Two main groups arose in Europe:

• Triple Entente:

• France

• Russia

• Great Britain

• Triple Alliance:

• Germany

• Austria-Hungary

• Italy

WAR STARTS• Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife assassinated in Balkans by Gavrilo Princip – sets off

World War I

• Austria-Hungary attacks – Russian Alliance with Serbia kicks in and Russians attack Austria-Hungary

• Germany then goes to war because of alliance with Austria

• Schlieffen Plan – German plan to invade France through Belgium

• Germany invades Belgium

• France and England declare war on Germany

• The two sides:

• Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire

• Allied Powers – France, Great Britain, Russia

• World is at War by August of 1914

QUESTIONS• What were the causes of World War I?

• Why was militarism emerging in Europe?

• What were the two main alliances in Europe?

• What event set off World War I?

• What role did alliances play in causing the war to spread?

• What was the Schlieffen Plan?

• What were the two sides during the war?

• What year saw the war break out in Europe?