The Causes of WW1

•Militarism

•Alliances

•Nationalism

•Imperialism

•Assassination

Militarism

• Building up a country’s army and

navy, as well as getting more

weapons.

Militarism 1.

• Germany was competing

with the UK to build

battleships.

• The British feared an

attack on their Empire

Militarism 2.

• Germany was

competing with

Russia and France to

expand their armies 1880 1914

• Germany 1.3m 5.0m

• France 0.73m 4.0m

• Russia 0.40m 1.2m

Alliances

• A group formed to help each

other, especially between

countries or organizations.

Alliances

• By 1914 all the major

powers were linked by

a system of alliances.

• The alliances made it

more likely that a war

would start.

• Once started, the

alliances made it more

likely to spread.

Pre-War Alliances • Triple Entente: Triple Alliance:

Two Armed Camps at War!!

Allied Powers: Central Powers:

Nationalism

• Strong (Extreme) pride in

one’s nation/country or ethnic

group

Nationalism

• This was an age when all nations wanted to

assert their power and independence.

• In Europe Slavs, aided by Serbia and

Russia, wanted to be free of Austrian rule.

Serbia’s

national

flag

Imperialism

• One country controlling the

economics and government of

another country or territory

Imperialism

• All the great powers were

competing for colonies /

territory.

• The British feared Germany in

Africa.

• The Austrians feared Serbia /

Russia in the Balkans

The Major Players: 1914-17 Allied Powers: Central Powers:

Nicholas II

[Rus]

George V [Br]

Pres. Poincare [Fr]

Victor Emmanuel II [It]

Franz Josef [A-H]

Enver Pasha [Turkey]

Wilhelm II [Ger]

Europe in 1914

“The Spark”

• The Balkan countries, including Bosnia,

wanted to form their own separate

country, but Bosnia was still controlled

by Austria-Hungary.

• A radical group called,“the Black Hand”

wanted Bosnia-Herzegovina to leave the

Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Pan-Slavism: The Balkans, 1914

• The “Powder Keg” of Europe

The Crisis.(Assassination)

• 28 June, 1914

• Heir to Austrian throne Franz Ferdinand visits Sarajevo.

• Capital of Bosnia, recently grabbed by Austria.

• Hotbed of Slav nationalism

Seal of the

Black Hand

group

Archduke Franz Ferdinand & His Family

The “Black Hand” Group made plans to assassinate Ferdinand.

Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were escorted through the

city in a car that had its top rolled down in order to allow

the crowd to see them.

At 10:15, one man hurled a

bomb at the archduke’s car, but

it missed the archduke’s car

hitting the car behind him.

Soon after, another member

of the Black Hand, Gavrilo

Princip , would shoot

Ferdinand in the neck and

Sophie in the abdomen.

Both would die soon

afterwards.

The Assassin: Gavrilo

Princip

The Assassination: Sarajevo

Assassination leads to War!

• Austrians blame Serbia for supporting terrorists.

• Austrians, supported by Germany, send Serbia a tough ultimatum.

• Serbia agrees to all but two terms of the ultimatum.

“Demands must be

put to Serbia that

would be wholly

impossible for them

to accept …”

Declarations of War

• Russia - Came to the defense of Serbia.

• July 28, 1914 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

• August 1, 1914 - Germany – declares war on Russia and

France.

• Germany moves its troops ( Schlieffen Plan)

• Eastern Front – attacks Russia Western Front – Attacks

France

• August 4, 1914 - Britain declares war on Germany.

• 1915 – Italy switches sides to the Allies.

• - They were promised a part of the Austria-Hungary

Empire after the war from the Allied Countries.

• The United States remains Neutral ( favored Allies).

The Allies:

Central Powers:

Neutral Nations

1915

Austria-Hungary

Germany

Bulgaria

Russia

France

England