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• 20th Century

The 4 M-A-I-N Causes of World War One

Alex Browne

28 sep 2021.

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It’s possibly the single most pondered question in history – what caused World War One? It wasn’t, like in World War Two, a case of a single belligerent pushing others to take a military stand. It didn’t have the moral vindication of resisting a tyrant.

Rather, a delicate but toxic balance of structural forces created a dry tinder that was lit by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo . That event precipitated the July Crisis, which saw the major European powers hurtle toward open conflict.

The M-A-I-N acronym – militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism – is often used to analyse the war, and each of these reasons are cited to be the 4 main causes of World War One. It’s simplistic but provides a useful framework.

The late nineteenth century was an era of military competition, particularly between the major European powers. The policy of building a stronger military was judged relative to neighbours, creating a culture of paranoia that heightened the search for alliances. It was fed by the cultural belief that war is good for nations.

Germany in particular looked to expand its navy. However, the ‘naval race’ was never a real contest – the British always s maintained naval superiority.  But the British obsession with naval dominance was strong. Government rhetoric exaggerated military expansionism.  A simple naivety in the potential scale and bloodshed of a European war prevented several governments from checking their aggression.

A web of alliances developed in Europe between 1870 and 1914 , effectively creating two camps bound by commitments to maintain sovereignty or intervene militarily – the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance.

• The Triple Alliance of 1882 linked Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
• The Triple Entente of 1907 linked France, Britain and Russia.

A historic point of conflict between Austria Hungary and Russia was over their incompatible Balkan interests, and France had a deep suspicion of Germany rooted in their defeat in the 1870 war.

The alliance system primarily came about because after 1870 Germany, under Bismarck, set a precedent by playing its neighbours’ imperial endeavours off one another, in order to maintain a balance of power within Europe

‘Hark! hark! the dogs do bark!’, satirical map of Europe. 1914

Image Credit: Paul K, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Imperialism

Imperial competition also pushed the countries towards adopting alliances. Colonies were units of exchange that could be bargained without significantly affecting the metro-pole. They also brought nations who would otherwise not interact into conflict and agreement. For example, the Russo-Japanese War (1905) over aspirations in China, helped bring the Triple Entente into being.

It has been suggested that Germany was motivated by imperial ambitions to invade Belgium and France. Certainly the expansion of the British and French empires, fired by the rise of industrialism and the pursuit of new markets, caused some resentment in Germany, and the pursuit of a short, aborted imperial policy in the late nineteenth century.

However the suggestion that Germany wanted to create a European empire in 1914 is not supported by the pre-war rhetoric and strategy.

Nationalism

Nationalism was also a new and powerful source of tension in Europe. It was tied to militarism, and clashed with the interests of the imperial powers in Europe. Nationalism created new areas of interest over which nations could compete.

For example, The Habsburg empire was tottering agglomeration of 11 different nationalities, with large slavic populations in Galicia and the Balkans whose nationalist aspirations ran counter to imperial cohesion. Nationalism in the Balkan’s also piqued Russia’s historic interest in the region.

Indeed, Serbian nationalism created the trigger cause of the conflict – the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

The spark: the assassination

Ferdinand and his wife were murdered in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Bosnian Serbian nationalist terrorist organization the ‘Black Hand Gang.’ Ferdinand’s death, which was interpreted as a product of official Serbian policy, created the July Crisis – a month of diplomatic and governmental miscalculations that saw a domino effect of war declarations initiated.

The historical dialogue on this issue is vast and distorted by substantial biases. Vague and undefined schemes of reckless expansion were imputed to the German leadership in the immediate aftermath of the war with the ‘war-guilt’ clause. The notion that Germany was bursting with newfound strength, proud of her abilities and eager to showcase them, was overplayed.

The first page of the edition of the ‘Domenica del Corriere’, an Italian paper, with a drawing by Achille Beltrame depicting Gavrilo Princip killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo

Image Credit: Achille Beltrame, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The almost laughable rationalization of British imperial power as ‘necessary’ or ‘civilizing’ didn’t translate to German imperialism, which was ‘aggressive’ and ‘expansionist.’ There is an on-going historical discussion on who if anyone was most culpable.

Blame has been directed at every single combatant at one point or another, and some have said that all the major governments considered a golden opportunity for increasing popularity at home.

The Schlieffen plan could be blamed for bringing Britain into the war, the scale of the war could be blamed on Russia as the first big country to mobilise, inherent rivalries between imperialism and capitalism could be blamed for polarising the combatants. AJP Taylor’s ‘timetable theory’ emphasises the delicate, highly complex plans involved in mobilization which prompted ostensibly aggressive military preparations.

Every point has some merit, but in the end what proved most devastating was the combination of an alliance network with the widespread, misguided belief that war is good for nations, and that the best way to fight a modern war was to attack. That the war was inevitable is questionable, but certainly the notion of glorious war, of war as a good for nation-building, was strong pre-1914. By the end of the war, it was dead.

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• Modern History

The four MAIN causes of World War I explained

In 1914, a chain of events set off by the shot of a lone assassin in Sarajevo plunged the world into its first truly global conflict.

However, the reasons of this catastrophe ran far deeper than just this single event. In fact, Europe had been simmering for decades, bound together by fragile alliances, fierce rivalries, and the ambitions of empires.

Every decision, every treaty, and every political move, the great powers edged closer to war.

What, then, were the forces that made such destruction almost inevitable?

To explain the causes of the war, historians have tried to simplify it down to four main causes.

They create the acronym: MAIN. 

Imperialism

Nationalism.

While this acronym is a useful way to remember the range of causes , it is important to be aware that this is a modern construction used to simplify very complex ideas.

One of the most commonly discussed causes of WWI was the system of alliances that existed by 1914, the year the war started.

An 'alliance' is an agreement made between two countries, where each side promises to help the other if required.

Most of the time, this involves military or financial assistance. On occasion, it also involved political obligations which may not always lead directly to military action.

Regardless, when an alliance is created, the countries involved are known as 'allies'.

By the dawn of the First World War , many European countries had entered into one or more alliances with other countries.

The most important of these was the Triple Alliance, which was formed in 1882, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. This created a powerful bloc in the centre of Europe.

In response to the Triple Alliance, the Triple Entente was formed in 1907, uniting France, Russia, and Britain in a loose agreement to counterbalance the power of Germany and its allies.

However, there were some notable examples of countries that tried to remain out of the alliance system.

This included neutral nations like Switzerland and the Netherlands, which had policies of neutrality that kept them out of the entangled alliance systems.

What made the formation of alliances an important cause of WWI, was the fact that these alliances were designed for mutual defense: meaning that if one member was attacked, others were bound to defend them.

So, if just one country attacked another, most of Europe would immediately be at war, as each country jumped in to help out their friends. 

Imperialism, as a concept, has been around for a very long time in human history. Imperialism is the desire to build an empire for your country.

This usually involves invading and taking land owned by someone else and adding it to your empire. 

By the 19th century, many European countries had been involved in imperialism by conquering less advanced nations in Asia, the Americas or Africa.

In fact, the fierce colonial competition for territories in Africa, known as the ' Scramble for Africa ', meant that nations like Germany, Britain, and France vied for dominance by seizing large tracts of land from smaller nations.

By 1900, the British Empire was the largest imperial power in the world. It controlled parts of five different continents and owned about a quarter of all land in the world.

France was also a large empire, with control over parts of south-east Asia and Africa.

By 1910, Germany had been trying to build its own empire to rival that of Britain and France and was interested in expanding its colonial holdings.

Germany's aggressive foreign policy was known as Weltpolitik, and it expressly aimed to expand its influence and challenge Britain’s dominance, particularly in terms of colonial acquisitions and naval strength.

This meant that when an opportunity for a war of conquest became available, Germany was very keen to take advantage of it.

Militarism is the belief that a country's army and navy (since air forces didn't exist at the start of WWI) were the primary means that nations resolved disagreement between each other.

It also glorified military power, which led to the belief that military solutions were desirable or inevitable when seeking a resolution to international conflicts.

As a result, countries like to boast about the power of their armed forces.

Some countries spent money improving their land armies, while others spent money on their navies.

Some countries tried to gain the advantage by having the greatest number of men in their armies, while others focused more on having the most advanced technology in their forces.

Regardless of how they approached it, countries used militarism as a way of gaining an edge on their opponents.

Kaiser Wilhelm II , the German Emperor from 1888 to 1918, invested a lot of time and effort into the militarization of Germany, especially in a more aggressive stance in European diplomacy.

An example of this competition for a military edge can be seen in the race between Britain and Germany to have the most powerful navy.

This led to a naval arms race between Britain and Germany, starting in around 1900.

However, Britain had developed the most advanced battleship of the age, known as a ' dreadnought ’, in 1906.

The Germans were so impressed by this, that they increased their government spending so that they also had some dreadnoughts.

So, by 1914, Britain had 29 dreadnought battleships, while Germany had 17.

The final of the four causes is nationalism. Nationalism is the idea that people should have a deep love for their country, even to the extent that they are willing to die for it.

Throughout the 19th century, most countries had developed their own form of nationalism, where they encouraged a love of the nation in their citizens through the process of creating national flags and writing national anthems.

Children at schools were taught that their country was the best in the world and that should it ever be threatened, that they should be willing to take up arms to defend it.

The growing nationalist movements created strong animosity between countries that had a history of armed conflict.

A good example of this is the deep anger that existed between Germany and France.

These two countries had a recent history of war and struggle over a small region between the two, called Alsace-Lorraine.

Germany had seized control of it after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, which the French were deeply upset by.

As a result, France believed that it should be willing to fight and die to take it back.

Conflicts and Crises

In the two decades before WWI started in 1914, there were a number of smaller conflicts and crises that had already threatened to turn into global conflicts.

While these didn't start the global war, it does show the four causes mentioned above and how they interacted in the real world.

The Moroccan Crisis

In 1904, Britain recognized France's sphere of influence over Morocco in North Africa in exchange for France recognizing Britain's sphere of influence in Egypt.

However, the Moroccans had a growing sense of nationalism and wanted their independence.

In 1905, Germany announced that they would support Morocco if they wanted to fight for their freedom.

To avoid war, a conference was held which allowed France to keep Morocco. Then, in 1911, the Germans again argued for Morocco to fight against France.

To again avoid war, Germany received territorial compensation in the French Congo as part of the 1911 Agadir Crisis in exchange for recognizing French control over Morocco.

The Bosnian Crisis

The nation of Austria-Hungary had been administrating the Turkish regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1878, but they formally annexed it in 1908.

The country of Serbia was outraged, because they felt that it should have been given to them. As a result, Serbia threatened to attack Austria-Hungary.

To support them, Russia, who was allied to Serbia, prepared its armed forces. Germany, however, who was allied to Austria-Hungary, also prepared its army and threaten to attack Russia.

Luckily, war was avoided because Russia backed down. However, during the Balkan Wars of1912-1913, Serbia and its allies gained territory from the weakening Ottoman Empire.

This led to heightened tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which would contribute to the regional instability that would soon escalate into World War I.

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Home — Essay Samples — History — Imperialism — Main Causes of World War 1: Discussion

Main Causes of World War 1: Discussion

• Categories: Imperialism Nationalism

About this sample

Words: 645 |

Updated: 16 November, 2023

Words: 645 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

The essay explores the causes of World War 1, which took place from 1914 to 1918. It begins with a brief overview of the war's timeline and the major countries involved, including the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, the United States of America, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The essay then delves into the four main causes of the war: Militarism, Nationalism, Imperialism, and Alliances.

Militarism is discussed as the policy of maintaining a strong military force and a readiness to use it aggressively for defense. The significant arms buildup and military spending by various countries, including Germany, are highlighted as contributing factors to the outbreak of the war.

Nationalism is described as the strong attachment to one's own nation and culture. It is explained how nationalism led to conflicts, including the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which triggered Austria's desire for revenge.

Imperialism, the expansion of a nation's power by dominating other countries, is presented as a factor due to the competition among European powers over control of African resources and territories.

Lastly, the essay discusses the role of Alliances, where countries formed partnerships to defend each other, often resulting in a domino effect of declarations of war.

Table of contents

• Causes of World War 1

Nationalism and Imperialism

Video version, causes o f world war 1.

A Good Hook Examples for WWI Essay

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• Unsung Heroes of WWI: Beyond the famous generals and political leaders, there were countless unsung heroes in the Great War. In this essay, we’ll shine a light on the remarkable stories of bravery and sacrifice from the trenches to the home front.
• Strachan, H. (2014). The First World War: To Arms. Oxford University Press.
• MacMillan, M. (2013). The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914. Random House.
• Fay, S. B. (1928). The Origins of the World War (Vol. 1). The Macmillan Company.
• Gildea, R. (2003). Children of the Revolution: The French, 1799-1914. Harvard University Press.
• Kennedy, P. M. (1980). The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860-1914. Allen & Unwin.

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Militarism as a cause of World War I Facts & Worksheets

Militarism as a cause of world war i facts and information activity worksheet pack and fact file. includes 5 activities aimed at students 11-14 years old (ks3) & 5 activities aimed at students 14-16 year old (gcse). great for home study or to use within the classroom environment., download militarism as a cause of world war i worksheets.

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Student Activities

• The concept of militarism
• Its origin in Europe
• Military modernisation of major superpowers and weapons during the First World War

Key Facts And Information

Let us know more about the concept of militarism.

• Militarism is a concept where military personnel and ideas are incorporated into a civilian government. It is also the belief that military power is integral to national strength.
• According to Alfred Vagts, a German historian who served in World War I, “Domination of the military man over the civilian, an undue preponderance of military demands and an emphasis on military considerations.”
• Due to the effect of growing nationalism, European governments increased military spending purchasing new weaponry and increasing the size of armies and navies.

Origin of European Militarism

• European militarism is thought to have originated from the northern German kingdom of Prussia. Germany’s government and armed forces were designed on the Prussian model and many German generals and politicians were landowning Prussian nobles, also known as Junkers.
• Prussia was the most powerful German state prior to the unification of Germany in 1871 as Field Marshal von Moltke had reformed and modernised its army in the 1850s.
• New strategies and improved training for its officers were implemented under von Moltke’s leadership. He also introduced advanced weaponry and a more efficient means of command and communication. France’s massive defeat in 1871 by this army was a testament to its strength and efficiency, solidifying its status as the most formidable army in Europe.
• Subsequently, Germany unified in allowing Prussian militarism and German nationalism to become closely intertwined. Prussian commanders and their methodologies became the core of the new German imperial army.
• German unification gave birth to the Second Reich. The new German nation was headed by Kaiser Wilhelm I who acted as the supreme commander of the army. His military council and advisers were mostly composed of Junker aristocrats and officers.
• As a result, Prussian military men became the centre of the new German imperial army. The Reichstag, composed of elected civilian parliament, had no say in the government.
• In other parts of Europe, militarism looked different but it was still an important political and cultural force. In Britain, for example, militarism played an integral part in maintaining the nation’s imperial and trade interests, though more subdued than its German counterpart. Britain’s pride was the Royal Navy, which was, by far, the world’s largest naval force.
• It helped protect shipping, trade routes, and colonial ports. Order was kept, and imperial policies were implemented by British land forces in British colonies that included India, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
• British attitudes to the military underwent a transformation in the 19th century. Being a part of the British forces was depicted as a noble vocation and a selfless act of duty to one’s country.
• Just like in Germany, British soldiers were glorified and romanticised, both through the media and popular culture. This went against Britain’s initial thinking in the 18th century when they considered armies and navies an unnecessary evil.
• The ranks had been filled with the dregs of the lower class and most of their officers had not received sufficient training. This praise lauded on the soldiers was epitomised by Tennyson’s 1854 poem The Charge of the Light Brigade and was also reflected in popular novels about wars, both real and imagined.

Military Modernisation

• Military victories, whether in colonial wars or major conflicts like the Crimean War (1853-56) or the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), only served to increase the effect that militarism had and intensify nationalism.
• Conversely, military defeats like Russia losing to Japan in 1905 and the costly victory of Britain in the Boer War (1899-1902) exposed problems of militarism and heightened calls for military reform and decreased spending.
• Virtually every major European nation was involved in some form of military rejuvenation in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
• In Germany, the newly crowned Kaiser Wilhelm II fully endorsed military expansion and modernisation as he claimed to retain his country’s “place in the sun.”
• Public interest and the press drove the arms race in Britain as the monarchy took a back seat. In 1884, W. T. Stead, a prominent journalist, published a series of articles suggesting that Britain was unprepared for war, particularly its navy.
• This caused pressure groups like the British Navy League to voice their concerns and press for more ships and personnel.
• By the early 1900s, the Navy League and the press were calling on the government to commission more battleships. There was even a song composed, called “We want eight and we won’t wait!” to drive this point home.
• This pressure, coupled with other factors, caused European military expenditure between 1900 and 1914 to sky-rocket.
• The combined military expenditure of the six great powers totalled 94 million pounds in 1870 but it had increased by over four times to 398 million pounds by 1914.
• Germany’s expenditure during this period increased by over 73 percent, compared to France’s 10 percent and Britain’s 13 percent.
• Russia’s embarrassing defeat by the Japanese (1905) prompted the tsar to order massive changes in the form of a rearmament programme, causing Russian defence spending to increase by more than 33 percent. Around 45 percent of Russian government spending was allocated to the armed forces by 1910 with only five percent allocated to education.
• Every major European power apart from Britain had introduced or increased conscription to expand their armies.
• This was mostly achieved by youth being forced to join the army. Germany added 170,000 full-time soldiers to its army in 1913-14, which in turn increased the size of its navy - the construction of 17 new vessels was ordered in 1898.
• Berlin was also exemplary in the construction of military submarines (U-boats) and by 1914 the German navy had 29 operational submarines. The British were highly suspicious of this and responded by adding 29 new ships to the Royal Navy.
• There were changes in the quality and quantity of military weapons and equipment. After analysis of the Crimean War and other 19th century conflicts, military industrialists developed hundreds of improvements and rushed to patent them.
• Perhaps the most notable improvements were the calibre, range, and accuracy and portability of heavy artillery and weapons. During the American Civil War (1861 – 1865), a type of heavy artillery was invented that could fire up to 2,500 metres and by early 1900, it had been further improved. The invention of explosive shells was also significant.
• They had greater killing power as they would explode wherever they landed. These inventions caused artillery attacks to become standard practise along the Western Front during World War I.
• Barbed wire, an invention of the 1860s, was also embraced by military strategists as it prevented enemies from getting past a defensive line.
• First developed in 1881, overtime machine guns became smaller, lighter, more accurate, more reliable, and faster with some capable of firing up to 600 rounds per minute. Small firearms also improved during this period. The effective range of a rifle in the 1860s was only about 400 metres.

Weapons of WWI

• During WWI, all nations used rifles as firearms. These included Lee-Enfield .303, Mannlicher-Carcano M1891, 6.5 mm, Mosin-Nagant M1891 7.62, Springfield 1903 .30-06, Steyr-Mannlicher M95, mauser M98G 7.92 mm and Mauser M1877 7.65 mm.
• Machine guns based on Hiram Maxim’s 1884 design were also Usually they can sustain up to 450 to 600 rounds per minute. In time, machine guns replaced rifles.
• In 1915, war history recorded the use of flamethrowers by the Germans at Malancourt, Verdun. Nitrogen pressure was used to spray fuel oil and ignite, producing fire.
• In 1915, the British introduced the Stokes mortar design that could fire up to 22 three-inch shells per minute, which can reach 1,200 yards. Meanwhile, the Germans developed min thrower with 10-inch barrel firing shells of metal balls.
• Gas attack during WWI was first fired by the German at the battle in the Ypres area. Cylinders with chlorine gas were used, which attacked the eyes and respiratory system of the enemy. Mustard gas, which had effects on the skin soon followed.
• Land battleship was materialized by the British with the development of tanks. Little Willie was the first British tank to enter the war. France and Germany soon developed their own.
• The First World War also witnessed the air war of long planes armed with machine guns. Aircrafts in lightweight designs were soon replaced with multi-engine bombers. Long-range operations like the bombing of London were carried out by aircrafts.
• Prior to Germany’s U-boats, submarines were already developed by Britain, Russia, France and the United States, however, such technology was associated to the German Imperial Army. Submarines attacked beneath the water powered by torpedoes.

The Causes and Effects of World War I Essay

Introduction.

The effects of World War I can be seen around the world even now, more than one hundred years after its end; however, there is still no consensus as to its cause. In the words of Alfred Korzybski, “the destruction was brought about by nationalism, entangled alliances, narrow ethnic concerns, and desires for political gain – forces that are still with people today.” (cited in Levinson, 2014). Even though the majority of United States citizens did not have the direct experience of the terrific upset that the war caused in Europe, it can be argued that the country’s concern with championing democracy around the globe is one of its products (Levinson, 2014).

Many historians agree that an atmosphere of twentieth-century Europe was conducive to the creation of a complex mixture of economic, social, and political reasons that translated into powerful forces of imperialistic, nationalistic, and militaristic movements leading to the diplomatic crises of 1914 (Donaldson, 2014). Therefore, it can be said that the blame for the war could not be assigned to any individual country or a group of countries.

Nonetheless, the issue of responsibility was the main focus of the world in the years following the Armistice of 1918 (Donaldson, 2014). To this end, the Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and the Enforcement of Penalties met in Paris in 1919 (Donaldson, 2014). The investigation conducted by the commission showed that Germany and Austria, along with Turkey and Bulgaria as their allies, were responsible for the aggressive foreign policy tactics that led to the precipitation of the war (Donaldson, 2014).

The start of World War I was precipitated by the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, on June 28, 1914 (Mulligan, 2010) The elimination of the high-standing official was carried out by the group of secret society members called Black Hand and directed by Bosnian Serb Danilo Ilić (Storey, 2009). The political objective of the murder was to separate Austria-Hungary’s South Slav provinces to combine them into Yugoslavia (Storey, 2009).

In response to the killing of their official, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia that commanded its government to prosecute the assassins. The objective of the ultimatum was to make its terms so strict that Serbia would be forced to reject it, thereby giving an excuse for launching a small war against it (Storey, 2009). Taking into consideration that Serbia had diplomatic relationships with Russia strengthened by their shared Slavic ties, the Austro-Hungarian government decided to take precautions against the two countries declaring war on it and allied with Germany. It is agreed that Germany was not opposed to Austro-Hungarian bellicosity, but rather supported and encouraged it, thus providing one more reason for the precipitation of the Great War (Levinson, 2014).

Even though Serbia’s response to the ultimatum was placating, Austria-Hungary decided to take aggressive action and declare war. It is argued that the main reason for World War I was the web of entangling alliances among the countries having an interest in the conflict between Austro-Hungary and Serbia (Storey, 2009). Following the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war, the Russian monarch mobilized his army because of the binding commitment of the treaty signed by the two countries.

As a result, on August 3, 1914, Germany declared war on the Russian Empire (Levinson, 2014). France was bound by treaty to Russia, and, therefore, had to start a war on Austria-Hungary and Germany. Even though a treaty tying France and Britain was loosely worded, the latter country had “a moral obligation” to defend the former (Levinson, 2014). Therefore, Britain and its allies Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Japan, and the Union of South Africa also took a bellicose stance against Germany and offered their assistance in the military action against the country (Levinson, 2014). Thus, a gigantic web of entangling alliances pushed numerous countries to the precipice of war over what was intended to be a small-scale conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.

Numerous other reasons led to World War I. The conflicting political interests of Russia and Japan over Manchuria and Korea resulted in a military defeat of Russia (Levinson, 2014). Therefore, the country wanted to restore its dignity by a victorious war. During the same period, a lot of small nations were seething with discontent over the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian rule, thereby providing an opportunity for the Russian Empire further to stir resentment by firing up nationalistic zeal under a pretense of pan-Slavic narrative (Levinson, 2014).

Austria-Hungary, on the other hand, sought an opportunity to establish its influence over a vast territory of mixed nations; the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne provided them with a perfect excuse for the initiation of the war. Political clashes in Germany were a reason for the country’s government to resort to the military conflict as a way of “averting civil unrest” (Levinson, 2014). Another factor that caused World War I was the desire of France to revenge a military defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 (Levinson, 2014).

It is impossible to name a single reason for the initiation of World War I. However, it is clear that the entangling web of alliances among numerous parties participating in the war, as well as complicated plots of governments and empires, led the small-scale dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia escalating into a military conflict that swept the entire world.

Donaldson, P. (2014). Interpreting the origins of the First World War. Teaching History , 155 (4), 32-33.

Levinson, M. (2014). Ten cautionary GS lessons from World War I. Et Cetera, 71 (1), 41-48.

Mulligan, W. (2010). The origins of the First World War . Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Storey, W. (2009). The First World War . Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

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