The M.A.I.N. causes
of the Great War
Simulation Debriefing
The M.A.I.N. Causes of the
Great War
M = Militarism
→ A policy of glorifying
military power & keeping
a standing army always
prepared for war
The M.A.I.N. Causes of the
Great War
A = Alliances [Alliance System]
→ A series of treaties forging a
“friendship”,
uniting against a
common threat
The M.A.I.N. Causes of the
Great War
I = Imperialism
→ A policy in which a
strong nation seeks to
dominate other countries
politically, economically,
or socially
The M.A.I.N. Causes of the
Great War
N = Nationalism
→The belief that people
should be loyal mainly
to their nation-that is,
to the people with whom
they share a culture &
history-rather than to a
king or empire
World Situation Summary
 All the 15 items of the third page of our handout relate to
actual history

Take careful note of events as presented in our simulation,
and actual events as they occurred c. 1914.
 What were:
Militaristic
Alliances building
Imperialistic
Nationalistic
1. Your six nations represent the main
factions in a troubled world situation.
 Penland =





 Germany
Morovia =
 Austria-Hungary
Sandia =
 Russia
Caldonia =
 Great Britain
Yorkton =
 France
 Possibly / probably America later
Bahkan =
 Serbia
– Which is part of the Balkan peninsula
2. There has been general peace on the continent
for about fifty years. This peace has been
hard to maintain in the rapidly changing,
expanding, industrial and technical world.
 Pax Britannia
 The British Peace
AKA  The Peace of Britain
 The INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
has brought about the “rapidly
changing, expanding, industrial
and technical world”

The industrial revolution had to
happen to simulate all of these
events
3. There has been increased intervention in the
underdeveloped parts of the world by opposing
factions. Both Caldonia and Penland have made
claim to some disputed territory in the “rubber
rich” area of Asia.
 IMPERIALISM

The scramble for colonies
in Asia & Africa has
conflict among the
European powers.

The Berlin Conference
The Boer War
 Also!
 Problems in Morocco
 Problems in Fashoda

IMPERIALISM
 The Industrial Revolution left
many European nations
depleted of natural resources
and searching for new ones.
4. There has been a strong rivalry between Morovia
and Yorkton centered around boundary disputes
over the Great Forest area on their borders.
A lot of intense competition between Europe’s Great Powers
(Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and France)
 Britain = home of Industrial Revolution
 Germany = home of fastest growing
economy because of new industries
Nationalism before WWI…
 Nationalistic rivalries
grew out of territorial
disputes
 Intense nationalism
 Demands for
independence from
empires
5. Yorkton has also been involved in controversies with
Penland over control of the mouth of the
Makeshift River. Yorkton currently controls the
area.
 In the second half of the 19th Century both Germany
and Italy unified into the nations we know (more or less)
today.
 Each had been separate provinces or kingdoms unto
themselves.
 In fact, wars break out over some controversies:
 The Crimean War
 The Seven Weeks War
 The Franco-Prussian War
5. Yorkton has also been involved in controversies with
Penland over control of the mouth of the
Makeshift River. Yorkton currently controls the
area. (continued)
 Leaders of unification:
 Otto von Bismarck
 Giuseppe Mazzini
 Camillo di Cavour
 & Giuseppe Garibaldi
6. Bahkan is a relatively new nation, once having
been a part of Morovia. They gained their
independence peacefully under a previous
government.
 Bahkan = Serbia which is a relatively new
nation”, once being a part of Austria-Hungary
(Morovia). Austria-Hungary has not completely
let go of this fledgling “nation.”
7. Morovia is very interested in regaining Bahkan,
although no overt action has been taken in that
direction by the Morovian Government.
 Austria-Hungary does want
Serbia back, in fact it wants
that whole geographic area
known as the Balkan
Peninsula
(or simply as The Balkans)
back “safely” under its
control.
8. There is a small nationalist group in Morovia
demanding that their government retake Bahkan.
It is suspected that this group has been leading
border raids against Bahkan.
 (It is actually the other way around.)
 There are small nationalist groups all over the
Balkans
 The all want independence from Austria-Hungary.
 *Notably a small nationalist
group known as
The Black Hand in Serbia.
9. Caldonia has been somewhat successful in keeping
out of some of the squabbles because of her
geographical isolation from the neighboring
states.
 TRUE.
 Caldonia = Great Britain.
Great Britain is
“geographically”
isolated from the
neighboring states.”
10. It is common knowledge that Penland has the
most powerful army on the continent. Caldonia
is the strongest naval power.
 TRUE.
 Penland = Germany.
Germany under Kaiser
Wilhelm will build up its
military
 They first concentrate
on their army because
of their geography…
(Why?)
11. Various nations have entered into military alliances,
which guarantee mutual support if war begins.
Entangling Alliances
 Triple Alliance



Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy
 Triple Entente



Great Britain
Russia
France
 There are also lesser alliances
 Russia has a historic alliance with Serbia
12. Major newspapers in each country have been
carrying on feuds with each other and thereby
have helped fan the flames of unrest and hatred
within each nation
 True.
13. This is a time of extreme nationalism in which most
countrymen support their respective governments
to the fullest in foreign affairs.
 TRUE.
 Nationalism is particularly fever-
pitched in the Balkans.

There is a movement for a
Pan-Slavic state
 Pan-Slavism: a push to unite all the
Slavic peoples on the European
continent
 Where is this quest?
 Austro-Hungarian Empire
14. Because of the fear between the various nations,
generated by the uneasy peace, there has been
a continual race to build military armaments.
 TRUE.
 Germany especially is
working hard to catch up
technically and militarily to
Great Britain.…

Perhaps there was a little
“sibling rivalry.”
 It just made other countries feel afraid





15. Sandia has been troubled by domestic unrest, and
the government is not considered to be too stable.
There have been reports that a large faction of
unemployed workers and peasants are banding
together and are planning a revolution. At this
point there is no reliable information which would
indicate that they would be successful.
TRUE.
Russia’s leader  Czar Nicholas II
He is aloof to the concerns of the
people.
The PROLETARIAT (the workers) is
considering revolution
There will be one before the war
ends.

We’ll study that later
News Flash #1 - Morovia's vice president has
been shot and killed by alleged assassins in the
State of Bahkan while on state visit.
 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary and his wife
Sofie were assassinated while on
a state visit to Sarajevo, which is
the capital of Bosnia (it’s just to
the west of Serbia.)
 The assassin was a Serbian
member of that small nationalist
group known as The Black Hand.
  June 28, 1914
Austria-Hungary issues an
Diplomacy takes place for a month, but…
with the “security” of alliances, no one backs down
A month later the war will begin…
July 28, 1914
“The war to end all wars" OR “The Great War” has begun
… for now