World War 1 #1 –
The M.A.I.N. Causes
1. Who was shot & killed in Sarajevo,
Bosnia in June of 1914?
2. What group killed him?
3. Is this reason to go to war?
How WW1 begins
• The assassination of
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand by the
Black Hand is the last
event that sets off a
number of things that
had been happening
in Europe
Nationalism
• desire for your nation to be the
BEST!
– Leads to competition b/w
nations in Europe - compete for
resources to fuel industry
– Also, countries want to be
independent – like Bosnia
Imperialism
• What is it?
– Leads to further competition often in places like
Africa to dominate the region
Militarism
• Build up military
– In order to compete, countries
needed strong weapons – many new
ones are being invented
– Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany has been
building up an army
Alliances
• B/c of the growing distrust & competition b/w
nations, countries began to form alliances or
pacts: agreements to protect each other in
case of war
• If someone is threatening your friend to fight –
what do you do?
Europe Divides Up
• Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, &
Italy
• Triple Entente: Great Britain, France & Russia
Based on this map,
which alliance
might have an
advantage if a war
erupted? Why?
SO,
• When the Archduke of AustriaHungary is shot – guess what
happens next?
What are the M.A.I.N. causes of
WW1?
M
A
I
N
• Militarism
• Alliances
• Imperialism