1914-1918:
The World
at War
By: Ms. Susan M. Pojer
Horace Greeley H. S.
Chappaqua, NY
World War I
Mr. Mizell
Humanities, Year II
Copy Vocab
 Assassination – to kill secretively or
suddenly, especially a political leader
 Armistice – a peace agreement to
stop fighting
 Alliance – an agreement between
countries to cooperative and help one
another
 Reparations – payment for damages
and expenses brought on by war
 Militarism – policy of aggressive
military preparedness
Essential Question
What were the causes
of World War I?
Causes - M.A.I.N.S.
Militarism
Alliances
Long-term
Imperialism
Causes
Nationalism
Short-term
Spark
Cause
Militarism
 Glorification of the military
 Countries increase size of military
– Leads to an “arms race among
countries”
– Develop new weapons
 Need to be prepared for war or avoid
it
– Big army = no one will mess with you
Militarism & Arms Race
Total Defense Expenditures for the
Great Powers (in millions of dollars
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1914
94
130
154
268
289
398
1910-1914 Increase in
Defense Expenditures
France
10%
Britain
13%
Russia
39%
Germany
73%
Alliances
Why form/join an alliance?
– Protection from other countries
– Designed to keep peace in
Europe
Negative: domino effect
– If one country goes to war, all
the others will get dragged in
Alliances Formed
Russia, Great Britain, and France
form the Triple Entente Alliance
Germany, A-H, and Italy form
Triple Alliance (Italy drops out
before WWI and is replaced by
Ottoman Empire)
Imperialism
Imperialism
Competition for resources and
colonies leads to conflict around
the world
Distrust grows among Europeans
as each seeks an empire
Nationalism
People desire for their country to
be the greatest
Leads to competition among
nations
– Germany vs Britain for industrial
dominance
– A-H and Russia compete in Balkans
Skits
Choose one of the 4 long-term
causes of WWI and create a
skit that explains it and how it
could lead to war.
The Spark in the Balkans
 Serbia – country in the Balkans
– Its ethnic population (Slavic) wants to
expand
– Russia supports this but A-H does not
 A-H expands into Bosnia
– Serbia and Bosnia want A-H out
The Assassination
 July 28, 1914
 Archduke Ferdinand of A-H and wife visit
Sarajevo, Bosnia
 Assassinated by Gavrilo Princip (Serbian
nationalist)
 A-H gives ultimatum to Serbia
 Germany backs its ally, A-H
 Russia backs Serbia
The Domino Effect
 A-H declares war on Serbia
 Russia mobilizes army on A-H border
 Germany declares war on Russia
 Germany declares war on France and
Belgium
 Britain declares war on Germany
Soldiers Mobilized
14
12
Millions
10
8
6
4
2
0
France
Germany
Russia
Britain