 Imperialism
• France, Great Britain, Germany, and Russia
competed for colonies
• Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Ottoman Empire
competed for the Balkan states
 Militarism
• By 1900, Germany has largest standing army (1
million soldiers) and a navy as strong as G.B.
• Other nations began to build up their militaries.
 Nationalism
• Extreme allegiance to one’s own nation.
 Alliances
• For security, European nations formed alliances
• Triple Entente (1880’s): Britain, France, Russia,
and Serbia
• Central Powers (1900’s): Germany, AustriaHungary, and Ottoman Empire
 Serbian
nationalists killed Archduke
Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in
Sarajevo, Serbia on June 28, 1914
• Serbia wanted independence from Austria-
Hungary
• Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
• Alliances force other European countries into
war.
 Serbia
attacks Austria-Hungary
 Germany declares war on Serbia
 Russia declares war on Germany
 France declares war on Germany
 Germany declares war on France
(Belgium)
 Great Britain declares war on Germany
 Fighting on two fronts:
• Eastern (Russia) and Western (France)
 Germany attacks France first; Russia
mobilizes quickly
 Deadlock after 3 years
• Some battles yield more than 1 million casualties
 Mass Destruction and New Weapons
• Machine guns, poison gas, tanks, flamethrowers,
airplanes, submarines
• Trench warfare begins