The MAIN Causes of WWI
MILITARISM -- European nations adopted a militaristic stance in the late 1800s in order to acquire
and protect colonies, as well as to dissuade aggression by rivals. Militarism, the glorification of
armed strength and the ideals of war, was a fashionable political theory at the turn of the 20th
century. Militarism led to the rise of large, sophisticated armies and navies as countries attempted
to maintain militaristic equality with their rivals. Between 1870 and 1914, military spending in
Europe increased 300%. Between 1900 and 1914, Germany increased spending on warships,
making it the 2nd strongest naval power in Europe. Britain, the strongest naval power in the world,
considered Germany’s buildup a threat and the arms race began. Britain responded by vastly
increasing its naval spending and introducing the first dreadnought, a battleship fitted with
enormous cannons and protected by thick armor. Germany began immediate production on its
own dreadnoughts. Militarism intensified the growing sense of distrust that nations had about each
other. Many felt that weapons were being produced in order to intimidate neighboring nations.
This growing fear and paranoia hindered communication and cooperation between nations. As a
result of the massive arms buildup inspired by militarism it was possible that even a small conflict
could erupt into a large scale war. Countries felt confident in the power of their militaries and were
prepared to use them given the opportunity.
ALLIANCES—An alliance is a formal or informal pact in which nations agree to defend each other in
time of war. Since the 1860s, many different alliance pacts were created. Some were secret
alliances, some were broken, and some were renegotiated over time. Two major alliances
developed in Europe in the early 1900s, just prior to World War One. The reason for the
development of alliances was that the precarious balance of power in Europe had been disrupted
with the unifications of Italy and Germany. Balance of power worked like a see-saw. If one nation
became extremely powerful, two other nations might form an alliance in order to balance off its
power. The feeling was, if one nation were more powerful than the others they would start a war of
conquest. If, however, their power was balanced off by an alliance of two or three other countries a
peaceful co-existence could be obtained. Thus, when Italy unified into one nation-state from a
dozen weaker principalities and Germany emerged as a very powerful political and military force
instead of its dozen or so weaker principalities the see-saw balance of power in Europe appeared
dreadfully unbalanced. Germany and Italy had helped each other in their unification processes and
appeared to be allies. Both Britain and France were concerned by this, and the natural thing for
them to do would be to ally together… but they were mortal enemies! They had not been on the
same side of a war for more than 800 years. In the early 1900s, two major alliances emerged in
Europe: The Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. The Triple Alliance included Germany,
Austria-Hungary and Italy. The driving force behind the creation of this alliance was Germany’s
desire to isolate France. Note that Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy are located in central
Europe, between France and Russia. The Triple Entente originally only included France and Russia,
but as Britain increasingly feared the power of Germany’s growing military, they joined as well.
The system of alliances increased the growing paranoia and distrust between nations. Many
alliances were secretly negotiated, and there was a feeling that no one really knew who their
friends were. The web of alliances also had the potential to entrap its members in an unwanted
war.
IMPERIALISM-- Throughout the 19th century, European countries engaged in imperialism.
Imperialism is when one country dominates a weaker country socially, politically, and
economically. European nations competed with one another to carve out overseas empires of vast
colonies. This race for colonies intensified largely as a result of industrialization. The colonies
served as sources for inexpensive raw materials, pools of cheap labor, and outlets to sell finished
products. The competition to imperialize nearly led to war on several occasions in the late 19th
century. Of all the potential conflicts, the situation in the Balkan Peninsula was most dangerous. In
Europe, the Balkans was an area known as the “Powder Keg of Europe.” It was an area that was
highly explosive in part because of the imperialist interests of several major nations. The Ottoman
Empire used to control the entire Balkan area, but by 1914 it had weakened and lost nearly all of it.
Serbia emerged as a newly independent Slavic state in the late 1800s, and hoped to use the claim of
nationalism to unite all Slavs of the area into one unified state under Serbian leadership, while at
the same time gaining important outlets to the sea. Austria-Hungary was a multi-ethnic Empire
with a great number of Slavs under their rule. The Austrians had recently seized the Slavic territory
of Bosnia-Herzegovina, frustrating Serbia. Russia was also an Empire with Slavic heritage. Russia
supported Serbia’s goal to unite with the Slavs of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but also desired territory in
the Balkans for a warm-water port.
NATIONALISM Definition #1-- Throughout the 19th century, tensions were rising among the
nations of Europe. The various peoples of Europe experienced growing nationalism, a sense of
pride in their own group, with language and culture different from other Europeans. For some
groups, like the Germans and Italians, nationalism had led to the unification of their people into
new political states. It was during this time period that the nation-states of Germany and Italy were
formed. For others, like the British and French, it meant a greater desire for their nation-states to
be respected by the rest of the world. The competition for colonies inspired nationalistic feelings in
the hearts of its citizens. Many Europeans kept maps of the world in their houses that showed their
nation’s colonies tinted with the national colors. Nationalism also took on a very martial or warlike
quality because of its connections to militarism and imperialism. Popular songs, poems and plays
had nationalistic themes that cast rival Europeans as antagonists or enemies. In Germany, a song
called “The Hymn of Hate” became popular during the war: “Hate by water and hate by land; Hate of
the heart and hate of the hand; We love as one; we hate as one; We have but one foe alone—
England.” This patriotic nationalism combined with militarism to create tension and an
atmosphere of aggression amongst European powers.
NATIONALISM Definition #2-- Nationalism can also be defined as “aspirations for independence in
a county under foreign domination,” and in this context nationalism also contributed to tension in
prewar Europe. While France, Italy and Germany used nationalism to unite their largely
homogeneous populations, other countries were torn apart by ethnic tensions. Austria-Hungary
had a serious problem with nationalism because so many of its citizens were ethnic minorities that
resented being ruled by people of a different nationality than their own. The Czechs, Slovaks, Poles,
Croats, and Serbs were just some of the groups that resented Austrian dominance of Central and
Southeastern Europe and longed for self-determination, or the right to choose their own
government.