What Were the Underlying Causes of World War 1

U.S. History

What were the Underlying causes of World War 1

In 1914 a large part of Europe was at war. This war was known as World War 1. World War 1 began in 1914 and lasted 4 years till 1918. It was fought across Europe and involved countries like; Germany, Austria/ Hungary, Italy, Great Brittan, France, Russia, and America. Three of the greatest causes for this war in my opinion were; militarism, alliance systems, and nationalism.

Militarism is the act of a nation having a large military. According to document K, European countries started building up their armies and navies starting in 1890 leading to 1914 which was the largest amount of soldier that for each country yet. Document B says that "only war-like nations have prospered". It also states that "a nation dies as soon as it disarms", meaning that if a country doesn't fight back when they are attacked then they will surely lose. The participating countries in Europe knew that a war was going to come so the built up their armies and try to win the war so their country doesn't die.

Alliance systems were also a leading cause of World War 1, this is where certain nations form alliances and fight with each other against whoever they are battling. Document D clearly shows that Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy joined forces to create a triple-alliance. On the other side of the war Great Brittan, France, and Russia; this helped the alliance because having Russia on the other side of the country made it easier to battle from two different sides of the continent against the Germany alliance. Document G shows all the different countries pointing at one another showing who they are at war with, If you look at this with the alliance systems in mind it becomes clear that each alliance is fighting one another. I think that when nations start to make alliances it will intimidate another country causing