Causes of world war one

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:History

Document 1

The decline of political, economic and military aspects of the Ottoman Empire caused the imbalance within the European imperial dynasties. The Ottoman Empire lost various wars that intrigued the concept of nationalism amongst multiple regions such as Serbia jeopardizing the European territories. During the Ottoman Empire downfall, the European imperial, Pan-Slavism, competitors strived to restore the Ottoman Empire by supplying foodstuff and goods to areas such as Balkan. The German’s critical interest in the Ottoman region was Berlin-Baghdad railway while the French had an existing colonial territory within the same region. The withdrawal of the Ottomans gave much power to the Balkan Sphere that provoked the European Imperials motivating World War 1. Militarism is a concept that exclusively glorifies the significance of military power in the society.

Sign up to view the full document!

According to Vagts, militarism is the persistent ascendancy of the military forces over the civilian, an excessive prevalence of prominence on naval contemplation (Boyd, 1999, p. The military officials served as chief advisors to most of the prominent politicians. The military served as the necessary foundation for weapon technology advancements that significantly supported the World War I. Militarism established a platform that always discarded diplomacy as an inferior technique of resolving national conflicts. The alliance system was a mode of power balancing. A dual alliance was made consisting of Germany and Austria-Hungary signing to protect each other against Russia in 1879. The Austro-Serbian alliance was established in 1881 to fight Russia dominance in Serbia. The triple alliance formed in 1882 core purpose was to offset Germany and her allies.

Sign up to view the full document!

The Franco-Russian alliance aimed at shielding Russia from Austria-Hungary and Germany threats. Germany proceeded and declared war on France invading via Belgium. Eventually, Britain pronounced war on Germany in favor of their allies. The chain of war declaration led to the World War I. The major events that made the USA join the World War 1 include: the brutal killing of civilians in Belgium by the Germans; economic gain from allies such as Britain; the capsizing of the Lusitania ship; and the Germans preventing submarine goods from reaching Britain. The Zimmerman telegram also provoked the USA stating that Mexico should declare war on the USA if they choose to pronounce war on Germany hence mobilizing the Americans against the Europe powers. Hitler hated the treaty passionately and used war guilt speeches to embrace its collapse.

Sign up to view the full document!

From $10 to earn access

Only on Studyloop

Original template

Downloadable