Wednesday, January 15, 2014

WWI Causes

1. Nationalism: It is a deep loyalty to one's nation. Gavrillo Princip from Serbia was the person who triggered WWI. He killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand because he was the leader and Austria-Hungary controlled Serbia at the time. This is an example of extreme nationalism because he was showing loyalty to his own country. 

2. Alliance system: It is the formal agreement of support among countries in the event of an attack. This caused WWI because the conflict originally involved between two countries were likely to involve many more countries due to the alliance. For example, Germany was an ally of Austria Hungary and if Austria-Hungary was at war, then Germany would automatically be at war. 

3. Imperialism: 
The building of power by controlling over colonies. Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia all scramble for colonies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Each nation wanted new trade markets and the raw materials of these new regionsThey argued over these colonies and this caused them to war. 


4. Militarism: The belief in building up a strong armed forces to prepare your country for war. At the time, Britain had the most powerful navy and Germany was trying to expand theirs. This established strong navies and prepared them for war.


The spark of WWI was when Gavrillo Princip Assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Archduke's assassination was the reason for WWI in itself. Once Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia because they had not brought the assassin to justice, the other nations were brought into it because of collective defense alliances.

Zimmerman Note: A diplomatic proposal from the German Empire for Mexico to join the Central Powers, in the event of the United States entering World War I on the side of the allied powers. The proposal was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence. When Britain revealed the contents to America it outraged the American public opinion and helped generate support for the United States declaration of war on Germany in April 1917.

Sussex Pledge/Unrestricted Submarine Warfare: The Sussex Pledge was a promise made in 1916 by Germany to the United States before their entry into the war. Germany had had been using unrestricted submarine warfare, allowing armed merchant ships to be torpedoed without warning. Despite restriction to this, a French passenger ferry, the Sussex, was torpedoed without warning. The ship was severely damaged and about 50 lives were lost. This made President Woodrow Wilson to declare that if Germany were to continue this practice, the United States would break relations with Germany. Fearing the entry of the United States into World War I, Germany attempted to agree with the United States by issuing the Sussex pledge, which promised a change in Germany’s naval warfare policy.

Lusitania: RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner, which was briefly the world's biggest ship. She was launched in 1907, at a time of fierce competition for the North Atlantic trade. In 1915 she was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, causing the deaths of 1,198 passengers and crew, 128 of which were Americans.


No comments:

Post a Comment