The first world war began in August 1914. It was directly triggered by
the assassination of the Austrian archduke, Franz Ferdinand and his
wife, on 28th June 1914 by Bosnian revolutionary, Gavrilo Princip.
This event was, however, simply the trigger that set off declarations of
war. The actual causes of the war are more complicated and are still
debated by historians today.
Alliances
An alliance is an agreement made between two or more countries to give
each other help if it is needed. When an alliance is signed, those
countries become known as Allies.
A number of alliances had been signed by countries between the years
1879 and 1914. These were important because they meant that some
countries had no option but to declare war if one of their allies.
declared war first.
Imperialism
Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and
makes them subject to their rule. By 1900 the British Empire extended
over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa.
With the rise of industrialism countries needed new markets. The amount
of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry with
Germany who had entered the scramble to acquire colonies late and only
had small areas of Africa.
Militarism
Militarism means that the army and military forces are given a high
profile by the government. The growing European divide had led to an
arms race between the main countries. The armies of both France and
Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce
competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas. The
British had introduced the 'Dreadnought', an effective battleship, in
1906. The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships.
The German, Von Schlieffen also drew up a plan of action that involved
attacking France through Belgium if Russia made an attack on Germany.
Nationalism
Nationalism means being a strong supporter of the rights and interests
of one's country. The Congress of Vienna, held after Napoleon's exile to
Elba, aimed to sort out problems in Europe. Delegates from Britain,
Austria, Prussia and Russia (the winning allies) decided upon a new
Europe that left both Germany and Italy as divided states. Strong
nationalist elements led to the re-unification of Italy in 1861 and
Germany in 1871. The settlement at the end of the Franco-Prussian war
left France angry at the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany and keen to
regain their lost territory. Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and
Serbia were home to differing nationalist groups, all of whom wanted
freedom from the states in which they lived.
Moroccan Crisis
In 1904 Morocco had been given to France by Britain, but the Moroccans
wanted their independence. In 1905, Germany announced her support for
Moroccan independence. War was narrowly avoided by a conference which
allowed France to retain possession of Morocco. However, in 1911, the
Germans were again protesting against French possession of Morocco.
Britain supported France and Germany was persuaded to back down for part
of French Congo.
Bosnian Crisis
In 1908, Austria-Hungary took over the former Turkish province of
Bosnia. This angered Serbians who felt the province should be theirs.
Serbia threatened Austria-Hungary with war, Russia, allied to Serbia,
mobilised its forces. Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary mobilised its
forces and prepared to threaten Russia. War was avoided when Russia
backed down. There was, however, war in the Balkans between 1911 and
1912 when the Balkan states drove Turkey out of the area. The states
then fought each other over which area should belong to which state.
Austria-Hungary then intervened and forced Serbia to give up some of its
acquisitions. Tension between Serbia and Austria-Hungary was high.
