World War I: Summary And Analysis

Improved Essays
There are many factors and chain of events that sparked World War l, also known as the Great War which began in August 1914, but the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist was the trigger that started the war. Tension among European countries for international order and balance of power had been underlying for decades with political, territorial, and economic conflicts contributing to the outbreak of the war, particularly among Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Imperialism, nationalism, militarism and system of alliances set in to motion the chain of events leading to the Great War (Keene, Cornell, & O’Donnell, 2013).
With the rise of industrialism, European countries needed to acquire additional land to support new markets in order to increase their power and wealth. These European nations competed with one another in order to protect their positions, and obtain more
…show more content…
However, Germany began a submarine campaign, threatening America’s commercial shipping, as well as making threats to attack ships entering the war zone waters around Britain. After the sinking of passenger ships the Lusitania and the Sussex, President Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany citing Germany’s “violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States” (Office of the Historian, n.d.). When the Zimmerman telegram was intercepted, which promised Mexico assistance in recovering Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona territories in exchange for alliance with Germany, President Wilson declared war in order to protect our nation’s democracy and promote

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Neutrality In WW1

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In addition to this, the Zimmerman Telegram from Germany to Mexico was intercepted by Britain and released to the public. Both unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmerman Telegram finally led the U.S. to declare war: Germany refused to comply with nations’ rights under neutrality and also attempted to instigate a war that threatened the national security of…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Great War Dbq

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages

    There were many controversial topics throughout the world during the 20th century such as WWI, WWII, the Civil Rights movement, women’s rights, and the Vietnam War. Although this was a difficult time for most people (especially since the stock market crashed in 1929) there were a few influential people (Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks) that stood out from the rest in leading the fight for equality. What sparked the uproar in the east that eventually lead to the beginning of “The Great War”? On June 28th, 1914 a Serbian nationalist assassinated the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, while he was visiting Sarajevo a city in the Bosnia-Herzegovina province.…

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ww1 Causes

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Causes of WW1 Many believe that the sole cause of the First World War was nationalism. A common thought about the cause of the war is that “The growth and outpouring of nationalism in Europe in the 1800’s and early 1900’s is the overall cause of the First World War. It impacted most, if not all, of the other causes of the war.” However, when returning to the beginning of the series of events that led to the war, it’s quite obvious that nationalism played a role in the commencement of the war, however the very first incident was not caused by nationalism, but rather assassination.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Emily Gray Mr. Tester DBQ 18 2 March 2015 Causes of World War One Starting in July 1914, many countries in Europe went to war. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the nephew of Francis Joseph, on June 18, 1914 was what ultimately sparked World War I. Ferdinand was shot by Gavrilo Princip, who was part of the Serbian terrorist group commonly known as the Black Hand. Other factors such as the Alliances, Militarism and arms race, and Nationalism are just a few of the reasons for the widespread outbreak known as World War One.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Opium Wars Imperialism

    • 2392 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was the beginning of the Great War because for a long time Bosnia wanted to secede from Austrian Rule to join the independent state of Serbia. Austria would not let them do that so a group of Bosnian Serbs got together and assassinated the heir to the Austro- Hungarian throne. The relationships between Austria and Serbia and Austria and Germany along with Russia and Serbia lead to an even greater conflict and eventually to World War I. Austria and Serbia had a tense relationship because they were trying to suppress the Slavic influence because it was becoming a threat to their multi-ethnic empire. While Serbia and Russia had a close relationship as it was one of the biggest supporters of the Slavic nationalist movements. Because of the deep ties that Austria had with Germany, led Germany to go against the Serbs.…

    • 2392 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    America’s Delayed Entry into the Great War In 1914 when World War 1 commenced, the United States retained firm neutrality concerning their entry into the war. In fact, Woodrow Wilson requested Americans to remain neutral in thought as well as in action. Although there was immense tension for America to become involved in the war, shock in the United States over the bloodbath in Europe gave way to gratitude that a wide ocean stood between America and the killing fields.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Document 1: “President Woodrow Wilson Asks Congress to Declare War, 1917”, President Wilson went before the Congress to ask them for the declaration of war against Germany; thus, result U.S. joining World War I. He talked about Germany’s submarine tactics, sinking down vessels entering the ports controlled by the Allied Powers. He further talked about Germany agreed to a set of demands that is set by Wilson. The demands included showing restraint in sinking down ships, passenger boats would not be sunk, and vessels would be given a fair warning and given opportunity to save their lives in their lifeboats.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States is a country born from resistance and independence. These same two factors were once the reason the U.S refrained from interfering in foreign affairs; they were also too engrossed with their own internal affairs to worry of others. Nonetheless, relentless work and commitment from reformers, politicians, and the people, built the foundation for U.S. to become the most potent and progressive nation. Isolation did not help expand the American foundation and the U.S. in no way could compete with the world powers in Europe and Asia. It was not until 1914, when World War I broke out, that the U.S. had the chance to put their foot in, and eventually their entity, in world affairs.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    World War I was a significant and greatly corrosive war because it took everything away from the Germans, causing their economy to gradually decline, and eventually leading to the beginning of World War II. The immediate cause of World War I was the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke, Franz Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary believed that the Serbians were the reprehensible group for committing this act because they knew Serbia was angered by the upcoming annexation of territories they believe should be theirs. After the assassination, chaos began to set in as countries allied together and, in a confusing sequence of events, declared war on other countries for their own personal reasons and benefits.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1914 Dbq 1 Analysis

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Pages

    In 1914, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. This was the start of the first World War. There were other contributing factors to the first World War like nationalism and such, which sent German, Russia, USA, Britain, Italy, Serbia, France,the Ottoman Empire and more into war. This damaged countries, politically, economically and socially.. This economically wrecked countries, like Germany, Britain and France, According to Document 6, Germany spent roughly 39 million dollars and on top of that at the end of the war Germany owed 20,000,000,000 gold marks due to the Treaty of Versailles, according to document 4, in reparations.…

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    After the outbreak of World War I with the Triple Entente of Britain, France, Russia, and Italy against the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, President Woodrow Wilson of the United States had to decide upon the nation’s involvement in WWI. Wilson’s initial US neutrality policy was soon diverted after the German U-boat attacks on the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, killing many Americans. Less than two years later, Great Britain intercepts a telegram from Germany to Mexico which offers Mexico US territory if Mexico joins Germany. The direct threat on the United States by the Central Powers and Germany’s lack of respect for their very own Sussex Pledge had sealed US involvement in WWI, but some Americans were still unconvinced that abandoning the state of neutrality was best for the nation.…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The political and social aspects of World War I applied and affected the lives of the characters, who were soldiers from the book. During World War I, there were many changes and continuities that change the view of the war in general, yet many continuities that sadly, the soldiers had to face. Some changes that occurred were the new technology and its development during the war. Also, as the war continued, education and knowledge had less and less value to the citizens, especially to the school boys in the book. But, sadly, there continuities to the soldiers lives in the battlefield.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why Is Georgia Important

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages

    All about Georgia Introduction In the beginning Georgia was found in 1732 & it’s the last of the 13 colonies. In 1732 was when James Oglethorpe became the first person to settle Georgia. Savannah was the first settlement & it is still one of Georgia's main cities today. Civil War…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    World War I is said to have been started because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28th, 1914. In referring to whether or not World War I could have been prevented if Gavrilo Princip had not assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, World War I could have been avoided. Before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, there were numerous assassinations of political and military leaders, and those assassinations did not result in a world war. The war had only begun because of the idea from the Austro-Hungarian army that they needed to declare war on Serbia to get revenge because Gavrilo Princip, who was a Bosnian Serb member assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, numerous European military and political leaders wanted to maintain peace.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay – Causes of WWI World War One from 1914 to 1918 is also known as the Great War. The main causes of the war, Imperialism, Nationalism and Militarism turned many European countries against each other over decades. The short term events that caused the eruption of the Great War were the forming of alliances of many European countries and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. World War One destroyed countries, families and killed over seventeen million people and wounded over twenty million people from all over the world.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays