Long Term Causes Of World War 1 Essay

Although the main cause of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, this was not the only factor that sparked the war. Many historians believe that there were many long-term causes and that it wasn’t just the assassination that was the responsibility for the war. In fact, the death of the Archduke didn’t affect Austria. Reported by an Austrian newspaper, the general consensus among the various political circles was that the assassination, though a tragedy, was for the best. It took the government three months to even react, this strengthens the thesis that his death couldn’t have been the main reason war was sparked. Ironically, while it seems as if nobody cared about the assassination, it was the Archduke’s death that gave Austria-Hungary a necessary motive to go to war against Serbia. Nationalism, militarism and imperialism were all existent during this war, and the following paragraphs further explain the perception of these long-term causes. …show more content…
Andrew Cho writes, “In the early 1900s, nationalism created a fierce competition and rivalry between Europe’s powers. These powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and France. In order to be the greatest of the great nations, the nation would have to be the best at everything- both militarily and economically.” This was a major problem along with militarism, an increase in military and naval forces, because every country wanted to surpass each other. Militarism put military leaders in a challenging role; they had to prove to their country that they were stronger than enemy armies, forcing them to act out against enemy