Why did WWI happen?
During 1914, Europe had gone to war with itself, due to several misunderstandings, bad decisions, and killings of powerful people. A war emerged that had expected to be short, but lasted about 4 or so terrible years before a conclusion was reached, with millions dying in the process. Why—and how—did this happen? What caused World War One? There were at least three underlying causes for WW1: alliances, militarism, and most importantly, imperialism.
Firstly, World War One was caused because of the alliances formed between the other countries. Most countries had decided to pick sides, implying that they would defend and fight for each other. Document A shows the specific alliances that were formed in 1914. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy all formed the “triple alliance.” Russia, France, and the UK had their own “triple alliance.” All other countries and nations on document A were neutral, and never picked a side. Having alliances also worsened situations that could have been dealt with between the two countries. When Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia came to Serbia’s aid and declared war on Austria. Germany Declared war on Russia. What was once a quarry between 2 countries is now a much larger problem between nations. Situations such as this only created friction, and helped worsen WWI. …show more content…
The countries wanted to become more powerful, so they grew their navies, armies, and got more weapons. From document D, Bernhard von Bülow, a German chancellor, said “We don’t want to become the ‘slaves of humanity.’.if we realize that there is no welfare for us without power, without a strong army and a strong fleet." Basically, Germany is worried that they can’t defend themselves, and need weaponry to be safer. Since the nations have such a large amount of weaponry, they are enticed to not settle manners in a civilized way, since they would want an excuse to use their weapons
During 1914, Europe had gone to war with itself, due to several misunderstandings, bad decisions, and killings of powerful people. A war emerged that had expected to be short, but lasted about 4 or so terrible years before a conclusion was reached, with millions dying in the process. Why—and how—did this happen? What caused World War One? There were at least three underlying causes for WW1: alliances, militarism, and most importantly, imperialism.
Firstly, World War One was caused because of the alliances formed between the other countries. Most countries had decided to pick sides, implying that they would defend and fight for each other. Document A shows the specific alliances that were formed in 1914. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy all formed the “triple alliance.” Russia, France, and the UK had their own “triple alliance.” All other countries and nations on document A were neutral, and never picked a side. Having alliances also worsened situations that could have been dealt with between the two countries. When Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia came to Serbia’s aid and declared war on Austria. Germany Declared war on Russia. What was once a quarry between 2 countries is now a much larger problem between nations. Situations such as this only created friction, and helped worsen WWI. …show more content…
The countries wanted to become more powerful, so they grew their navies, armies, and got more weapons. From document D, Bernhard von Bülow, a German chancellor, said “We don’t want to become the ‘slaves of humanity.’.if we realize that there is no welfare for us without power, without a strong army and a strong fleet." Basically, Germany is worried that they can’t defend themselves, and need weaponry to be safer. Since the nations have such a large amount of weaponry, they are enticed to not settle manners in a civilized way, since they would want an excuse to use their weapons