World War One Essay
Although Germany is blamed for World War One because they contributed greatly to the sequence of events that led to the catastrophe, war clouds were hovering over Europe by early 1914 due to extensive military build up by European nations, violent nationalistic aspirations amongst cross border Slavs and Serbs and mutually binding strategic alliances that would draw all of Europe into war due to a local conflict - thus validating that Germany isn 't solely responsible for World War One.
Militarism refers to the opinion of a government or a nation that their country should maintain a strong military force which should be used aggressively to defend themselves or to promote national interests. During the 1800’s, many European …show more content…
In Europe, many ethnic groups were divided across existing borders and were aspiring to form their own nations - resulting in violent nationalistic urges that caused more strain on an already fragile continent. When the demands put forth by the nationalists were denied, the protests turned violent and could also lead to the death of many people. An example for this is the crossborder Slavs who lived in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia was a nation with a rich Slavic community and wanted to absorb Bosnia-Herzegovina and turn into a single unified Slav nation. However Austria-Hungary conquered Bosnia-Herzegovina to expand their borders. In retaliation, the Black Hand (secret organization based in Serbia) ordered the execution of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Young Gavrilo Princip was the one who carried out the order. This act of retaliation was the final blow required for the pressure building inside Europe to explode. Due to the nationalistic pride of Austria-Hungary being affected, they desired revenge and started to gather their forces. Noticing the possibility of war, the Italian government, the British foreign minister and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany urged Austria-Hungary to consider the option of negotiation but driven by nationalistic pride Austria-Hungary ignored these overtures. (Textbook, …show more content…
Due to this competition, countries started to grow a sense of enmity towards other major colonial powers, thus causing jealousy between nations Handout: (Schlieffen Plan handout, p.1) . This rivalry then started to extend towards inter-continental affairs which finally brought Europe one step closer to a war. Due to these rising insecurities among nations during the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s, nations with common aspirations, cultures, religions or languages signed mutually beneficial strategic pacts, creating powerful military & economic blocks. An example of such a strategic pact is when Britain felt insecure due to extensive military build up by Germany and forged an alliance with France and Russia - who at that time were the arch rivals of Germany. Seeing this, Germany formed an alliance with the Austrian-Hungarian empire and Italy. This ensured that the smallest of conflicts would drag all of europe into a bloody war - because of a chain reaction of mutual obligations among these powers. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Serbia and Austria-Hungary were set for war. Germany being allied with Austria-Hungary were obligated to offer their support in the war even though Kaiser Wilhelm II himself tried to persuade Austria-Hungary to reconsider the option of war. Due to this, Serbia called upon her ally Russia. When the war began
Although Germany is blamed for World War One because they contributed greatly to the sequence of events that led to the catastrophe, war clouds were hovering over Europe by early 1914 due to extensive military build up by European nations, violent nationalistic aspirations amongst cross border Slavs and Serbs and mutually binding strategic alliances that would draw all of Europe into war due to a local conflict - thus validating that Germany isn 't solely responsible for World War One.
Militarism refers to the opinion of a government or a nation that their country should maintain a strong military force which should be used aggressively to defend themselves or to promote national interests. During the 1800’s, many European …show more content…
In Europe, many ethnic groups were divided across existing borders and were aspiring to form their own nations - resulting in violent nationalistic urges that caused more strain on an already fragile continent. When the demands put forth by the nationalists were denied, the protests turned violent and could also lead to the death of many people. An example for this is the crossborder Slavs who lived in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia was a nation with a rich Slavic community and wanted to absorb Bosnia-Herzegovina and turn into a single unified Slav nation. However Austria-Hungary conquered Bosnia-Herzegovina to expand their borders. In retaliation, the Black Hand (secret organization based in Serbia) ordered the execution of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Young Gavrilo Princip was the one who carried out the order. This act of retaliation was the final blow required for the pressure building inside Europe to explode. Due to the nationalistic pride of Austria-Hungary being affected, they desired revenge and started to gather their forces. Noticing the possibility of war, the Italian government, the British foreign minister and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany urged Austria-Hungary to consider the option of negotiation but driven by nationalistic pride Austria-Hungary ignored these overtures. (Textbook, …show more content…
Due to this competition, countries started to grow a sense of enmity towards other major colonial powers, thus causing jealousy between nations Handout: (Schlieffen Plan handout, p.1) . This rivalry then started to extend towards inter-continental affairs which finally brought Europe one step closer to a war. Due to these rising insecurities among nations during the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s, nations with common aspirations, cultures, religions or languages signed mutually beneficial strategic pacts, creating powerful military & economic blocks. An example of such a strategic pact is when Britain felt insecure due to extensive military build up by Germany and forged an alliance with France and Russia - who at that time were the arch rivals of Germany. Seeing this, Germany formed an alliance with the Austrian-Hungarian empire and Italy. This ensured that the smallest of conflicts would drag all of europe into a bloody war - because of a chain reaction of mutual obligations among these powers. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Serbia and Austria-Hungary were set for war. Germany being allied with Austria-Hungary were obligated to offer their support in the war even though Kaiser Wilhelm II himself tried to persuade Austria-Hungary to reconsider the option of war. Due to this, Serbia called upon her ally Russia. When the war began