World War I: The Pursuit Of National Interest

Superior Essays
The pursuit of national interest is always in the formula for the calculations of the rational decisions made by a nation. National interest is something each nation is thinking about when they go into war. World War I was the sacrifice of millions of lives to fulfill each nation’s national interest. William Kirby argues that, countries enter war because of their “rational calculations and national interests”. The source points out how the purpose of war is not irrational, it is rationalized by the beliefs of a nation and the benefits of military conflict. Many people would agree with this perspective, the intervention of military in international affairs is justified by a country’s national interest and calculations. Alternatively, some may …show more content…
This idea of nationalism, the idealism presented by the quote, should be supported and embraced by us because of the events in World War I, the national interest and idealism of war within Britain, the idealism and national interest of Germany was the leading cause of World War I, and the contradicting interests between the countries for the control of the Balkans.

The cause of war is ultimately dominated by the ideas of nationalism. Nationalism influenced each country’s national interests and became the rope that pulled Britain into the Great War, this war would lead to towering consequences. The upheld national interest of Britain was the reason they joined this “irrational” war, their treaty signed with Belgium and making sure they would not break their agreement with Belgium, and the propaganda that was spread within the society of Britain. The nationalistic perspective of people within Britain at the time would be the ropes that would cause World War I. The Treaty of London (1839) was the main reason Britain joined the war, because the treaty stated Britain had an
…show more content…
With advanced weaponry and new tactics, this war tested the newly developed war tactics, new weaponry, and advanced machinery. Germany’s national interest was to develop an advanced army that rivaled Great Britain, this would prove to be one of the reasons of the outbreak of a large scale war. The newly unified Germany by Otto von Bismarck meant that they did not have the benefits that the other European powers had, the lack of colonies throughout Europe meant that they would be economically inferior to other countries. Germany’s economic inferiority rallied for the support of using their superior military to show their strength to other European nations. Nationalism became the leading force in the certification of the German identity, and the newly created German superpower wanted to look for “their place in the sun”. Nationalistic ideologies and national self-interest became the reason this large scale war broke out and tore away at Europe. Their decision to go into a “irrational” war was largely based on their “rational calculations” and national interest, and the armistice that lead to the Treaty of Versailles would prove that national interest is always in the mind of nations when they go into war, and when they end the war. At the time, Germany was allied with Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, while the source of the

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Legalist Paradigm Analysis

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The exception of intervention in other conflicts is categorized into three main subfields. Primarily, war is justified when a set of boundaries contains two or more political communities, one of whom is engaged in the struggle for independence. This is the issue of secession or “national liberation.” Subsequently, the next revision is that of counter-intervention stating when the boundaries have already been crossed by the military force of another foreign power, intervention is justified. The last revision to the Legalist Paradigm deems a just intervention when there are large scale violations of human rights within a set of boundaries.…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Ap Euro Dbq Imperialism

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages

    During the 1990’s Europe thought they were better than every country, but that feeling didn’t last long. Due to the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, alliances, imperialism, militarism and also the independence of countries in Europe, War had begun. A reason that caused the war to start was imperialism. Imperialism is the act of building an Empire by founding colonies and conquering weaker nations.…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    WW1 The real cause of World War I was mostly the different alliances and the growth of armaments. The alliance of the triple entente included Britain, France, and Russia. Then for the triple alliance it included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. America ended up coming into the war but came in to help the triple entente.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    World War 1 began on July 28, 1914 when Franz Ferdinand who was the Archduke of Austria-Hungary was assassinated. The emergence of two alliances the allied powers, and the central powers are to blame for the leading factor that caused this war. The United States on the other hand, believed that it was only right for them to try to stay out of trouble. Soon, the United Sates adopted The Neutrality Policy in 1914 and later in World War 2 also adopted numerous neutrality policies in 1935 to 1939. In some ways, those policies have very limited differences and much similarity as time periods affected each.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On April 6th, 1917, America entered World War I. Before this date America had tried to stay out of the war and was an important supplier to most of the Allies. The final straw that made Woodrow Wilson ask Congress to declare war against Germany was when American ships were being targeted by unrestricted warfare, or U-boats, introduced into the war by the Germans. A couple of days later America joined World War I on the side of the Allies. America's primary purpose for participation in the war was as Wilson stated, to “make the world safe for democracy”. Wilson wanted all the nations to just live in peace.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How Did World War 1 Start

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “This is a war to end all wars” (President Woodrow Wilson). This war was called The Great War but now is called World War 1. World War 1 lasted for over four years. The war began July 28, 1914. Before war started, every country chose sides.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Nationalism contributed to the start of the war because nationalists believed that their nation was better and stronger than any other nation. This made them think that if they were in a war, they would win it. The alliances contributed to the war by bringing Europe into it. Without the alliances, World War II would have been a lot smaller. Imperialism contributed to the war by searching for a central European empire because that built up a lot of tension on the Triple Entente.…

    • 168 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    World War 1 Dbq Analysis

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the early hours of June, on the 28th day, in the year of 1914, this tragic event would begin a domino-effect which would lead Europe and the United States into what is now known as… World War I. On this day, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated by a Serbian group known as the “Black Hand” while visiting the country. The group’s intent was to gain independence from Austria-Hungary. But unbeknownst to them, it would turn into a large-scale battle that in essence, could have been settled locally. However, this event was considered the spark yet the question we are trying to answer is, “What was the underlying cause of World War I (WWI)?”…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    One reason as to why the war started was because of Nationalism, or having great loyalty and or pride towards one owns country (aka patriotism). Another reason could be Imperialism: a stronger nation that takes over a weaker nation/colony. Militarism (making the military the nation's #1 priority) was also key in causing the war. Finally, Alliances was also to blame for the start of world war one. Alliances…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nationalism caused the First World War because if a country believes in nationalism, then conflict can happen because the country will think they are better than anyone…

    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If you ask me World War One was the cause of Imperialistic nations, ambitious territory expansion,independence, power and wealth. These factors are the key cause of the War that would stain the world with blood and destruction. The war itself last root cause was the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was the archduke of Austria Hungary. Most of the European nations were Imperialistic nations inflicting political power and influence through their vast military forces. After the Archdukes death many different countries had defensive treaties with each other to prevent a group of nations or one nation from taking over Europe.…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1914 To 1918 Dbq Analysis

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It was a war brought into being by a huge military build-up. Germany was determined not to be outgunned by anybody else’s army and be able to hold their own when the time comes. Also, come the summer of 1918 Germany was ready to give up on everything, little if any of the war had been fought on German soil resulting in that many of the German people, didn’t know they were losing throughout the war. For example, stated in document B, “The army shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control of the frontiers” expressing how Germany was determined and wanted a military that was ready for any obstacle thrown at them. This ensured that Germany would not have support from the smaller countries in Europe said from (Document B).…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The underlying causes of World War 1 were alliances, nationalism, and powerlust. One of the underlying causes of World War 1 was the alliances. When Russia, France and the United Kingdom began making alliance this made the surrounding countries feel threatened. Since some countries were left out of the alliances, they felt uneasy about the situation. There wasn’t a war going on but they felt as though this would be the start of one.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Causes of WW1 The main causes of world war one are Militarism, Nationalism, Imperialism, and Alliances. They were all connected to the main causes of World War 1. Militarism is one of the importance that caused world war one. It was an “arm race.”…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many things contributed to the cause of World War 1. Some of which were imperialism, nationalism, militarism, and alliances. Nationalism is belief that your country is above all other countries and nations. Imperialism is the controlling of another nation or country by the power of military. Militarism is the belief that a country or nation should have a strong military and be prepared to use it.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays