Transcript File

Causes of World War I
1890-1914
Chapter 10
Introduction
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World War I began in August
1914. It was triggered by
the assassination of the
Austrian archduke, Franz
Ferdinand, on the 28th of
June, 1914. He was killed by
a Serbian terrorist, Gavrilo
Princip.
This event, however, was simply
the trigger that set off
declarations of war. The actual
causes of the war are much
more complicated.
Imperialism
Imperialism is when a country takes
over new lands or countries and
makes them subject to their rule.
By 1900 the British Empire extended over
five continents and France had a large
control of Africa.
The amount of lands ‘owned’ by
Britain and France increased tension
and created rivalries with Germany.
European Empires
http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW1/empiremap.htm
Moroccan Crisis
In 1904, Morocco had been given to France
by Britain, but Moroccans wanted their
independence.
In 1905, Germany announced their support
for Moroccan independence.
War was narrowly avoided by a conference
which allowed France to retain possession
of Morocco.
In 1911, the Germans were again
protesting French rule in Morocco. Britain
supported France and Germany was
persuaded to back down for part of the
French Congo.
Bosnian Crisis of 1908
Another conflict began when AustriaHungary annexed the former Turkish
province of Bosnia in 1908.
Serbia wanted to unite all Slavic people
in the Balkans and threaten war on
Austria Hungary.
Russia pledged their support for Serbia
but when Germany stepped up to
support Austria-Hungary the war was
postponed because Russia backed
down.
The Balkans
Second Moroccan Crisis
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A second Moroccan crisis
occurred in 1911 when
Germany sent a warship to
Agadir, Morocco in protest
of French rule in Morocco.
Britain again rose to the
defense of the French.
Germany promised to back
down if they were given
another piece of French
Africa.
Nationalism
Nationalism is having great pride for
one’s country.
In the Congress of Vienna in 1815, held
after Napoleon’s exile, the principle of
nationalism was ignored in favor of
preserving the peace.
Germany and Italy became divided
states, but strong nationalist
movements and revolutions led to the
unification of Italy in 1861 and that of
Germany in 1871.
Alsace and Lorraine
After the FrancoPrussian War,
France was left
angry with their
loss of their
province, Alsace
and Lorraine to
Germany.
Revenge became
a major goal of
the French.
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Pan-Slavism vs.
Pan-Germanism
Nationalism also posed a problem for
Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, areas
made up of many conflicting national
groups.
Germany was attempting to bring all
German speaking people together in
the area. This was called the PanGerman Movement.
Russians were attempting to bring all
Slavic speaking people together. This
was called the Pan-Slavic movement.
Militarism
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Militarism means that the
army and military forces are
given a high profile by the
government. The growing
European divide had lead to
an arms race between the
main countries. The armies of
both France and Germany had
more than doubled between
1870 and 1914 and there was
fierce competition between Britain
and Germany for mastery of the
The Draft
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Each European nation
(except Britain) forced young
men to serve in the military.
By 1914, Russia had more
than 8 million men in
uniform. Germany had to
best-trained army and were
racing to compete with Great
Britain.
All nations began to stock
pile weapons and
ammunition.
Alliances
An alliance is an agreement made
between two or more countries to
give each other help if it is needed.
When an alliance is signed, those
countries become known as allies.
A number of alliances had been
signed by countries between the
years 1879 and 1914. These were
important because they meant that
some countries had no option but to
declare war if one of their allies
declared war first.
Triple Alliance vs.
Triple Entente
Under the pressures of nationalism,
imperialism, and militarism, the nations
of Europe formed alliances to maintain a
balance of power.
Germany joined Austria-Hungary and
Italy in the Triple Alliance.
France, Russia, and Great Britain formed
the Triple Entente.
In both cases, the countries agreed to aid their
allies in a crisis.
These agreements, designed to keep the
peace, ultimately destroyed it.
Europe Divided
Archduke Visiting Bosnia
Archduke Francis Ferdinand of AustriaHungary planned to visit Sarajevo, the
capital of Bosnia on the 28th of June.
Serbians were outraged to learn about
this since June 28th was the date that
Serbia had been conquered by the Ottoman
Empire. On the very same date in 1912,
Serbia had at last freed itself from
Turkish rule. But Bosnia, home to many
Serbs, was still ruled by Austria-Hungary.
Serbians were outraged that this was the date
that the Archduke had planned to visit Bosnia.
Gavrilo Princip
Among one revolutionary group was a
young man of 19 named Gavrilo Princip.
He came from a family of Serb Farmers
who made a meager living in Bosnia. He
felt that he must take action against Bosnia.
Princip joined the Unity of Death, a
terrorist group commonly known as the
Black Hand. Their goal was to unify all
Slavic people into one nation.
On June 28th, Gavrilo would be waiting for
the Archduke in the streets of Sarajevo.
Sarajevo
Francis Ferdinand was not a supporter of
democracy. Yet he recognized how
nationalism was threatening his empire. He
even anticipated making some concessions to
the Slavs.
The Archduke ignored warning of antiAustrian unrest in Sarajevo. On the
morning of June 28th he arrived in
Sarajevo.
The Assasination
A few hours later, the royal motorcade
drove through the streets of Sarajevo,
where seven members of the Black
Hands were waiting.
The first two conspirators lost their nerve as
the cars passed. The third conspirator
hurled his bomb at the car but missed.
The motorcade decided to continue on.
Gavrilo held firm to the plan. As the
motorcade was in reverse he seized his
opportunity and fired twice into the
Archduke’s car.
Princip is Convicted
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ges/hulton_gavrilo_princip.jpg
Within minutes after the
shooting both the Archduke
and his wife were dead.
Princip was quickly arrested.
In his trial is stood by his deed
but regretted killing a woman.
Because Princip was under
20 years of age so he was
not executed. He did die in
prison, though, of
tuberculosis.
The Ultimatum
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The Austrian Emperor, Francis
Joseph, was outraged with the
news. He and his government
blamed Serbia. They decided that
their only course was to punish
Serbia.
Austria sent an ultimatum, or
final set of demands. In it is
stated that Serbia must end all
anti-Austrian agitation and
punish any Serbian official
involved in the murder plot.
World War I Begins
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Serbia agreed to most of
the ultimatum, but did not
allow Austria to take part
in the investigation, which
was also a part of the
terms.
This partial refusal gave
Austria the opportunity to
take decisive action. On
July 28th, 1914 Austria
declared war of Serbia.
Germany backs Austria
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/Germany/tnkaiser1.jpg
This may have been a small war
if it wasn’t for great powers
getting involved.
Austria might not have pushed
Serbia into war without the
backing of its longtime ally,
Germany. Kaiser William II, or
Germany was horrified with the
assassination and pledged their
support to Austria.
Russia Mobilizes
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ns.ca/reds/nicholas2.jpg
Serbia sought help from Russia,
the champion of Slavic nations.
Nicholas II, Czar of Russia,
urged William II to talk Austria
into backing down but when he
refused, Russia began to
mobilize.
Germany responded by
declaring war on Russia. Russia
called on their ally France to
support them.
France Joins In
France was ready to avenge their defeat
in the Franco-Prussian war. France
gave the same kind of backing to Russia
that Germany gave to Austria.
When Germany demanded that France
remain neutral, France refused.
Germany then declared war on France.