“What factor played the greatest role in causing the

outbreak of the First World War?”

Name: Nishtha kaushal

Class: IS10c
Word count: 1781
Introduction:

World war 1 started on July 28, 1914, and continued until 11th November 1918. The war
reshaped world’s political, social, and economic landscape. The war had initially started
after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and later devolved into other major
issues such as brutal conflicts involving advanced technology. When discussing about
WW1, the war can be placed into four main causes Nationalism, Militarism, Imperialism,
and alliances. Each of the four causes played a certain role during the war and in this essay,
we will delve into each of the individual caused and providing the significant evidence to
support an of the claims been made by historian regarding any of the causes.

“Nationalism is an intense form of patriotism or loyalty to one’s country.” (Llewellyn and

Thompson). The intense pride that characterized nationalism worked to fuel various
conflicts that would follow up the July crisis of 1914. The term nationalism can be widely
seen in 1914 as different groups of countries. Although nationalism was part of the 4 long-
term causes of WW1, nationalism did individual contribute to involving the 3 other long-
term causes. Such as smaller nations becoming bigger nations (e.g., Germany and Italy)
and people identifying their nations for their culture and values. However, with the rise,
this also resulted in countries like Austria-Hungary that included various nationalities
creating tension between all the nations part of this empire due to the sire of independence.
The further dispute caused a lot of tension in Germany nationalism which was also linked
with militarism, which the country would later use to declare independence. Despite
Germany and Italy having a national rise, the growth of nationalism also resulted in the
start of triple alliances involving Germany, Austria-Hungarian, and Italy, followed by the
Triple Entente being formed between France, Britain, and Russia. Like it was mentioned:

Various historians argue that the main reason for countries having tensions
would link back to the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand which
started by triggering tension within the Slavic nations and those events would
later contribute to the outbreak of WW1 (“Why Did World War I Happen?”).

This quote goes into details on how the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
was really the main base towards WW1. While nationalism was used as a propaganda
which promoted the greater side of military and portraying war as the peaceful
solution and an ultimate defense solution for one’s homeland. With the use of
nationalism, countries were able to create an image and fueling competition within

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different nation from Europe. The competition resulted into both political war and
economical war that would have a notable impact on the nation later. Since
nationalism meant being loyal towards your country, nations would use this war as
an opportunity to show other nation’s how strong their nation can be and how loyal
are all the “men” that are fighting in the war. During WW1, there had been various
types of wars such as arms race between Germany and Britain. Both countries had
this war to prove to either side that they are the strongest and the country with
powerful navy.

However, “Historians have identified several ways in which militarism led to the start of
the war” (Beck, “Militarism as a Cause of World War I”) this point argues that militarism
is the cause of WWI. The historical context of militarism is greatly known in WWI since
militarism contributes to pushing countries into war. Many nations practice militarism to
strengthen and expand their military forces. For example, Germany and France were
included in arms races that involved several European nations. During WW1, Britain had
the strongest navy, however, the German ruler “Kaiser Wilhelm” wanted to be the nation
(Germany) with a bigger and stronger navy.

For the German ruler Kaiser Wilhelm to achieve this, it would require him to have allies
with different countries like Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The
alliance was called the Central Empire because of the wartime military alliance. Kaiser's
idea of having a stronger navy than Britain, created a navy and arms race between both
nations as the tension between nations increased due to the arms race. Britain was also
determined to not lose the dominating power of Germany.

Militarism also had a significant connection with both nationalism and imperialism because,
during WWI, every European at least involved military as it would create greater European
power. Since militarism was the cause of the war factor during the war. There had been
various events that took place like the German and Britain arms race, this race created a
strong belief that to have a stronger nation, it is required to have a powerful military to a.
defend themselves and b. expand with empires in different countries. Although Germany
and Britain had an arms race, this race also allowed other nations to use this opportunity to
create advanced technology which would increase the military power of each nation and
create confidence for the less powerful countries.

Like it was mentioned above, militarism had a significant connection with both the
imperialism and nationalism but despite that “how did imperialism might have played a
significant role in WW1?” Imperialism means claiming one’s territory as their own.

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“Britain had an empire that covered one quarter of the world map and France had
significant territories in Africa and Asia.” (“Causes of World War One”). Germany like
mentioned wanted to be a powerful empire of their own which meant rivalry between
Britain and France. As given history example would be.

After Germany declared war on France, Germany was now determined to

execute its war plan to defeat France first and then concentrate its forces against
Russia. The plan required German troops invade Belgium to get to France. This
would be in direct violation of Belgium’s neutrality, which had been guaranteed
in a treaty signed by major European powers, including Britain, in 1839.
(Imperial War Museums)

This quote above discussed how Germany was trying to invade a major country to later get
France. This was one of German strategies that was being used to create an empire which
would later make them a central power of WW1 for their military alliance and having a
powerful military alliance created bigger empires that would give Germany, power to
become a bigger and powerful nation compared to other nations in Europe. Germany used
the invading of Belgium as an opportunity to provoke Belgium since they had a peace
treaty which guaranteed that Belgium would remain neutral no messy the war may be.

This event was also one of the major events that played around the July crisis. The main
reason this event was among the major events because this war ended up making Britain
go into war “Britain’s entry into war was partially a reaction to larger anxieties about the
balance of power in Europe, as well as its own security and position in the world.” (Imperial
War Museums, “How the World Went to War in 1914”). Furthermore, imperialism was
used during this event to create broader tension between Britain and Germany which
contributed into the factor of WW1. Additionally, during the July crisis, the competition
on which European nation would have the bigger and powerful colonies added more fueled
rivalries between the European power, this also led to military alliances and tensions
between nations. Germany’s plan of empire building and then the aggressive action
towards Belgium were seems like an act of imperialism.

Out of the four main causes- the role of alliances was also a very big contributor on the
war was shaped mainly since all the Europe. One of the main alliances would be
“Germany, Austria–Hungary and Italy formed one alliance; France and Russia formed
another. More complicated still, France, Russia and Britain were also in an ‘entente’, a

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 more informal agreement to support each other in times of war.” (The July Crisis of
1914). This quote connects with the image below because the image should the alliance
system during the July crisis 1914. From the map that is
shown, the main alliances were of Germany and during the
July crisis- it was said that Austria- Hungary empire was the
only reliable ally. Since Germany and Austria- Hungary
were ally, it would mean that Germany would support their
alliances however for France and Russia, this would mean
they would become enemies. The reason behind it was;
The July Crisis of 1914- the alliance in Europe
during ww1
Russia saw itself as the defender of Serbia and would fight to defend it against
Austria–Hungary and Russia was allied to France while Germany’s only military
strategy (called the Schlieffen Plan) would send German troops west to try to
defeat France before the German army could then turn east to defeat Russia. So
Germany’s plan for defeating Russia meant it had to declare war on France as
well! (The July Crisis of 1914)

Based on the quote given above, the main alliances that were seen happening during WW1,
were the central power rising and getting the main power among many of the European
countries. Although “The Allies original members of greatest import were the British
empire, France, and Russia” (Volle). This later changed with Germany being one of the
main allies and which connected with Kaiser Wilhelm (German rulers) plan of having
Germany as a strong military and have a lot of alliances.

Conclusion

To sum up everything that has been stated so far, it is quite understandable that each of the
four causes played an equal amount of role in the world war although like mentioned above.
There isn’t an exact reason on how the war started in the first place. Each of the four causes
brought a significant damage and power into each nation that would be beneficial to them
one way or the other. From the evidence above and the research done throughout the essay,
it can be quite difficult to rule out one of these causes as the main causes however if it were
to be one cause, it would nationalism. Nationalism meant being loyal to your country and
countries used the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as an open opportunity to
tell the other nations that their military defense and loyalty is very strong and powerful,
and no one can take anything that belong to us. This later moved into military wars between

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 nations and alliances being created to have an exact support, supporting their backs doing
hard time. All three of the factors (Militarism, Alliances, and Imperialism) have come
together to establish nationalism as the main cause of the first world war. This was due to
the result of nationalism coming of a propaganda which promoted the other 3 main factors
of ww1.

Works Cited

Beck, Elias. “Militarism as a Cause of World War I.” History Crunch - History Articles, Summaries,

Biographies, Resources and More, 2 Sept. 2017, www.historycrunch.com/militarism-as-a-cause-

of-world-war-i.html#/.

---. “Nationalism as a Cause of World War I.” History Crunch - History Articles, Summaries,

Biographies, Resources and More, History Crunch, 2 Sept. 2017,

www.historycrunch.com/nationalism-as-a-cause-of-world-war-i.html#/.

“Causes of World War One.” BBC Bitesize, www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z9xyvwx#z8nrcmn.

Accessed 8 Feb. 2024.

“How Did Imperialism Lead to WW1? – History Just Got Interesting.” World101, 14 July 2023,

historyjustgotinteresting.com/4-main-causes-of-ww1/imperialism-in-ww1/#how-did-

imperialism-lead-to-ww1-hd-65c1eea773636. Accessed 8 Feb. 2024.

Imperial War Museums. “How the World Went to War in 1914.” Imperial War Museums, 2018,

www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-the-world-went-to-war-in-1914.

Stout, Mark. “(W)Archives: Germany’s Violation of Belgian Neutrality in 1914.” War on the Rocks, 1

Aug. 2014, warontherocks.com/2014/08/warchives-germanys-violation-of-belgian-neutrality-in-

1914/.

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“The July Crisis of 1914.” FutureLearn, www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/ww1-

trauma/0/steps/95698#:~:text=Germany%2C%20Austria%E2%80%93Hungary%20and%20Italy

The Open University. “The July Crisis of 1914.” FutureLearn, www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/ww1-

trauma/0/steps/95698#:~:text=Germany%2C%20Austria%E2%80%93Hungary%20and%20Italy

The U.S. In WW1 Causes of WW1 in Europe.

Volle, Adam. “Allied Powers | World War I.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 May 2023,

www.britannica.com/topic/Allied-powers-World-War-I.

“Why Did World War I Happen?” World101 from the Council on Foreign Relations, 14 Apr. 2023,

world101.cfr.org/contemporary-history/world-war/why-did-world-war-i-happen.