The MAIN Causes of WW1 The Long Term Causes

•Militarism•Alliances•Imperialism•Nationalism

Militarism (definition)

• A race to see who can get better weapons and larger armed forces.

• This can also be called an arms race.

Militarism at Sea• Germany was competing in an arms

race with Great Britain to build battleships.

• The British, who were strong at sea for a long time, feared an attack on their Empire.

• Canada was a part of the British Empire

• Royal Canadian Navy was created 1910 – 350 men and two old cruisers donated by Britain, one for each coast

Militarism on the Ground

• Germany was competing with Russia and France to expand their armies

How did it contribute to WWI?

• Each country was building their army and weapons.

• Countries tried to intimidate each other and they would back up their threats with weapons and armies.

• Countries had a great deal of fire and man power that they could use at any time.

Alliances = agreements that promise to help another country

Alliances

Triple Entente (Allies): Britain, France and Russia

Triple Alliance (Central Powers): Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

Alliances (definition)

• “Buddy System” between countries. • When countries agree to an alliance they

can agree to do the following things: –stop trading with a country, –support their “buddy” with troops and

resources, –declare war.

How did it contribute to WWI?

• Alliances were breaking out all over Europe.

• The strongest alliances were:– Triple Alliance: (Germany, Austria-

Hungary, and Italy) –Triple Entente: (Britain, France, and

Russia).

Imperialism (definition)

Imperialism = belief in the necessity of building up an Empire

• Having land and resources makes a nation more powerful •All the great powers were competing for colonies/ territory as they tried to build up empires.

• The British felt threatened by Germany’s expansion in Africa.

• The Austrians feared Serbia/ Russia in the Balkans

How did it contribute to WWI?

• The big players in the world (Britain, France, Germany, etc.) wanted to be even more powerful.

• The more colonies a country has, the more people it can have in its empire, rich in resources, more land, and overall more power.

An anti-British poster showing the expanse of the

British Empire.

Nationalism (definition)

• Nationalism= having pride in your country; willingness to defend it and the belief that it is destined for greatness

• People are proud and support their country.

Nationalism

• This was an age when many nations which were controlled by others really wanted to assert their power and independence.

• In Europe Slavs, aided by Serbia and Russia, wanted to be free of Austrian rule.

Serbia’s national flag

How did it contribute to WWI?

• People were excited and happy to call themselves citizen of a certain nation

• They were willing to support their nation • More people were joining the army

• Kaiser Wilhelm II • Built up German army and navy• Determined to make Germany a

top nation.• Distrusted by other powers

“Germany must have its place in the sun”“The world belongs to the strong.”

The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

The Spark the Ignited World War 1 – (aka) The Great War

The Crisis• 28 June, 1914• Heir to Austrian throne

Franz Ferdinand visits Sarajevo with wife Sophie.

• This was capital of Bosnia, recently gobbled up as part of Austrian Empire.

• Also a hotbed of Slav nationalists who want Austria out of their homeland

The Crisis• “Black Hand” terrorists

trained in Serbia and seeking Slav independence attacked the Arch Duke while he travelled in an open car to the Sarajevo City Hall Seal of the

Black Hand group

•Cabrinovic’s bomb attempt fails in morning but injures passengers and spectators

•Gavrilo Princip shoots Archduke and wife outside Schiller’s Café in the afternoon.

•Austrians blame Serbia for training and supporting terrorists.

DOWNTOWN SARAJEVO

This is the original plaque of the exact location of the assassination. City Council removed it after the Bosnian War

The 1911 Graf und Stift Rois De Blougne tourer in which the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding at the time of his assassination.

Bullet Hole

Originally, historians believed this photo shows the arrest of Princip; instead it is more likely a German man who tried to stop an angry mob from hanging Princip.

Arch Duke and Duchess lie in state

Ultimatum• Austrians, supported by

Germany, send Serbia a tough ultimatum.

• Serbia agrees to all but two terms of the ultimatum.

• Russia mobilises her troops to support Serbia

• Germany demands that Russia stands her armies down.

• Germany declares war on Russia

“Demands must be put to Serbia that would be wholly impossible for them to accept …”

Why did Britain get involved?

• Britain had alliances with France and Russia.

Sir Edward GreyBritish Foreign Secretary … “There’s some devilry going on in Berlin”

The Schlieffen Plan• Germany’s military

plan to defeat France and Russia.

• “Knock out blow” aimed at France first.

• Avoid French defences by invasion of Belgium.

• Germans thought Britain would not intervene.

Britain’s Reaction• 1838- UK had signed a

Treaty to protect Belgium.

• Did not want Germany to defeat France and dominate Europe.

• UK issued ultimatum to Germany to withdraw troops from Belgium. War declared August 4 1914

Canada’s Reaction• When Britain declared war on Germany on Aug. 4, 1914,

Canada and the rest of the British Empire were automatically at war, too--Canada pledged 25000 soldiers

• The Great War was under way – known as the “war to end all wars”

End