CAUSES of World War I [AP World History] Unit 7 Topic 2 (7.2)

What is nationalism?

A strong identification with one's own nation and people, often to the exclusion of other people. This rising surge of nationalism going on during this time, combined with the other three causes, means that the world is a powder keg about to explode.

What happened after the assassination occurred?

About a month after the assassination occurred, the whole alliance system lit up. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Germany came to Austria-Hungary's aid. Russia came to aid Serbia. So Germany declared war on Russia. Then Germany declares war on France a few days later. A few days later, Britain declares war on Germany. A few days later, Austria declares war on Russia.

How did alliances start/cause WW1?

Because of all the tension between these military powers, they began to make secret alliances with other nations.

What are the MAIN causes of World War 1?

Militarism Alliances Imperialism Nationalism

What happened in the assassination of Franz Ferdinand?

On June 28, 1914, the archduke of Austro-Hungarian Empire, a guy by the name of Franz Ferdinand, was in a car in the middle of a parade winding through the streets of Sarajevo. Unknown to him, a Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand had made plans to assassinate him as a symbol of their desire to rid Bosnia of Austrian influence. So five members of the Black Hand were chosen to carry out this deed. They were given bombs and pistols to carry it out, and they spread themselves out along the parade route. As Ferdinand's car passed by the first assassin, he chickened out and did nothing. And then his car passed by the second assassin who also chickened out and did nothing. He passed by the third assassin, and this guy actually mustered his courage, threw the bomb that he had at the car, but as it turns out, it was on a timer, and it was set a little bit too late so it bounced off the car and didn't explode until it hit the ground, injuring the people but the archduke. And at this the driver sped away down the road passing the last two assassins who also did nothing.

Who was Gavrilo Princip?

One of the last two assassins; he went to a cafe around the corner, sat on the patio and began to drink a beer. Once the Archduke was at a safe distance away, they sat around and decided what to do. They decided they should go visit the people in the hospital who were injured by the bomb blast. And in order to be safe, they decided the that the archduke and his driver should take a different route to a hospital, a less crowded route. But the problem is, nobody ever communicated that his driver. And so when the first two drivers of the motorcade took a turn into the crowded part of the city, the archduke's driver went tight along with them. Alarmed, the front two drivers stopped on the street, ran back to the archduke's car and asked what they were doing here. It just so happened that they stopped the cars and were having their discussion right in front of the cafe where failed assassin Gavrilo Princip was sitting and drowning his sorrows. And so, seeing the situation, Princip got up off his stool, walked over to the car, and shot the archduke and his wife.

Patriotism vs. Nationalism

Patriotism is a strong identification with one's own people. Nationalism takes it one step further to the exclusion of other people.

What is militarism?

The desire of a state to develop and maintain a powerful military in order to aggressively advance their own interests. In the couple decades prior to the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, Britain and Germany especially had invested huge sums of money into bulking up their militaries. Each of these countries swelled the ranks of their ground forces through heavy recruitment, they built up their navies, they developed new weapons. And this massive stockpiling of weapons is brought by the Industrial Revolution.

What is imperialism?

When one country brings another country under its political dominion, or sometimes economic dominion. Europeans fought like toddlers to carve up their slice of Africa. Japan and the United States joined the toddler party when China was on the table. In this long-standing quest for global dominance and colonial holdings all over the, bitter rivalries had developed between these powers

What is an alliance?

When one country recruits other countries into an agreement of mutual self-defense. (If I'm country A and I forge an alliance with country B, and then country X attacks me, then country B is going to come to my defense).