The Causes of World War One

instauration War One was the result of a series of unintended and disconnected rasets. Does this opinion adequately explain the rides of World War One? It is understandable that historians ponder on what exactly fatherd a fight that destroyed Europes economy, cost the lives of 37 cardinal men and involved a country from every region of the domain of a function (from the Americas to Asia). The opinion this taste willing discuss implies that the events that guide to this major meshing were unintended and disconnected and in order to emit a notion that would agree or disagree with this picture it is important to first distinguish the ca calls of world fightfare unriva guide.Therefore this essay will first discuss the contrary types of causes (long, mid and short landmarks), respectively nationalism, imperialism/militarism and the blank cheque. Hence this essay will evaluate whether these were disconnected and unintended events or if there is a connection ming guide with the causes. The main sources used in this essay be Coles general notes on world history and historian Martin Gilberts book entitled First World War. The long confines causes prepared the ground for the contend.Nationalism can be categorized into the long term causes because it had influenced Europe former to 1914, and as French writer Guy de Maupassant argues, it is the eldest cause of any contend. Quite a popular phenomenon in the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th, nationalism produced pride in ones countrys achievements. The world war one themes paper observed that this led to xenophobia and ideas of racial superiority barely what it fails to give ear is that as much as nationalism could provide feelings of superiority it could as well provide feelings of equality.For example, minorities that previously were dominated by larger powers were now brush with waves of nationalism. This could be observed in the Balkans in the prelude of the world war where sm eac h states were experimenting Pan-Slavism, a nationalistic movement for political and cultural substantialness of all Slavic people thus a little terror to the Austrian Empire who dominated the South Slavs.One could argue that this form of nationalism led to Franz Ferdinands assassination by an extreme Serb nationalist group, or that it was the Austrians nationalism (their pride in their achievement of an empire) that pressured them into keeping all minorities within the empire at all costs this leading to the Austro-Hungarian unfeasible ultimatum to Serbia on the 23rd of July 1914.Nationalist mood in Europe could in like manner be discernn in France more than 30 years after the French were overcome in the Franco-Prussian war a black cloth heretofore veil the statue of Strasbourg in the Place de la Concorde and it was a symbol, a constant proctor of the loss of the two eastern provinces, Alsace and Lorraine. The French still remembered the defeat and frequently spoke of La Re vanche (the revenge).As historian Gilbert argues, War, if it came, would be an irresistible luck to fulfil long harboured desires or to avenge long-nurtured hatreds. Historian Martin Kelly also argues that it was nationalism, that manifested itself in the pan-Slav feeling of the Russian population, that tied Russia and Serbia together whilst Austria declared war, and thereby triggering what would eat up been a limited local conflict into world war.When the Russian tsar signed the order commanding beat mobilisation of Russian troops because Russia could not remain indifferent to a declaration of war on Serbia and as the ultimate proof of the stimulating sets of Nationalism, editor in chief Alex Bein remembered that the Russian popular sen clippingnt applauded the fullest possible solidarity with the beleaguered fellow Slavs of Serbia. In this fact case it is difficult to determine whether these events occurred under the Nationalism potential cause or the Alliances.Without droppi ng into philosophical or anthropological arguments, this essay will assume that alliances themselves were generated because of nationalism, as countries really wanted to increase their power by allying themselves with other powers, which in the end is motivated by a nationalist feeling. It is often observed in general history that events or sotimes unless occur because they are in a specific context. Mid-term causes, if it the events that occurred slightly prior to the commencement of the war (between 1970 and 1914) can be labelled so, could be held amenable for creating a context specific to that time.In this case, militarism and imperialism greatly shaped the relations between the powers and consequently the political shape of pre-war Europe. Imperialism was a symbol of power that allowed the European powers to expand their afield territories and therefore gain new markets, raw materials and palm of investment. The movement of the Scramble for Africa left most of the African spotless occupied by Europeans, notably colonies of Britain, France, Portugal, Spain and Belgium Germany did have some overseas territories, besides as historian Gilbert remarks The Kaiser did not make ffective use of its colonies, and have them by name rather than by practice. This observation shows that the Kaiser link a symbolic importance to colonies. The ambitious German king wished that his deep united Germany (the German unification had however occurred in 1971, not even half a century before the war) would possess more overseas territories. alas most of the African continent was already occupied going the Kaiser with a bitter feeling of rivalry with Britain and France.This led to the dangerous Agadir crisis, in which the Kaiser had ordered a fleet to establish a port at Agadir, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The British feared this would give the Germans an undesired self-colored grip in Northern Africa, and thus threatened them to respond in a hostile manner if the German gunboat did not depart immediately. The threat was effective, but the rancour which left it was equally strong, noted Gilbert. At the Reichstag, a few weeks after the event, a social democrat commented in a worried tone that tensions could lead to a war, to which a parliamentarian responded later on every war things are better The imperialistic tendencies of Europeans unavoidably led to tensions within Europe itself, generating mutual suspicions and fear. This could explain why the European powers snarl the need to invest in the military in the 1870s, all cardinal major European powers had adopted compulsory military training, which resulted in some 4 ? million men under arms by 1914. each powers General army staffs had well-drawn battle plans in solidifying the French had Plan 17, the Germans had Schlieffen plan and Russians had Plan A. By the beginning of the conflict a total amount of $2 one thousand thousand a year was spent on armament (all powers combined).It c an only be logically concluded that if the powers were investing so much time and money in military they were intending to use it. Finally, it was the short term causes led to critical events that escalated into the war. A general historical view observes that it all began when Franz Ferdinand was assassinate in Sarajevo, on the 28th of June 2014. The Italian foreign minister at the time observed that The telegram indicated that the assassination of the Archduke was the occasion rather than the cause of Austrias ultimatum to Serbia, and it reveals the reason for Austrias action invading Serbia.This view can also be supported by the fact that between 1906 and 1914 the Austrian point of Staff General Hotzendorf had asked more than 25 times for a perplexity war on Serbia. The Austro-Hungarians wanted to reduce Serbias power by attacking her. When they were provided with an excuse to do so (Ferdinands assassination) They were not in full confident to attack immediately for fear of Ru ssian retaliation, argues Gilbert but the fact that they had unconditional German support if ever the conflict widened gave them sureness.It is argued that the Germans had given their full support because the Austro-Hungarians were their most precious allies, and they could not expend losing the cooperation of the other central power when they were encircled by the Triple entente cordiale (Russia, Britain and France). Therefore, to some extent, it can be argued that it is this unconditional support that pushed Austria to declare war on Serbia, without considering the Russian factor. The main issue with identifying causes of the world war is that there are several and none that can be granted full prominence because opinions vary.It is also difficult to establish a cause and effect relationship, because there is no precision and again, it is subjective. This considered, a link can still be noticed in the causes enumerated above Nationalism made European powers want to achieve more for them, leading to prestigious and expensive colonization. Unfortunately these imperialist tendencies created conflicts between the powers, creating mutual suspicions and alliances. The tensions gave the powers a feeling of insecurity, and led course to intense militarisation which meant that the powers could be ready in a consider of weeks in the event of a war.The Germans were so prepared for a war they could afford giving their unconditional support to Austria, who then attacked Serbia, and triggered the alliance system. It is a way to explain how the causes are linked but it is not inescapably pertinent in the sense that these events could have been simply events they only became causes because of the war. For example, if we use counterfactual history and assume that Austria would have never attacked Serbia, perhaps the war would have broken out over Britain and Germany fighting for an access to the Suez Canal, which at that time would have been likely.Perhaps the war woul d have never happened if the Europeans did not see war as an acceptable method to solve conflicts as the German parliamentarian had pointed out, after a war all things are better and the view that most historians believe that actually the war had long been in the qualification. As the American historical review states, There was no glide to war, no war caused by unintended events, but instead a world war caused by a fearful set of elite group statesmen and rulers making deliberate choices.Word count 1 712Bibliography & Words cited A. J. P. Taylor. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. <http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/A. _J. _P. _Taylor>. Causes of World War 1. About. com American History. N. p. , n. d. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. <http//americanhistory. about. com/od/worldwari/tp/causes-of-world-war-1. htm>. Clare, seat D. Causes of WWI Four Steps to War. Causes of WWI Four Steps to War. N. p. , n. d. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. <http//www. johndclare. net/causes_WWI4. htm>. Gilbert, Martin. Chapter 1 Prelude to War. The First World War A dispatch History. clean York H. Holt, 1994. N. pag. Print. Gilbert, Martin. Chapter 2 Wild with Joy. The First World War A Complete History. New York H. Holt, 1994. N. pag. Print. Nationalism. 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