Brendan Fahey
2-24-2014 Leading Causes of World War I In 1914 Europe went to war. This was known as World War I and lasted for four years. It was fought between Germany, Austria/Hungary, and Italy which made up the triple alliance. Great Britain, France, Russia, and America made up the triple entente. Three of the greatest underlying causes of the war were imperialism, entangled alliances, and militarism. Imperialism was the first cause of World War I. According to Bernhard von Bulow (document D) states Great Britain, France, and Russia are expanding out and creating colonies. Bulow believed that Germany needed to start imperializing or it will be taken over by the neighboring European countries. Bulow concluded that in the coming century Germany will either be the hammer or the anvil. What he meant by this was Germany can either be in control or let other countries have control over Germany. As displayed in a German propaganda add (document E) Great Britain’s control over most of the world. This picture was designed to make the Germans dislike Great Britain and want to go to war against them. Colin Nicolson, author of The First World War, Europe 1914-1918, displays in document F the area and population of colonial empires during World War 1. Great Britain was shown owning the most colonial land and having eight times as many people. Austria-Hungary and Russia have no colonies giving them less manpower and resources. They were not as strong as the countries, like Great Britain, that controlled many colonies. The second cause of World War I was the entanglement of alliances between European countries. A Serbian assassin killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand by shooting him while he was stuck in traffic. This was the first even that lead up to a domino effect which caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. Russia supported Serbia and declared war on Austria-Hungary. Germany was Austria-Hungary’s ally and declared war on Russia. The French then declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary causing Britain to join France and Russia’s side. All this war declaration created the First World War. As shown in a map from various sources (document A) displays the different sides of the war. Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary are located in the center of Europe and make up the Central Powers. France and the UK are on the left side, but Russia is on the right. These countries make up the Allied Powers. According to an article written by John T. McCutcheon, in the