what was the main reason why world war 1 started?

Answer 1

to get it out of the way before WW2 started

Answer 2

There are many contributing factors but no good reason for the start of that war. One thing was a high sense of nationalism. That means that everyone had a strong sense that their country was the best one. This is one reason you see the liberals in America today downplaying patriotism. When people's sense of nation is disproportionate they do not think objectively about their relationship to other people in the world. Another factor was a lot of military competition. Britain had built a big navy and had a large army. Germany the same and also other nations in Europe. It was assumed those armed forces existed for aggression. Who knows? The biggest reason for the war was probably the powers inability to communicate in a rapid, effective way. When one country mobilized their army another followed suit. Each was afraid the other would strike a first blow and gain advantage. There was very little time for diplomacy and little interest in it. Also the people who started the war were mostly monarchs who never had to suffer any of the pain and privation from it. The common people did not realize how little they were fighting over, mostly because of that strong sense of nationalism. The whole thing was a damned shame. Especially since WW2 happened directly because of WW1

Answer 3

Archduke Ferdniand was assassinated and this caused the initial conflict between Serbia and Austro-Hungary.

Germany then joined in on the side of their long time friends Austro-Hungary and France joined with its East European Friends Serbia. Britain joined in when Germany invaded Belgium in order to outflank the French (Belgium was neutral and we had agreed to help protect the Belgian's neutrality). The reasons each side joined in... Germany was a growing power and wanted to be an empire like Britain and to a lesser extent France was. By flexing its muscles and winning a war against France would be a big part of proving its status in the world. France on the other hand was worried about the central powers such as Austro-Hungary and was quite insecure about anyone upsetting the status quo in Europe. Britain joined to honour its agreement with Belgium. Ironically it is largely believed that if Germany hadnt invaded Belgium and dragged Britain into the war, then it would'vt started winning against France and that France would then have done what had been done all over Europe before of getting peace by giving the victor a small part of your territory, thus giving us a war without millions of casualties and the knock on effect and helping to set up WW2. Instead Britain and Germany (the world champion and the contender) ended up going head to head with neither side willing to lose face and prestige by offering to break it off

Answer 4

It was a due to many reasons. The alliance system, The tensions between the Russians and Austria-Hungary concerning the Slavs, the Moroccan crisis etc. The spark that set off WW1 was the assassination of the heir Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian group (black hand, i think they were called). Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia, they refused, the Russians stepped in and declared war on Austria-Hungary. You could argue the main reason was the alliance system.

Answer 5

The Hapsburg empire was beginning to collapse and the other european powers were poised for a land grab. France kept teasing the young (42 years old at the outbreak of WWI) state of Germany about Russian ambitions then signed a pact with her traditional enemy Gt Britain. When it all kicked off in Sarajevo with the Bosnian Principe assassinating Archduke Ferdinand, Germany panicked and decided to attack France who would take Germany up the rear if they had to fight off Russia. As France had a heavily fortified border (the Maginot line) they devised a plan to march through the low countries straight into france and say 'boo' just like they did at Austerlitz. The German ambassador sought the opinion of the British government on this move but misunderstood the slightly cryptic answer. So, when Germany marched into Belgium (whose neutrality Britain guaranteed) we were obliged to declare war on our former best mates.

Answer 6

The Black Hand ( a Serbian group of terrorists) assassinated The Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. This caused a war between Serbia and A-H. Russia mobilised to defend Serbia, which caused Germany to declare war on Russia, along with A-H, as they were allies. This made France declare war on Germany and A-H, as she was allied to Russia. As Germany moved to invade France, it invaded Belgium, which brought the UK into the war, on the side of France and Russia.

Answer 7

Arch Duke Ferdinand was shot by teenage terrorists. This gets confusing, but in a nutshell, Austria and Serbia wanted revenge on each other, then all of their allies said, if you attack Austria then we'll defend them and so on. In the midst of this, Germany moved their forces into France and KABOOM World War 1 started.

Answer 8

Ahhhh now this is the one thing I remember from O Grade HIstory,......the main reason was Gavrilo Princip of the Black Hand bumping off Archduke Franz Ferdinand and setting off the domino effect of the Triple Alliance and the Entente Cordiale. Thank you Mr Tulloch, your teaching was not in vain!

Answer 9

The naval arms race which began in 1897. The Mansion House Speech (1909?). General sabre-rattling.

Answer 10

Germany was planning an overland route to the oil bearing middle east, the powers in power at the time were not prepared to allow that. The murder of the Arch Duke is a fallacy.

Answer 11

It was the work of old Nick and Luther, to destroy the World. Just like Tony and Gordon are going to do to the UK..... Jon G's mates !