what was the cause of the first world war ?

Answer 1

it started with the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand. look it up, every war since is pretty much directly a result of that one death.

Answer 2

The struggle for world dominance. In 1914 there were some dominant powers. All of them in Europe.
Great Britain, Germany, and France were the most important nations. And each nation wanted to dominate the other. Politically, economically and militarily those nations tried very hard to become more important then the others.
From the 19.tn century the governments knew that those struggles would finally end in war. That was how it all ways used to be. What the politicians didn't understand was that modern weapons and transportation's would change wars as people knew them.
When World War I started all nation thought that the war would be over soon. But it wasn't.

The killing of Erherzog Rudolf in Bosnia might be the one reason Austria and Germany used to finally start the war but without the assassin there would have been another reason.

Answer 3

During the time before World War one, virtually every nation in Europe had multiple "mutual defense" pacts with other nations. These basically meant that if one country was attacked, then these other nations would join in on their side.

So, when an Austrian was assassinated (Ferdinand) the Austrians invaded the country in response. But the English had a defense pact with that country and declared war on Austria, which led Germany to jump in an protect Austria, which prompted France.....

Dominoes, next thing you know, the whole world is at war.

Answer 4

I'd say the assassination of the Archduke was only the spark - the cause was a combination of successful UK & French colonial efforts, and Germany wanting to emulate this; a series of bilateral mutual defence treaties (obliging all the G7 to get involved in an Austrian-Serbian feud) & the belief widely held by government & military officials & the population at large that you were likely to win & that winning will be worth the sacrifices.

Answer 5

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo by Bosnian seperatists unhappy with Austro-Hungarian rule. The Austrians made excessive demands to the Yugoslavians regarding the capture of those responsible for organizing the assassination knowing they would be rejected out of hand. When they were rejected war was declared with Germany, Turkey and Austro-Hungary forming what became known as the central powers, and Britain, France, Russia and Serbia forming the allies with help from Australia and New Zealand, Palestine, America and the Arab nations at a later date

Answer 6

First hand accounts of life on the front!

Thank you for your interest!

The Dominion Institute

My Grandfather and my Great Uncle served in WW1. My Grandfather was wounded in a battle in France. He spent the rest of his life in a Veterans Hospital on Christie Street in Toronto, until he past away in the early 1960s.

Thank you very much for your question!
Bruce


http://www.dominion.ca/

World War 1 (1914-1918)

The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand triggered World War 1. But the war had its origins in developments of the 1800's. The main causes of World War 1 were:

The rise of nationalism.

Europe avoided major wars in the 100 years before World War 1 began. In the 1800's, a force swept across the continent that helped bring about the Great War. The force was nationalism - the belief that loyalty to a person's nation and its political and economic goals comes before any other public loyalty. During the 1800's nationalism took hold among people who shared a common language, history, or culture. Such people began to view themselves as members a national group or nation. Nationalism led to the creation of two new powers - Italy and Germany - through the uniting of many small states. War had a major role in achieving nation unification in Italy and Germany. On the other hand, nationalism weakened the eastern European empires of Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Ottoman Turkey. Those empires ruled many national groups that clamored for independence. The Balkan Peninsula or the "Powder Keg of Europe" caused tensions and therefore threatened to ignite a major war. Rivalry for control of the Balkans added to the tensions that erupted into World War 1.

A build-up of military might occurred among European countries before World War 1 broke out. Nationalism encouraged public support for military build-ups and for a country's use of force to achieve its goals. By the late 1800's, Germany had the best-trained army in the world. In 1898 Germany began developing a naval force that was big enough to challenge the British navy. In 1906, the British navy launched the Dreadnought, the first modern battleship. The Dreadnought had greater firepower that any other ship of its time. Germany rushed to construct on just like it.

Advances in technology helped aid in making military forces stronger. Machine guns and other new arms fired more accurately and more rapidly than earlier weapons. By the end of the 1800's, technology enabled countries to fight longer and bear greater losses that ever before.

A system of military alliances gave European powers a sense of security before World War 1. They formed these alliances with each other for protection and guarantee that other members of the alliance would come to the country's aid if attacked. Although alliances provided protection, the system also created certain dangers. If war came, the alliance system meant that a number of nations would fight, not only the two involved in a dispute. Alliances could force a country to go to war against a nation it had no quarrel with. In addition, the terms of many alliances were kept secret. The secrecy also increased the chances that a county might guess wrong about the consequences of its actions.

The Triple Alliance was made up of 3 countries, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. They all agreed to go to war if attacked by Russia. Bismarck also brought Austria-Hungary and Germany into alliance with Russia. The agreement was known as the Three Emperor's League and was formed in 1881. They all agreed to remain neutral if any of them went to war with another country. In 1890 when Bismarck left office it gave a chance for Russia and France to form an alliance. In 1894, France and Russia agreed to call up troops if any nation in the Triple Alliance mobilized. Russia and France also agreed to help each other if either were attacked be Germany.

Answer 7

Europe was divided in half, (deliberately) in the hope that two equally sized opposing powers would hold each other in balance and avoid war.
It didn't work. Franz Ferdinand was assasinated, and because of all the alliances on both sides, they pretty much had no other option than for all the other countries to join in.
(simplistic but accurate answer)

Answer 8

Lots of things but the event that really kicked it off was tha assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo

Answer 9

the special cause of the first world war was an assasination a prince of austria named Frans Ferdinand in Sarajevo.

Answer 10

The world had all been earmarked, and haggled over. The European powers turned inward with their new toys. America was left with an opening.