Premium Essay

Causes of War

In:

Submitted By labidaby
Words 2354
Pages 10
Causes of the First World War
This document was written by Stephen Tonge. I am most grateful to have his kind permission to include it on the web site.

Europe Before 1914: the Main Powers Triple Entente | Name | Head of State | Allies | Disputes | Britain | King George V (1901-1936)
Constitutional Monarchy | France, Russia | Naval arms race economic rivalry with Germany | France | President Raymond Poincaire
Parliamentary Democracy | Britain, Russia | Wanted the return of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany | Russia | Tsar Nicholas II (1894-1917)
Monarchy | Britain, France | Rivals with Austria for control of the Balkans
Strained relations with Britain. | Triple Alliance | Germany | Kaiser William II (1888-1918)
Constitutional Monarchy | Italy, Austria- Hungary. | Rivals with France over Alsace, Britain over her navy. | Austria- Hungary | Kaiser Franz Joseph (1848-1916)
Constitutional Monarchy | Italy, Germany | Rivalry with Russia over the Balkans, Territorial disputes with her ally, Italy | Italy | King Victor Emmanuel III (1900-1946)
Constitutional Monarchy | Austria, Germany | Disputes with France in North Africa large Italian communities lived in the Austrian Empire. |
The direct cause of WWI was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. However historians feel that a number of factors contributed to the rivalry between the Great powers that allowed war on such a wide-scale to break out.
A major historical debate still rages about who has the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of war. Germany and Austria are usually regarded as the main culprits. However unlike World War Two there is no one easily identifiable bad guy!
Below are some of the main long-term causes that are identified by historians:-
The System of Alliances / rivalry between the powers
Militarism
Nationalism

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Causes of War

...The Causes of War Summer Hansborough POL 300 004016 What causes opposition? Imperialism, nationalism, Social Darwinism, and militarism are causes of war, and I narrowed it down to the following; freedom, money, ideologies, race, religion and land. Although these are causes of war, in most cases, the ultimate cause of war is an elitist mentality. One believing their ideologies, race, policies and beliefs are superior to those that do not fit in or follow that particular system. What are the causes of war? An age old question that no one has yet to give a definitive answer. What is war? One definition explains war as an aggressively armed battle between conflicting people. Another definition explains war as fighting between nations, or groups in a nation, using weapons. To sum it all up, war is a condition of active animosity or contention and it is not exclusive to people. There are many kinds of war, such as is the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, political wars, and the war on AIDS. The war on AIDS is interesting, because it’s not a war apposing people, but a virus, a disease. According to the bible, our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, wickedness and power in high places. (bible, 2005) A system, which is designed to bring order and uniformity, is an attribute to the causes of war. A system is vital to administer order to society. In the early days, before America established its own money system, America used...

Words: 3707 - Pages: 15

Free Essay

The War Cause

...Clinical Learning Packet – Newborn Assessment Newborn Client Initials: JS_____ Gender: M/F Date/Time of Delivery: 02/08/2013 1956_ Type of Delivery: SVD C/S IFD Vac Gestational Age by Dates:_40wks (as stated by primary nurse I could not find in chart)________ Age at Time of Assessments (hours): _13_______ APGARS: __8____ @ 1 min. ___9___ @5 min. Blood Type/Rh: Newborn (not taken per agency protocol)_______ Maternal _B+________ Blood Glucose: Reason___________________Frequency__________Last Results:______ Newborn Weight: @ birth 3.28kg__________ Current 3.26kg_________ % Weight loss:0.61%______ Length:_21in______ HC:_13.5in______ CC:_13in_____ Feeding: Breast: _x_____Formula (type): ________________ Feeding Frequency/Amount/Time:_On demand usually every two hours_ Vitamin K (date):_ 02/08/2013 ____________ Erythromycin eye ointment (date): 02/08/2013 ______________ Hepatitis B (date):_02/09/2013_____________________ Circumcision (date):_02/09/2013__________ Metabolic Screen Due:________ completed_________Hearing Screening: Pass /Fail /Reassess Comments: _Clients Bilirubin score was 3.2 at 3hrs after birth. The physician asked for it to be watched. We assessed the bilirubin score again at 14hrs after birth and received a 5.2. The bilirubin will be assessed again at 18 hours after birth and the physician will decide on a course of action at that time per agency protocol. The baby is in the High intermediate group right now although...

Words: 2687 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

The Vietnam War: The Causes Of War

...“War, what is it good for.” These words, sung by Edwin Starr, characterized American youth during the 70’s. The Vietnam war had been raging since 1955 and most Americans were sick and tired of reasons behind the conflict. As Muhammad Ali, who refused to engage in the Vietnam War, was immortalized with his quote “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.” However, wars have existed in some form or other since the dawn of human history. Why do societies go to war, and what is the best explanation for this behavior? The answer lies inside the history of war, throughout all of its incarnations and propagators. First, humans are not the only species to engage in warfare. Ants and bees are both seen engaging in large scale aggression against...

Words: 1077 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Causes of the Vietnam War

...Oswald Antoinette Countryman English 152 22 February 2014 The Causes of the Vietnam War The Vietnam War is now considered as one of the most distressing moments during the 20th Century. The Vietnam War was caused by many factors that contributed to the war in Vietnam during the years of 1959 to April 30, 1975. This war just prolonged the struggles between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam. Most of the factors that contribute to the war were the beliefs by a lot of people who wanted to prevent Vietnam of becoming an Independent Country. There are many people who suffered a lot due to this war going on and still due to this day people still picturing how they fought the war. What were the causes of the Vietnam War? Why did the United States become involved in this war? Why did the Vietnam War have such a huge impact both on the Vietnam and the United States? What was the impact that Ho Chi Minh had during the War? One of the most important features when describing the Vietnam War was why the United States became involved in the war, and their reasons for conflict amongst the Vietnamese in the North of the 17th Parallel. It is known that the US was involved for many reasons, particularly their belief in the Domino theory where if one country fell to Communism, the rest of South-East Asia would fall along with it. There are many other reasons why the United States became involved in this war. There are many reasons why the United States became involved...

Words: 2042 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Great War Causes

...assassination by declaring war on Serbia. The assassination is what triggered The Great War but, the assassination wasn't the only cause of the war, there were underlying issues that made the war worse than it should have been. Countries had alliances with each other that meant if one country went to war the aligned country has to go to war too. In 1882, Germany, Austria-hungary and Italy got together and formed the triple Alliance. On the other hand, France, Britain and Russia got together to form the triple entente. The alliances that formed caused a large scale war. Other Causes including nationalism, imperialism, and militarism All costed the lives of over 16 million people . The Great War was a turning point in history because advanced technology and weapons were introduced. The war also caused the fall of four major European empires. The Ottoman Empire, the Austria-Hungary, German and Russian....

Words: 502 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Korean War Causes

...The Korean War was over communism itself and that was what this war was about. “By July, American troops had entered the War on South Koreas behalf, as far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself”(history.comstaff). This relates because this quote was talking about the forces of international communism and how the war was mainly over communism. It was also talking about how the war entered on South Korea’s behalf and South Korea is a communist nation. 2 started and then that is when the Korean War came to an end and around 5 million people lost their lives and over 100,000 people were injured” (History.comstaff). My thesis was talking about the violence that this war caused and...

Words: 1140 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Causes Of The Cold War

...The Cold War was an indirect interaction between the U.S.A and the Soviet Union. The different ideas of government were one of the main reasons of why there was a war between the U.S and the Soviet Union. Not only that, many factors came along with the war, starting from 1945 other Countries and Nuclear weapons created tension between them. Economic competitions, policies, and plans also contributed to the creation of the Cold War and the finalization of it in 1991. The presidents at the time also influenced in big decisions making, and lead to a better or worse situation not only in the U.S and the Soviet Union, but also in many countries that were involved. During the late 19th Centaury the Soviet Union (USSR) was encouraging the pro-communist...

Words: 1692 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Causes of the Civil War

...There is a question posed by many historians: what is the cause of the Civil War? There are two main causes of the war, slavery and sectionalism. Many people believe that slavery was the only reason as to why the Civil War even happened. That however is not true. First, slavery was a huge issue debated by a very diverse group of people. In reality the North wanted to abolish slavery and the South wanted to maintain it and let it grow. With Abraham Lincoln coming into office many Southerners feared that he would take slavery away from them all together. Slavery was their way of life, it was their way of keeping the Southern economy up. When they heard that Lincoln wanted to stop the spread they took it as he was taking their property because slaves were considered property. The Southerners feared Lincoln and his coming into office. The antebellum south was coming to feel very threatened at how the North seemed to believe that they could exist without slavery, except the South was planted in the idea that they would not be able to exist without their slaves. There was a feeling of fight or flight, in this case it was both for the Southerners. Second, sectionalism was becoming more present than it had been in the past. The North and South had different morals and ideas. The South believed that slavery was perfectly fine, and that they absolutely needed it to survive. Slaves were property in the eyes of Southern people, to take away slaves would be to take away their property...

Words: 499 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Cause and Effect of War

...April 29, 2013 Cause and Effect of War The Vietnam War was during the years of 1964-1975. This is the longest military conflict in U.S. History. Around 85,000 Americans were killed during this war. This war cost over 150 billion dollars. The war involved the North Vietnamese army and the National Liberation Front on one side against the United States and the South Vietnamese army. The war was fought in South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and a little in North Vietnam. One cause of the war was that the Vietnamese had struggled for their independence from France which was a result of the First Indochina War. As a result of this war, the country was divided into North and South Vietnam. The United States got involved in Vietnam because U.S. authorities thought that if the whole country fell under communist control, this would cause a domino effect and communism would spread through all of Southeast Asia. This was the reason to get involved in Vietnam. When the Japanese finally surrendered on September 2, 1945 in the First Indochina war, Ho also declared independence for Vietnam. The French refused to accept Vietnam’s independence, and later drove the Viet Minh into the north of the country. In 1965, the United States sent troops to help maintain the Southern Vietnamese government. Unfortunately, their plan didn’t work and in 1975 Vietnamese was under Communist control. The United States demanded for Japan to leave Indochina, or else they would be forced to use military action. After...

Words: 1350 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Vietnam War Causes

...The Vietnam War took place from November 1, 1955 until April 30, 1975. North Vietnam and South Vietnam were the two main countries that fought this war. The anti-communist countries defended South Vietnam and the communist allies defended North Vietnam. The United States, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Thailand, Khmer Republic, and Taiwan were the anti-communist. The Soviet Union, Khmer Rouge, and North Korea were the communist allies. Vietnam was part of the French Empire before World War Two. During the war, Vietnam was overrun by the Japanese. The Japanese later on retreated making Vietnam establish their own government. Their government was led by Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnam War started from the symptoms and components of the Cold War. The war revolved around an American belief that communism was threatening yo expand all over South-East Asia. The United States and the Soviet Union were in no shape to fight their own war so they ended up fighting in the Vietnam War. When it came to the Cold War, the USSR could not fight. Instead of fighting, they backed up the communist cause. They sent weapons and armor to China, who was an allied communist as well. China then took some of that equipment and sent it to the North Vietnamese so they could...

Words: 586 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Causes of the Revolutionary War

...The causes of the Revolutionary War Imagine your country being controlled by another country. They control you economically, socially and politically. For about 150 years, tension had been mounting between Great Britain and the American colonists. The British government had passed a series of laws in an attempt to increase control over the colonies. The colonists were in every right aspect and mind. It was about time that they stood up and took action against the British. The choice of going to war with them was the only choice they had. The colonists were justified in wanting to gain independence from the British. The Proclamation of 1763, Navigation Acts and the Sugar Act contributed to the anger that the colonists felt toward the British. These laws limited the amount of money that they could make and it didn’t allow them to have any privileges. The trading laws prohibited the colonists from trading with other countries which led to an economic issue; it caused them to lose a lot of money. This made the colonists very angry. The colonists then traveled to the Americas in hopes to make money, but it was very difficult because the British were preventing them from doing so. The British created laws that were very inequitable which made it very hard for the colonists to live a normal life style. The British forced the colonists to pay very high taxes on different type of products, which caused financial issues. The British appointed British...

Words: 478 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Causes Of The Revolutionary War

...When people talk about the Revolutionary War almost anyone can name a few battles. In this paper I will look into three key battles: Battle of Lexington/Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of The Chesapeake Capes or Yorktown. “ The American revolution did not begin with the ‘shot heard round the world.” It started when tens of thousands of angry patriot militiamen ganged up on unarmed officials and overthrew British authority throughout all of Massachusetts outside Boston.”(Ray Raphael p. 69) Before we begin to understand the battles of the Revolutionary War we must first look into some of the causes. One main cause happened more than two-hundred years before anyone even thought of an independant America, that was the colonization...

Words: 403 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Causes of War and Conflict

...Causes of war and conflict Nationalism; Nationalism is when people are loyal and devoted to their country, they are passionate about protecting their way of life from other peoples cultures, this can be applicable to small tribes to whole countries. Nationalism can easily lead to war or conflicts because nationalism can make people blind to another culture bar their own and makes them less understanding this can lead to persecution of those people that do not belong in the dominant culture. An example of a war or conflict caused by nationalism is Kashmir, The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict between India and Pakistan which started just after partition of India. India and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir. Politics; Politics is a group of people who run a country from there parliament, if a political party disagrees with another party (whether that’s in the same country or another) this can cause major agro and lead to war or conflict. Loads of wars and conflicts have happened because of politics for example the cold war. The cold war this was when two of the biggest superpowers (U.S.A and Russia then named Soviet Union) had a stand off which caused the earth to come to the brink of destruction even when there was no physical fighting going on, America was a Democracy and the soviet union was a dictatorship and basically the two countries disagreed on how both their countries were run, this caused tension and scare all over the world. Some recent conflicts...

Words: 1911 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Civil War and the Cause

...Malcolm DuBose Dr. Paul A. Cimbala Seminar:Civil War Soldiers Essay 3 The extent of political ideology as a motivational factor for soldiers in the American Civil War was so great that it changed the historical narrative of the war for veterans and future southerners. In his semi-biographical book, The Making of a Confederate, Williams L. Barney uses the life of an elite Western North Carolina planter named Walter Lenoir, and his descent into the Lost Cause ideology. Barney presents Lenoir as a comparatively liberal man of the time. Educated at his home states university, prior to the attack on Fort Sumner he planned to move to Minnesota, a fairly young state that was actively recruiting Americans from other states and Europeans to solidify population dominance over the inhabitant native tribes. Barney characterizes the Lost Cause phenomenon as an attachment to the faded glory of a romanticized Confederate past. Using Williams L. Barney as a model of the Confederate soldier, his choice of subject varies from the popular trend of studying the poor southern confederate soldiers and his motivations. Lenoir, an elite southern planter was the quintessential model of who would most benefit from a victorious south. Though southern identity contains it fare share of myriad ambiguities, Barney presents a semi-biographical analysis that precisely dissects the often-proclaimed complexity of the Lost Cause narrative. With intention, Barney shows that the preservation of slavery...

Words: 677 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Great War Causes

...Amayah Miller. Period:6. World War One, also known as the “Great War” was a 4 years war beginning in 1914 and ending in 1918. It was a war that happened, and you asked yourself “why?”. The whole war was a series of gun “tag” between different allied countries. In one trench was France, Belgium, and Europe, in the other was Germany and Austria-Hungary. One side would charge the other to try to defeat them. When too many were dead, they would retreat and the other side would charge at them. This war lasted for four bloody years. The causes of World War One was Militarism throughout a country, Nationalism within people for their country, and Imperialism among all of the countries. The first cause of the world war was Militarism...

Words: 969 - Pages: 4