Justification Causes of Wwi

606 Words3 Pages
Ornella Kuate Ms. Bradley World History November 6, 2012 Justification of Cause of WWI WWI began initially in central Europe in late 1914. There were many factor in which helped start the war including the conflicts and tension amongst countries leading up to it. Militarism, alliances, and imperialism and nationalism were large factors in the cause of WWI. Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm received his PhD in history at Cambridge University. He was a historian on the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism, and nationalism. He believed that the cause of WWI was due to industrial capitalism. Countries felt as if they had to have close ties with their militaries in order to ensure that their industry would prosper. There was clear heated competition amongst countries that had achieved success economically. Essentially, every country not only wanted to better themselves economically but also strongly desired expansion. Hobsbawm’s point becomes clear when colonies began to fight for possession of land in Africa. Colonizing in Africa was ideal in order to harvest new raw materials and have ownership of another piece of land. The Moroccan Crisis is also an important event in which demonstrates industrial capitalism and how it led to WWI. Britain and France had recently signed a treaty called the Entente Cordiale, which initiated an alliance between the countries. Germany, seeing as Britain and France had interest in colonizing Morocco felt the need to step in; fearing that Britain and France were becoming to powerful. Britain and France until recently had become involved in imperial rivalries in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Although Hobsbawm had very logical arguments for why he feels industrial capitalism was the ultimate cause of WWI, all historians didn’t entirely agree with his point of view. Rather, Fritz Fisher for example blamed a whole country entirely
Open Document