Three Causes of World War I

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Three Causes of World War I World War I was caused by a combination of many factors which turned a conflict into an international outbreak. World War I was reportedly started by the assignation of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austo-Hungarian throne, but there are deeper motives behind the dawn of World War I. These include but are not limited to, militarism, imperialism, and nationalism. The first reason for the outbreak of the war was militarism. “Militarism is the glorification of one’s military. Also the belief of a nation or its people to build and maintain a strong military, with the intention to use it whenever it is felt necessary.” In the early 1900 the two strongest countries, Germany and Great Britain, decided to create a Naval Race. Although Germany had stronger ground forces, Great Britain had the Dreadknought class battle ships for better naval protection. Because of the advantage Great Britain had with the Dreadknought class battleship, Germany decided to build the same class of battle ship for themselves (Wilde). While both countries were trying to outdo each other, by building more ships, tensions rose. When Germany and Great Britain stopped building battleships the waiting began. Neither Germany nor Great Britain wanted to be responsible for starting a fight between the two, but both wanted to show strength and prowess in war. Great Britain and Germany were finally able to show off their massive defense when the Archduke, heir to the Astro-Hungarian throne, Francis Ferdinand was assassinated by a Siberian. Militarism clearly uncovered the poorest qualities of the Great Britain and German Empires, thus, setting the stage for one of the worst wars in history. Another cause of World War I was prevalent imperialism. “Imperialism is domination by one country over another in terms of the political, economic, or cultural life
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