World War 1

Factors Contributing to World War I

Prior to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, numerous factors escalated the tension between European countries. Imperialism, Militarism, Nationalism and the forming of alliances set the tone for the war. This essay will take a closer look at each of the aforementioned factor and their actual impact at the start of the world war.

The Empires that existed before the war were comprised of various ethnic groups and some of these groups sought to break away from the ruling nations. Those that shared a culture and spoke the same language strived for independence. Nationalism meant that groups were loyal to their affiliated nation and it enabled other nations to establish themselves as powerful contenders.

Imperialism also became a factor when nations wanted to expand their empires. The continents of Africa and Asia were some of the places that were being colonized as they provided natural resources and offered new markets for trade. European countries were aware of this competed for the last available nations to colonize thus resulting in conflict.

The fight for the colonies meant that countries had to have a strong military and when a rival nation expanded its military, so did the other. Great Britain and Germany were at loggerheads to have the strongest navy and they engaged in an arms race. The technological advancements from the Industrial Revolution let to new types of weaponry to be created.

 

Countries sought further strengthening by forming alliances, which made the tension more volatile. The Triple Alliance and The triple Entente were formed from the European nations. The Triple Entente comprised of Russia, France and Great Britain with the Triple Alliance being formed by Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany. The alliances were such that there was a balance of power and also that if the enemy attacked a country; the ally would come to the aid of the attacked.

Ongoing tensions between nations around the Balkans let to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne. With the assassinator being a Serb nationalist, war was declared on the nation of Serbia by Austria-Hungary following an ultimatum. From 1914 Jul 28^th, other nations gradually joined the war mainly on the grounds of the alliance system that was formed.

 

Even though the assassination of Franz Ferdinand is seen as the spark for the First World War, factors like militarism, imperialism, nationalism and formation of alliances were the actual building blocks. These factors had gradually created an unstable atmosphere between the Europeans superpowers and the allies and a single event was needed to cause the chain reaction.