Its a common misconception that the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was the cause of World

War One. This however, is incorrect. The assignation of the Arch Duke was merely the spark that set off the already tense and fragile conditions in Europe at that time. The causes of World War One had been building since the late 1800s. The main four causes of World War One consist of the formation of alliances, imperialism, nationalism, and militarism. All of those factors played a significant role in setting the stage for the Great World War to erupt.

One major cause of World War One was the formation of various alliances throughout the Eastern hemisphere. The first significant development occurred in 1867 when Austria and Hungary formed into one country in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise(Trueman). Austria Hungary became the second largest country in the world at that time, second only to the Russian Empire. Both Austria Hungary and Germany felt threatened by the vast Russian Empire, which took up a substantial portion of the continent. Austria Hungary also was facing political trouble and felt the need for German support if their condition continued to decline (Howard). Germany and Austria spoke the same language and had a similar culture, which also encouraged the two countries to join forces. In 1879 the Dual Alliance was formed which ensured aid if either of the two countries fell under attack. The next alliance was formed in 1882 when Italy chose to unite with Germany and Austria Hungary. Germany was one of the most powerful countries in the world, and

Italy grew concerned with the safety of their Northern border. It seemed in Italys best interest to create an alliance with these countries to maximize protection. The addition of Italy to this alliance created the Triple Alliance. The emergence of these alliances did not go unnoticed by the rest of the world. The Triple Alliance caught the attention and both France and Russia, both of which felt threatened by Germany and Austria Hungary. France has previously suffered a defeat from Germany in the Franco Prussian War in 1870, which increased concern with another invasion. Russia also felt threatened by Germany due to their increasing power and expansion.This encouraged France and Russia to form an alliance known as the Franco Russian Alliance in 1894. In 1907 Britain joined the alliance as well to counter the rising power of Germany. This result was the formation of the Triple Entente(Howard). This treaty benefited all countries involved due to their combined resources. Great Britain had a small army, but the most powerful navy in the world. Russia and France had small navies, but strong and large armies. Great Britain was the largest and most powerful world power at that time, however, it grew concerned with Germanys growing navy. Russia had a large army, but the country was still damaged from its defeat from Japan in 1905. France was also still recovering from the Franco Prussian War and was still bitter over the loss of Alsace Lorraine. Both Russia and France thought it imperative to create an alliance to secure the safety of their countries ("World War One - Causes."). The incentive of the formation of the Triple Entente was to have threats to Germany on both the Eastern and Western fronts. Britain was essential due to their navy that the other countries lacked. These countries hoped to send a

message to Germany, discouraging them to create conflict knowing that it would be faced with two large armies on both sides of the country. These alliances were one of the underlying causes of World War One because it created hostility and tension among the countries involved, knowing that if one country declared war on another all countries in the alliance would get involved. It was a risky domino effect that no one really wanted to set off. Another factor that contributed to setting the stage for the Great War was the rise of imperialism. Many European countries gained an interest in dominating weaker states to seize power, wealth, natural resources, and to promote their culture throughout the world. Britain in particular imperialized an impressive array of various territories all over the world. The two main targets of Great Britain were Africa and India. India provided a great amount of wealth through their raw materials such as spices, oil, textiles and tea(Trueman). Africa also proved of importance to Great Britain due to their source of timber, peanuts, hides, palm oil, and even gold and diamond reserves in South Africa. It also was important due to its location, Egypt for example was useful due to the transportation purposes the Nile river served. Great Britain accumulated so much territory that by 1900 it owned a quarter of the world and owned land on five continents ("World War One - Causes."). France also owned several colonies in Africa. They occupied French West Africa (modern day Mali, Guinea, and Senegal), French Equatorial Africa (modern day Chad and Central Republic of Africa), Algeria, and Morocco. Although France did not accumulate as much land and wealth as England, theyre colonies proves exceptionally beneficial to their economy.

Germany, on the other hand, did not have much to show for in its colonies. Germany made the decision to imperialize too late, and much of Africa had already been claimed by either Britain, France, or Spain. Germany did manage to accumulate some colonies, such as the land known currently as Namibia, however it did not have the same success as the other countries. Namibia consisted mostly of desert and contributed very little wealth to Germany. The colonization of Namibia did however create a tension with Britain, due to Namibias close proximity to Britain South African colonies. Germany felt angry about the establishment of Britains colonies because they believed the most promising ones had already been taken. Germany also practiced the belief that accumulation of land was equivalent to power (Howard). These tensions due to imperialism contributed to demise of the already fragile relationships of the countries involved. Nationalism also played an important role in laying down the foundation for World War One. Nationalism is defined as the sense of identity in a nation. Germany embraced this idea under the rule of Otto Von Bismarck who came into power in 1871. Bismarck was a politician in Prussia who was made chancellor of Germany as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. His political tactics consisting on implementing his blood and iron strategies. This idea was released in his famous blood and iron speech in 1862 in which he expressed his belief in using militaristic power to achieve the goals of the country(Germanys Godfather). He continued these practices as chancellor of Germany as a way to unite the people together. Prior to his rule Germany consisted of loosely

bounded city states that lacked unification. Bismarck preached nationalism and encouraged all German people to take pride in their country. Bismarck applied his militaristic strategies to fulfill his goal of nationalism by creating conflict with other countries as a way to unite Germany. France was his main target in his strategy which can be seen in the Franco Prussian War. Bismarck released propaganda in 1870 against France in order to influence the way the German people thought of the France, and to instigate conflict between France and Prussia with the intent to cause a war(Otto Von Bismarck). Bismarck released a document called Ems Dispatch which was conversation between King Wilhelm of Prussia and the French Ambassador Count Benedetti, regarding the possibility of a German Prince taking the throne of Spain. The conversation was manipulated in such a way that each country was given the impression that their representative was targeted and disrespected. This angered both France and Prussia and resulted in the mobilization of French armies and eventual declaration of war. At this time many Germans perceived France to be greedy and aggressive under Napoleon IIIs rule. German city states rallied behind the support of Prussia and Bismarck's plan of nationalism was proving successful. City states united to fight for Prussia and experienced numerous victories over the next three years. The war finally ceased after the conquer of Paris in 1873. Bismarck secured the unification of Germany by meeting with the various city states making negotiations for unification (Germanys Godfather). His efforts proved successful as the city states came to agreements of unification(Otto Von Bismarck). The Franco Prussian War resulted in the French annexation of Alsace and Lorraine, and the payment of war reparations.

Although this was a blow to French nationalism, this increased German nationalism greatly and continued to increase the pride Germans felt about their country. Bismarcks efforts towards nationalism were so effective that social darwinism started developing. Many German people felt they were superior to uncivilized Russia and supreme to the democracy to the west. New poets, scholars, scientists, and philosophers were emerging contributing to the increasing pride of the German people. Scientists were working towards a new industrial revolution. German industries even began to surpass Britain industries on steel and coal production. Germany was prospering and uniting as a whole(Otto Von Bismarck). This unification of Germany would be essential to their rise in power and eventually their part in World War One. The last underlying cause of World War was was militarism. Germany was extremely militaristic at the time due to Bismarcks blood and iron strategy. Military men and officials were always in uniform and there were frequent parades of soldiers in uniform throughout Germany spreading the image of a strong and militaristic country. France and Britain were flourishing at the time. Both were growing substantially in size due to imperialism and both had heavy militaristic power, France being their army, and Britain being there navy(Trueman). Germany recognized this and strived to build up their military to surpass those of France and Great Britain. This launched Germany, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia into the European arms race. Germany sought to build up a navy to rival that of Great Britain. In 1898 Germany was contracting seventeen new vessels. This caught the attention of Great Britain, who failed to see the necessity of Germany to have a large navy due to their small coastline. This

left Britain to conclude the reason for this developing navy was to rival their own. Britain immediately ordered the construction of new vessels themselves consisting of twentynine new ships to the British Navy. In 1906 Great Britain reacted released a new type of battleship known as Dreadnought. Germany quickly responded by building their own ship that imitated Dreadnought. The naval arms race continued and as their navys grew tension between the two countries worsened. Germany was also invested in the expansion of her army as well. In 1913 Germany added 170,000 full time solider to its army. Other European powers retaliated to this expansion by expanding their own army as well. By 1914 the combined military spending between Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Italy totaled up to 398 pounds ("World War One - Causes."). Virtually all European powers involved drastically increased on military spending during this time. Another result of militarism was the existence of the Balkan Wars which took place in 1912 and 1913. The Ottoman Empire was crumbling creating anticipation and tension as to see what country would claim that land once it fell. Austria-Hungry was expanding at this time, and in 1908 it annexed Bosnia, which greatly angered Russia and Serbia, who shared the same slovak descent(Trueman). Austria-Hungary then offered money to the Ottoman Empire if it would recognize Austrian control (Vienna 1900). This resulted in hostility between the surrounding countries who had hoped to capture land from the Ottoman Empire for themselves. Austria-Hungary viewed Serbia as a major threat, due to its desire to unite with Russia and Bosnia. Russia went as far as to sign an agreement with Serbia that offered support if it fell under attack by the Austria-

Hungary. The first Balkan War occurred in October of 1912 when Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro fought to take over the Ottoman Empire(Howard). The Ottoman empire lost most of its European land to the victors, however hostility arose between them as they worked to divide up the land. Conflicts over territorial debates launched the victors, as well as Ottoman Empire and Romania, into the second Balkan War in 1913. The countries fought again to claim the newly acquired land which resulted in Serbia as the biggest victor and a much stronger power. This victory for Serbia caused a rise in tensions with Austria-Hungary which lead her to make an agreement with Germany for support(Vienna 1900). Germany agreed that if Austria-Hungary was forced into the position in which it needed to fight for their position as a Great Power Germany would offer its support. The Balkan Wars ended in the year 1914, which is the same year the Arch Duke was assassinated. The assassination of the Arch Duke was a result of the growing tension Serbia and Austria-Hungary developed through the Balkan Wars. Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic, who was the head of Serbian intelligence, initiated a plan to murder the Arch Duke in efforts to restrict his efforts to expand into Croatia and Bosnia. The Colonel hired six Bosnian students as assassins, providing them weapons and arrangements of returning back over the border without having to go through border checkpoints(Trueman). On July 14th, the plan had proven successful. The result was outrage in Austria-Hungary towards the Serbian government which they believed to be to blame. Although the Arch Duke was heir to the throne in Austria-Hungary, he was not exceptionally popular with his people. This alone shows that the assignation of Arch

Duke was not exceptionally significant on its own, but was merely the spark of an already hostile situation. Other assassinations of royalty had occurred during this time, but this particular assassination occurred at a time and place which was on the brink of war already. Europe was a ticking time bomb at this point due to the imperialism, nationalism, militarism, and formation of alliances that occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Tensions were high all across Europe for various reasons. Austria-Hungary and Serbia experienced tension due to the Balkan Wars and the annexation of Bosnia. Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary had tension with Britain, France, and Russia due to the European arms race("World War One - Causes."). France felt threatened and angry with Germany due to the results of the Franco Prussian War. Lastly, Bismarck's nationalism and militaristic strategies set the stage for war to erupt. All that was needed to cause this war was one spark, which in this case was the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand. In conclusion, although the assassination of the Arch Duke played a significant part in the start of the war, there were a series of underlying causes which ensured war to occur in only a matter of time.

Biblography

Howard, Michael. The First World War: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.

Vienna 1900: between dream and reality. Fred Stern. World and I. 26.4 (Apr. 2011)

Trueman, Chris. "Causes of World War One." Causes of World War One. History Learning Cite, 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

Germany's Godfather; The life and legacy of Otto von Bismarck. Steven Ozment. The Weekly Standard. 17.17 (Jan. 16, 2012)

"World War One - Causes." Causes of World War One. N.p., 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.

"Otto Von Bismarck." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.

Hickmen, Kennedy. "World War I: Causes." About.com Military History. N.p., 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.