World War One was a war that began in July of 1914 and ended in November of 1918,

fought in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Great Britain, France, Russia and
Italy were allies that were known as the allied powers, the US later joined in 1917 as
they could no longer stay neutral. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and
Bulgaria were all apart of the central powers. The assassination of archduke Franz
Ferdinand is often credited as the main cause that started World War One (otherwise
known as The Great War) this is both correct and incorrect as there was already a
growing tension within Europe, the assassination was the peak of the ongoing events
giving the central and allied powers a reason to finally start a war that has been in the
works. The main causes of World War One were Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and
Nationalism.

Militarism is defined as glorifying one's military power and keeping a strong army. From
1870-1914 countries began spending larger amounts of money per person on weapons,
the spending spanned from countries like Russia, Austria-Hungary and Italy spending
three times as much as they did in 1870 meanwhile Germany spend almost 8 times as
much as they originally did as shown by document one in which Germany spends 1.28$
in 1870 growing to a total of 8.19$ being spent by 1914. Germany is the third highest
spender in 1890 spending nearly 30 million pounds on weapons for the army+navy, by
1914 Germany is spending nearly 110 million pounds almost 4 times as much as they
once had spent as shown within document 7. In document 8 it states “we realize without
power without a strong army and a strong navy, there can be no welfare for us.” stating
that without their strong military “In the coming century the German nation will either be
the hammer or the anvil” basically stating that with all of their investments within the
military it will either help Germany rise to power and dominate other countries or they
will be the ones being dominated. With the constant threats of other countries having
superior military and navy forces countries continue to build up not only making the
ongoing thirst to be at the top of the food chain, the governments spend many millions
within these forces to keep them superior to others, with a constant attempt to become
more powerful than the next country the tension quickly built up until the assassination
of the archduke Franz Ferdinand which was really the turning point within the war.

Alliances are agreements made between countries to help and protect one another.
France and Russia want to play a defensive war to limit cost of damages and to limit
casualties, both countries based their moves off of Germany, Italy and Austria as if
Germany attacks France or Italy attacks France with Germany supporting them Russia
will then deploy all of it’s troops (700,000 or 800,000 men) to attack Germany with all
speed in order that Germany is forced to fight on the East and West as stated within
document 4. Russia loaned France money and France invested it back into Russia
helping build railroads, mines and industrial enterprises, by 1914 a quarter of French
foreign investments were in Russia (Document 9). As France and Russia help build
each other upwards and defending one and other through events of wars other
countries take notice quickly forming treaties within neighboring countries continuing a
chain, making a war that could have possibly been between to countries a war that is
between the world.

Imperialism is the policy of one country controlling another.

Colonies wanted control of their land, countries wanted more land for themselves as it
would open up new markets to sell products and would give more resources to further
help the already advanced countries and make them more money. Britain is a prime of
example of this as by 1921 the British empire had control over approximately one third
of the world’s population owning 14.2 million square miles of the earth which is about a
quarter of the Earth’s total land, in document 9 Great Britain is depicted as a octopus
with tentacles spreading all over the world and appearing to have a grasp in all
continents of the world, England was called the bloodsucker of the world of the world
during these times as they had many people under them and they had many miles of
land under them as well, resources taken and things being sold between all of these
people the British government had a good economy and had a tight rule, sparking envy
and jealousy within other countries. Austria-Hungary and Russia had no colonies as
shown in document 3 as they have 0 sq km of colonial land owned and 0 as a
population for the said colonies. Imperialism could lead to a backlash from the colonies
that are being taken over or countries can fight over colonies whether they have none
themselves or whether they just want more colonies for resources or citizens and their
money.

Nationalism is a strong feeling of pride and devotion toward one’s nation.

“ I discovered to my amazement that average men and women were delighted at the
prospect of war.” stated in document 2 people are happy to go into war, people have
loads of confidence within their country and their army.
In document 5 “ Britain first at heaven’s command.” “Rule Britannia Rule!” “ Thee
nations not so blest as thee, the dread and envy of them all” “Britons never will be
slaves.” this was Britain’s unofficial anthem. Britain proclaims it being a powerhouse,
controlling many colonies, enslaving people, boasting a huge army. With Britain and it’s
citizens being so confident within themselves they quickly become hated by surrounding
countries full of envy causing them to want to take Britain down a peg and crown
themselves the higher power causing rivalry and hatred amongst countries for little to no
reason at all.

In conclusion Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism were what caused

World War 1 ( the great war . Militarism was a factor within the war as tensions within
countries had been high and were getting higher as the years went by as every country
wanted to become the “Hammer” and no one wanted to be the “Anvil’ basically meaning
everyone wanted to be in control and no one wanted to be controlled, as a result of this
army's and navy’s grew in size and power so they would be ready for war at any time.
Alliances was a key factor as a war that could be started between two countries
suddenly grew in size and in danger to the world as more and more countries came into
help their allied country and whenever the war ended many countries grew hatred for
one and other as they at one time were against them and were supporting their allies,
as a result tensions between certain countries that had opposed each other before the
great war causing countries to have a growing hatred toward one and other. Imperialism
was the act of a country ruling over another this is important toward the war as colonies
wanted their freedom from the mother country and other countries that had little to no
colonies were envious of countries with large amounts of power and resources causing
hatred between countries helping spark the war or wars. Nationalism is the final factor,
Britain dominated large amounts of land and boasted many colonies before the great
war, they knew they were one of the biggest and best empires the world had ever seen
and they weren’t afraid to express it causing other countries to want the same type of
power or even better so they could claim that they were better than the mighty Britain,
creating tension and envy between Britain and other counties.