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Causes of ww1

Explain the Causes of World War One Introduction In this essay I am going to explain the long term and the short term causes of World War Ones or as others call it the War to end All Wars. I am going to divide my essay in to categories,(Long term causes and short term causes), and then in each category I will list the causes in order of importance,(the most important being at the top, and the least at the bottom and so on, so fourth). I will make it clear all the way through my essay, which cause, caused the World war, and if something hadn’t of happened, then what would have happened instead and would the war even have happened?

The Long Term Causes Of World War One There are many causes of World War One and some are long term, (causes/ problems that had been happening over a long period of time), and short term causes, (causes that happened in a split second or a short period of time). The first long term cause of World War One and the most important, is Germany wanted to be big and have a bigger empire and provide raw materials for industry and to show it was as powerful as Britain. Britain’s response to this was to be defensive, because they felt threatened and try to protect its title of having the biggest Empire.

Its first instinct was to get more countries and build up its Empire like Germany were doing at the time. This was a cause, because Britain felt threatened by Germany and would have done anything to protect itself and its status. Germany on the other hand wanted to be big and not just second or third best; they wanted to take Britain’s title and like Britain would have done anything to get it. The second long term cause of World War One, is in 1871 Germany took Alsace-Lorraine from France, during the French war.

France wanted revenge for this and stood up for themselves and their country. This was one of the causes of World War One, because if people hadn’t been protective and proud of their country and wanted to fight for it, then there might not have been a war, because if Germany wanted a bigger empire and Britain didn’t care, then there’s nothing to fight about. The third long term cause of World War One, is France was worried its position, because it felt threatened, because it was in the middle of Germany and Britain and also it was second best and wanted to rotect its title to. Germany fully aware of this invaded France and took Alsace- Lorraine. Consequently, France hated Germany and built up a defence all along its borders. Germany wanted to invade France again and thought up a plan of attack. France got wind of this and started to worry. This was one of the causes, because it is linked in with the whole Germany wanting a bigger empire, and doing anything to get it. It was also a cause, because that made France hate Germany for invading them and so France were trying to do everything in its power to stop Germany.

The fourth long term cause of World War One, is alliances and treaties. Russia and Serbia formed a treaty to protect each other, just in case of a war. They both were civil to one another and decided they would help each other out; because they both wanted something out of it if there was a war. Serbia wanted freedom and separation from Austria-Hungary and Russia wanted a bigger empire. Another alliance was also made between Britain France and Russia and this alliance was called the Triple Entente. Germany heard of this and decided to side with Austria-Hungary and Italy.

This was one of the causes of the World War, because countries got angry with each other because they were siding with different countries that were the other countries enemies. The fifth long term cause of World War One, is the ideas that different countries had and the lust to put them in to reality. Russia wanted a bigger Empire and was an enemy of Hungary and as a result wanted to help countries in Austria-Hungary to become independent. Russia wished to gain from this, more land and wealth. Serbia wanted to unite all the Slovenian people in the Austria-Hungary Empire.

Russia, therefore wanted to help Serbia achieve its aims, because Serbia had a lot of population and land and Russia felt that they could use it, so they formed a treaty to help and protect each other in the case of a War. This was one of the causes, because countries and people fell out over ideas and didn’t agree and always see eye to eye. The sixth and final long term cause of World War One is Germany and Britain fighting over machinery and if one country produced one piece of machinery, than the other country would have to exceed this and make one bigger and better.

In 1906 Britain launched the first Dreadnought the most effective and most modern warship the world had seen at that period of time. It was quicker and carried more cargo than any other ship. In 1907 Germany decided to increase the strength and numbers of its own army so it came up with its own version of the Dreadnought, to compete with Britain. Shortly after this, an arms race began. This was one of the causes of WW1, because it was all about competition and whoever had the best ship was the most powerful.

This cause inspired and encouraged more hatred and competitiveness between Britain and Germany and is also linked in with the fourth cause, because they are both about competing and always being better than the enemy country. The short Term Causes of World War One The first and main Short Term cause of World War One and the main cause of World War One, were the deaths of the Son of the Austria-Hungary King, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia and unborn child. They both died by being shot, in the Archdukes case in the neck and in his wife’s case in the abdomen, which killed her and the unborn baby at once.

The murderer was a man called, Gavril Principe and he tried to kill him, once he had shot the archduke and his wife, but the police caught him and he was sentenced to twenty years in prison. He didn’t get the death penalty, because you had to be twenty and he was nineteen when he was sentenced. Gavrilo was part of a terrorist group called the Black Hand. They had all planned to kill the Archduke and his wife, because the Black Hand was Serbian nationals and they wanted Austria-Hungary to be separate from Bosnia, because they had a large population of Serbs and they believed that all the territories with Serbs In should be united.

Gavrilo was lucky to have a shot at the Archduke and his wife, because if the driver of the car, In which the Archduke and his wife were headed to the hospital in, hadn’t taken the wrong turn and caused the car to reverse and slow down, so it was a perfect shot, then I don’t think the war would of even happened, because this cause is why Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for and then declared war which dragged all the other countries in , because they had all made alliances to protect each other in the case of a war This was one of the causes of World War One, because it sparked off the whole chain of events that later followed.

This cause is also linked in with alliances, because it wouldn’t have been a World War if all the other countries weren’t dragged in, because of treaties and alliances made before it had all started to protect each other. The second short term cause of World War One, is that Austria-Hungary then blamed Serbia for the deaths of the Archduke and his Wife, because the terrorist group and Principe, who had killed the Archduke and his Wife, were from Serbia and worked as the undercover Serbian army.

This was a cause of World War One, because if Austria-Hungary then hadn’t declared war on Serbia, then people could argue that the World War wouldn’t have started, because all the countries wouldn’t have been dragged in. The third and final short term cause of World War One is Russia prepared its army for war to help its ally Serbia. This was one of the causes of World War One, because it stated and declared that it was going to stick to its commitments and agreements towards Serbia.

Consequently it showed other countries that it was only right to stick by their allies and that is what all the other countries did and that is how they all got involved and that is how it became a World War. However Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany all made alliance to protect each other in case of a war, but Italy didn’t follow through with that and didn’t join the war until the last minute, because they wanted a bigger Empire to, so they waited until they could see who they thought was going to win and joined up with them. Conclusion

I conclude that the main cause of World war One was the deaths of the Archduke and his wife. The biggest mistake before the war was the driver taking the wrong turn, because if he hadn’t done that then you could argue that the Archduke, Wife and baby would have lived and then Austria-Hungary wouldn’t have blamed Serbia and declared war. This is the main cause because it is the one that dragged and sparked off the whole chain of events that shortly followed. This cause is linked in with Alliances, because when the deaths were announced, shortly after on the 28th of July Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

It is linked, because if Serbia hadn’t of made the treaty with Russia then they wouldn’t have been dragged in to the war and if Austria-Hungary hadn’t of made an alliance with Germany then they wouldn’t of been dragged in either. One thing led to another after the deaths, because then also to do with alliances, Germany declared war on Russia and, because Russia had made the Triple Entante with Britain and France, then all these countries got dragged In to so all the countries got dragged in like a whirlpool dragging the dirt down the drain.

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