World War 1: The Great War

World War 1 : The Great War The Start of War Many believe that World War 1 began with the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinad, however many other reasons led to war, some that occurred as far back as the later of the 1800's. Nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and the system of alliances were four main reasons that pushed the great powers of the world into this huge explosive war. All throughout the 1800's many national groups that were pushed by nationalism tried to unite their countries by governments controlled by their own people, but this desire had overwhelming possibilities in Europe, where one government had often ruled many nationalities. This was a main basis for the start of The Great War.

Another factor in the start of the war was the practice of imperialism by many nations. Imperialist countries scarcely avoided war many times as they struggled to divide Africa among themselves in the early 1900's.

English: Drafted borders of Austria-Hungary in the...

The end of Austria-Hungary after the Paris Treaty.

Locator map of Austria-Hungary ca. 1913-1914

Two of these countries, Germany and France, were on the brink of war several times when they argued about claims to Morocco. Between 1905 and 1911 they settled each disagreement with a brief compromise that left one of the two countries dissatisfied.

Although imperialism was a great factor in the beginning of the war, militarism played an even bigger role. Militarism controlled the thinking of many European Leaders before the war. These leaders thought that only the use of force could resolve the problems among the nations, they also believed that a strong military nation could most likely get what it wanted, and the weaker nation usually lost. As international rivalries, each nation in Europe made their military forces stronger and larger.

During the late 1800's the system of alliances was the forth cause of the war. Otto Von Bismark, the powerful German...