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Nationalism
Nationalism is the belief your country is stronger and greater than other countries. In the late 1800 and early 1900, this belief in Europe was extremely high and led to countries not negotiating with each other and borderline insulting each other. If countries were less proud of themselves, then they could've negotiated and prevented the war. It gave European countries false hope in thinking they were invincible and nothing could defeat them. Even the Kaiser thought victory would be easy. -
Militarism is Building
When Kaiser Wilhelm declared he was going to build a more powerful navy that Britain's, Britain and France respond by building a even bigger navy. On land, all countries started to build up their military force as well. This boost in military also boosted each countries confidence. Each country now thought they were the most powerful one and they didn't fear each other. Now, countries fixed their problems with violence instead of negotiation. This was more deadly than anything they built. -
Imperialism on the Rise
Many of the powerful countries in Europe like Britain, France, and Germany were imperialistic and used their colonies to gain power. If you controlled more colonies and land; you were more powerful than your adversaries. In 1906, at a international conference, the Kaiser was treated with disrespect and humiliated because the other European powers thought he was not a major power in Africa. This conference would lead to the First Moroccan Crisis and foreshadowed the Great War to come. -
European Powers Join a Side
In 1882, The Triple Alliance was formed between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy(later Italy joined the Entente in 1915). In 1907, The Triple Entente was formed between Britain, France, and Russia. Each side distrusted the other side and agreed if one country were to invade the other they would join the war and support them. This meant that if a war happened between any of these countries, everybody was joining in. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand decided to inspect the troops in their newly annexed territory Bosnia-Herzegovina with his wife Sophie. When seven nationalist heard of this, they planned to assassinate him. On June 28th, when the Archduke's convoy was driving, one of the assassins threw a grenade at the car. However, the grenade missed and the Archduke escaped. The archduke continued his trip and took a wrong turn right in front of Gavrilo Princip and he shot the Archduke and his wife Sophie mortally. -
Germany Gives the Go Ahead
After the assassination, Austria Hungary sent a convoy to Germany to get its approval before doing anything to Serbia. Austria Hungary and Germany both knew if they were to get involved with Serbia, that would mean getting into a fight with Russia who was Serbia's ally. Germany gave Austria Hungary a "blank check" which was complete support for whatever it was going to do. If Germany didn't do this then maybe there would've been peace but now there was only one path. -
Everyone Declares War
After Serbia refused Austria-Hungary's ultimatum, Austria Hungary declares war on Serbia and soon after Germany and Russia declared war on each other on August 1st. Russia's ally France went to war with Germany on August 3rd. To go around France's defenses, Germany invades Belgium which was a neutral country and brings Britain to declare war against Germany on August 4th. In the years to come, dozens of countries joined the war and sent troops to Europe to fight each other. -
Sinking of the RMS Lusitania
In February 1915, Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare and now attacked any ship near the isles. On May 7th, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the Lusitania which was heading to Britain from America, killing 1,128 innocent people. After this, Germany was now looked at as an evil country threatening peace. This even created a chain of events that would make America eventually declare war on Germany. -
Germany Resumes Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
As the Germans got more desperate, Germany decided to go full in and re-declared their use of unrestricted submarine warfare. They planned to sink any and every ship in the "war zone" to prevent more men, food, and supplies entering Europe. In March, Germany sank 4 more US merchant boats which angered the Americans and swayed them to intervene in the war. -
Zimmerman Telegram
In 1917,Germany sent a Telegram to Mexico asking for their alliance if America were to declare war on Germany. Also, if they won Mexico would be given the territories back that they lost to America. This telegram was intercepted by the British and they sent it to America and the US President learned about it on February 26th. He then made it public on March 1st and asked congress to arm merchant ships to defend themselves against Germany. America now was closer to going to war. -
America Joins the War
After the unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmerman telegram, the US president asked congress to vote for war and the US formally enters the war on April 6th, 1917. America immediately started the policy of conscription and began training Americans to go to war. America would save Britain and the Entente powers from bankruptcy by sharing the weight of the wars cost. America declaring war was a massive turning point in the war and now it was only a matter of time. -
The Ending and Results of WWI
WWI was one of the most deadliest wars in history with near 37 million casualties. The war killed near 7 million civilians and 10 million soldiers. Germany, Russia, and France has the most deaths with 4.7 million soldiers killed. A lot of countries also collapsed such as Russia, Ottoman Empire, Germany, and Austria Hungary. Russia became the Soviet Union and Austria Hungary collapsed into many countries. The world was in disillusionment because no one could understand what really happened. -
Treaty of Versailles is Signed
WWI was officially over when the Treaty was signed but there was more to follow. The Treaty of Versailles brought great shame and punishments on the German people. Germany's territories and military were stripped away and Germany took most of the blame for starting the war. When the Germans heard this treaty they were mad. They knew it was unfair and that Germany had no part in these negotiations and that it was forced to sign. People now saw themselves as weak and beaten down with no help. -
The Dawes Plan and Young Plan
The Dawes and Young Plan were ideas on how Germany would repay their reparations. The Dawes plan would make Germany pay in small percentages and increase with economy. The Young plan in 1928 would reduce the amount Germany owed and made it payable in 58 years with loans to help. Overall, this did not help the new Germany. Inflation and and unemployment was extremely high and when American loans stopped coming, Germany couldn't do anything to pay their debts to Europe and everybody suffered. -
Stock Market Crash
There was not just one cause of the Stock Market Crash in 1929 but several. Some of the reasons include that the public was overconfident, people bought stocks on easy credit, government increased interest rates, and panic. All of these were major reasons on what caused the crash. The Market Crashed on Black Tuesday when everything seemed to tumble down and everyone began selling their stocks. The crash lead America to the Great Depression and led Germany down a deeper and darker path. -
Rise of Evil
Germany was now desperate to be brought back from the dark ages. The German people were angry, tired, and wanted prosperity. Adolf Hitler joined the Nazi Party and with his speeches, he rallied the German people with their shared hatred. People saw Hitler as a man who would fix their problems. Hitler's rise to power was based on hatred, fear, and hope he was building a better Germany. If Germany was treated better after the WWI maybe Hitler could've been avoided but it was way too late.
