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Militarism and Social Darwinism
Nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and entangling alliances were big factors that led to big problems all around the world. Militarism played a really big part specifically because it caused many leaders of countries to compete in an arms race. Who ever had the most weapons and fire power would be the first in the race. But why would they need so many weapons? This was indirectly pointing out that they all would use their power one day if necessary. -
Alliances
European powers basically started to prepare for war by forming alliances. The two main alliances formed were called the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance. Knowing that they had allies caused many leaders to act recklessly. They knew that if they declared war, their allies were obligated to fight along with them. Making alliances wasn't necessarily a bad idea, but it didn't help bring "peace". -
Imperalism
Imperialism ties in with all of the other points mentioned before. When nations looked at how much military, political, and economical power they had, they started extending their power to influence weaker territories. This grew their pride in their country and increased their overall world power. -
Nationalism
Along with militarism, imperialism, and alliances, nationalism also greatly lead the European nations to war. Nationalism is devotion to ones nation. -
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie left for what they thought would be a routine visit to Sarajevo. But a couple of men who were ethnic Serbs, who saw Francis Ferdinand as a tyrant, decided to end his life. When one of them, Gavrilo Princip, saw Franz and his wife, he pulled out his gun and killed them both. The death of Franz shocked all, but no one expected it to lead to a great world war. -
Germany's Blank Check to Austria-Hungary
After hearing the news about the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, key officials in Vienna decided that they were no longer going to be peaceful with Serbia. But before starting a war, they needed Germany's full support. When Germany signed the Blank Check, they agreed to support Austria-Hungary with whatever decision they decided to make. Austria-Hungary then decided to go to war, and they had Germany to defend them. -
World War I Begins
Because of all the alliances, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, it declared war on Serbia and all of it's alliances. The same went for Serbia. Instead of having a small quarrel between two countries, the Allies (four countries) went againt the Central powers (three countries), with many more counties to soon join the quarrel. This was the intial start of World War I. -
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World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, and the Great Depression
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Germany's Resumption of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
After the event that happened with the Lusitania, Germany agreed not to sink U.S. ships anymore. They didn't want to get the U.S. involved in their war as well. Germany did not follow through with their promise though. Not long after, another U.S. ship was sunk and destroyed, making the U.S. furious. Germany appolagized again and signed the Sussex pledge, but peace in the waters did not last long after. -
Zimmerman Telegram
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USA Entry Into the War
Now that the U.S. joined the war officially, they immediately took action. They encouraged U.S. men to volunteer in the army and constructed a war economy. American troops played a big part of the ending of World War I. The American troops, added to those of France, Britain, and Italy, gave the Allies a military advantage. By the fall of 1918, the German front was collapsing. -
Effects of World War 1
The war was over. Of the millions of soldiers who fought, almost 5 million Allied and 8 million Central Power troops were de Nearly 6.5 million civilians died. President Wilson encouraged the diea of "peace without victory" but the final say of how to handle the enemies wasn't in his hands. -
Treaty of Versailles
By the end of 1918, Germany's front was starting to collapse. When Germany surrendered, the Allies came together at a peace conference to discuss what to penalize them with. They concluded that Germany had to pay dearly for their loss of the war. They lost land, money, and their pride was even hurt. Germany was furious with the Allies.This poorly resolved conflict later on led to the start of Worl War II. -
Dawes Plan and Young Plan
The Dawes Plan core achievement and goal was to help Germany and the other countries out of debt. Most, if not all countries were suffering from the aftermath of WWI. The Young Plan suffested that German's be acquitted of 3/4 of reparation costs. All of these plans were tried by men wanting to see a difference in our world's economy. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression started with the Great Wall Street Crash. It effected the economy and life everywhere. People started to blame President Hoover, so they elected F.D.R. next. F.D.R. was a man who wanted to make radical changes. He created all kinds of jobs to help his people. He did help bring change, but not enough change to take us out of our Great Depression. -
Rise of Hitler
Germany was in debt and reparation from WWI for a very long time. Most countries still held Germany's previous actions against them. You can see that Germany was also furious with many other countries as well. This made it easy for Hitler to rise up and want to "help" the German people. To prove to them that they are the dominant race, and that other countries deserve to pay.
