World War I

First World War

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The murder of the Prince of Austria in Serbia triggered off the First Global War . But it was merely the direct cause the real reasons lay far beneath it . In fact , Europe had been passing in a stage of `armed-peace . The nation-states had become a powder magazine (Laski 225 . Hence , the aforesaid assassination served as a spark to provoke it into a conflagration

Real Causes of the World War I

p The German Ambition

International : Germany needed to fight in to save itself from international decline and a domestic crisis . German 's rivals were daily gaining in strength and power and hence , her dream of building a European Empire had to be released immediately

Desire for fresh annexations : The German colonial enterprise had been more or less ineffective and Germany needed new colonies in place of the old ones which had proved either unproductive or unprofitable

Trouble at home : The alarming growth of social democracy within the German Empire added much to the crisis of 1914 . The German government wanted to divert the course of the domestic agitation into a foreign channel

Economic difficulties : Germany required much capital to run her mills and factories . At the same time , she was suffering from a paucity of raw materials , and was looking for new markets for her finished goods

Influence of German thought : The theory of Teutonic superiority which was propounded by the German philosophers only served to flatter the national vanity , and this exaggerated national pride ultimately expressed itself in the form of a war . The teachings of Treitschke Nietzsche and Bernhardi transformed German nationalism into chauvinism which hastened the real crisis of 1914

Disunity among Great Powers

It is unquestionable that Germany was mainly responsible for the War she really desired it (Fay 8 . However , the other European power showed little responsibility in establishing peace during that time . Had the Great European Powers been united and pressurized Germany against the involvement in a war , the crisis could have been prevented

Territorial Quarrels

Territorial disputes among the nations were many and various . Italy was trying to capture Trentino and Trieste from Austria . The oft quoted cry Italia Irredenta , therefore , was one of the reasons of the war (Langsam 4 . France longed to re-conquer the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine . In short , in the Balkan Peninsula , everything was in a mess

Commercial Rivalry

The feeling of international antagonism was only increased by the conflicting economic interests of nations . The practice of dumping goods in foreign countries , the method of raising tariff-walls etc . largely contributed to the outbreak of the First World War

National Prestige

The excessive value put upon the idea of national honor during the early 1990s made it extremely difficult to preserve international peace . All powers wanted to maintain the position of its own and did not care if that position had to be secured by unjust means

Growth of Militarism

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