8 Events that Led to World War I
- Franco-Russian Alliance (1894)
- First German Naval Law, (1898)
- The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
- Austria-Hungary’s Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1908)
- The Second Moroccan Crisis (1911)
- Italy Invades Libya (1911)
- The Balkan Wars (1912-13)
- Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1914)
What were the 5 causes of WW1?
The five main causes of the war were militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, and certain events that happened that lead to war (MAINE). The first cause of World War One was due to militarism. World War One was the result of too much military power.
What was the real reason for World War 1?
- The first international anti-communist projects in Southeast Asia. The ‘containment’ of communism in Southeast Asia was not a post-Second World War invention of the United States.
- Franco-Siamese Anti-Communist Cooperation Agreement of 1928. ...
- Continuity until the beginning of the Cold War. ...
What were the four main causes of World War 1?
What were the four main causes of World War I Brainly?
- Answer. 4.5/5.
- saadhussain514.
- +3. klondikegj and 3 others learned from this answer.
- The four main causes are: Mutual Defense Alliances,Imperialism,Militarism,Nationalism,Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
- Incognit-oh-no… Log in or create an account to stay incognito.
- Click to let others know, how helpful is it.
What was the most significant cause of World War One?
- Feelings of supremacy. ...
- Sources of nationalism. ...
- Military over-confidence. ...
- Attitudes to war. ...
- ‘Invasion literature’. ...
- German nationalism. ...
- The nationalist Kaiser. ...
- Independence movements. ...
- Balkan nationalism. ...
What was the history of World War 1?
But historians say that World War I actually was the culmination of a long series of events, stretching back to the late 1800s. The path to war included plenty of miscalculations and actions that turned out to have unforeseen consequences.
What was the cause of the conflagration in 1914?
The event that sparked the conflagration was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in 1914.
What was the goal of the Russian-backed alliance in the Balkan War?
The Russian-backed alliance aimed to take away even more of the Turks’ remaining territory in the Balkans. In the First Balkan War in 1912, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro defeated Ottoman forces, and forced them to agree to an armistice.
What country was annexed by Austria in 1908?
A train packed with soldiers leaves a railway station during the Bosnian annexation crisis in 1908. ullstein bild/Getty Images. Under an 1878 treaty, Austria-Hungary was governing Bosnia and Herzegovina, even though technically they were still part of the Ottoman Empire.
What was the purpose of the Russo-Japanese War?
The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) Russia’s Czar Nicholas II wanted to obtain a port that gave his navy and commercial ships access to the Pacific, and he set his sites on Korea. The Japanese saw Russia’s rising aggressiveness as a menace, and launched a surprise attack on Nicholas’ fleet at Port Arthur in China.
Why did Italy invade Libya in 1911?
The Italian government declared war on Turkey in 1911 because it had refused to permit the military occupation of Tripoli by Italy. Italian troops are seen here landing after the bombardment of Benghazi. Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images.
Why did Russia and France join forces?
Both Russia and France, which had been humiliated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, feared the rising power of Germany, which had already formed alliances with Austria-Hungary and Italy. So the two nations decided to join forces for mutual protection as well. It was the start of what would become the Allied side, the Triple Entente, ...
What were the causes of World War I?
European diplomatic alignments shortly before the war. The Ottomans joined the Central Powers shortly after the war started. Italy remained neutral in 1914 and joined the Allies in 1915. Map of the world with the participants in World War I in 1917.
When did Britain declare war on Germany?
Britain declares war on Germany, 4 August 1914. After the German invasion of neutral Belgium, Britain issued an ultimatum to Germany on 2 August to withdraw or face war. The Germans did not comply and so Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. Britain's reasons for declaring war were complex.
What was the French effort to isolate Germany?
After Bismarck's removal in 1890, French efforts to isolate Germany became successful. With the formation of the Triple Entente, Germany began to feel encircled. French Foreign Minister Théophile Delcassé went to great pains to woo Russia and Britain. Key markers were the 1894 Franco-Russian Alliance, the 1904 Entente Cordiale with Britain, and the 1907 Anglo-Russian Entente, which became the Triple Entente. The informal alignment with Britain and formal alliance with Russia against Germany and Austria eventually led Russia and Britain to enter World War I as France's allies.
Why did Bismarck support France's colonization of Africa?
Bismarck disliked the idea of an overseas empire but supported France's colonization in Africa because it diverted the French government, attention, and resources away from Continental Europe and revanchism after 1870. Germany's "New Course" in foreign affairs, Weltpolitik ("world policy"), was adopted in the 1890s after Bismarck's dismissal.
What was the first Moroccan crisis?
The First Moroccan Crisis was an international dispute between March 1905 and May 1906 over the status of Morocco. The crisis worsened German relations with both France and Britain, and helped ensure the success of the new Entente Cordiale. In the words of the historian Christopher Clark, "The Anglo-French Entente was strengthened rather than weakened by the German challenge to France in Morocco ."
What was the result of the Agadir Crisis?
The Agadir Crisis resulted from the deployment of a substantial force of French troops into the interior of Morocco in April 1911. Germany reacted by sending the gunboat SMS Panther to the Moroccan port of Agadir on 1 July 1911. The main result was deeper suspicion between London and Berlin and closer military ties between London and Paris.
What was the cause of the July Crisis?
The immediate causes lay in decisions made by statesmen and generals during the July Crisis, which was triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by the Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, who had been supported by a nationalist organization in Serbia.
What were the two crises that brought the European powers on the brink of war?
The Moroccan Crises - the Tangler Crisis (1905-1906) and Agadir Crisis (1911) - brought the European powers on the brink of war. Both crises were provoked by the Germans with an aim to cause tensions between France and Britain that just concluded an alliance. The result, however, was right the opposite.
What was the Franco-Prussian War?
Franco-Prussian War. The war between France and Prussia (the future German Empire) that lasted from 1870 to 1871 ended with a humiliating defeat for France. It lost the regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and was forced to pay a huge indemnity to Prussia. The Franco-Prussian War led to creation of a powerful German Empire with a military ...
Why did Vienna see Serbia as a rival in the Balkans and as a direct threat?
Vienna saw Serbia both as a rival in the Balkans and as a direct threat because it feared that its small Balkan neighbor may become the core of a future South-Slavic state. The Balkan Wars made Austro-Hungarian statesmen even more determined to take concrete action to prevent further strengthening of Serbia.
What countries were involved in the Balkan Wars?
Balkan Wars. In 1912, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria formed the Balkan League, a military alliance against the Ottoman Empire. Within a few months, the Balkan allies stripped the Ottoman Empire of its possessions in the Balkans and divided the conquered territory among themselves.
What alliance did Britain form with Russia?
In 1907, Britain also entered into an alliance with Russia that was already in alliance with France. This formed the Triple Entente which in turn became the core of the Allies during World War I.
What was the German military alliance?
In 1907, Britain also entered into an alliance with Russia that was already in alliance with France. This formed the Triple Entente which in turn became the core of the Allies during World War I.
Why did Austria and Hungary give Serbia an ultimatum?
Vienna, however, intentionally imposed impossible demands to Serbia in order to be able to declare war on its neighbor for ‘orchestrating’ the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

Franco-Russian Alliance
First German Naval Law
- This legislation, advocated by Germany’s newly-appointed Secretary of the Imperial Navy, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, dramatically expanded the size of Germany’s battle fleet. It was the first of five laws dictating a buildup in which the Germans envisioned building a force that was superior to Britain’s Royal Navy. “Tirpitz aimed at forcing Britain into an alliance with Germany on German te…
The Russo-Japanese War
- Russia’sCzar Nicholas II wanted to obtain a port that gave his navy and commercial ships access to the Pacific, and he set his sites on Korea. The Japanese saw Russia’s rising aggressiveness as a menace, and launched a surprise attack on Nicholas’ fleet at Port Arthur in China. The resultingwar,fought both at sea and on land in China, was won by th...
Austria-Hungary’s Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Under an 1878 treaty, Austria-Hungary was governing Bosnia and Herzegovina, even though technically they were still part of the Ottoman Empire. But after Austro-Hungarian governmentannexed their territory, the move backfired. The two provinces’ mostly Slavic population wanted to have their own country, while Slavs in nearby Serbia had the ambition of a…
The Second Moroccan Crisis
- The French and Germans butted heads for several years over Morocco, where Germany’sKaiser Wilhelm II meddled in an attempt to pressure the French-British alliance. In theFirst Moroccan Crisisin 1905, he actually sailed to Tangiers to express his support for the sultan of Morocco against French interests. But instead of backing away from the conflict, the British rose in suppo…
Italy Invades Libya
- The modern Italian state, which didn’t begin until 1861, had been “largely left out of the scramble that built Britain, France, and other powers into worldwide empires,” Fogarty explains. The Italian government set its sights on Libya, a North African country that hadn’t been claimed by another western European power, and decided to take it from the Ottoman Empire. The Italo-Turkish Wa…
The Balkan Wars
- Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece, which had broken away from the Ottoman Empire during the 1800s, formed an alliance called theBalkan League. The Russian-backed alliance aimed to take away even more of the Turks’ remaining territory in the Balkans. In theFirst Balkan Warin 1912, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro defeated Ottoman forces, and forced them to agree to an …
Overview
The identification of the causes of World War I remains controversial. World War I began in the Balkans on July 28, 1914 and hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 25 million wounded.
Scholars looking at the long term seek to explain why two rival sets of powers (the German Empire and Austria-Hungary against the Russian Empire, France, …
Polarization of Europe, 1887–1914
In August 1914 The Independent magazine described the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife in June as a "deplorable but relatively insignificant" reason for which
the financial system of the world is in chaos, that international commerce is suspended, that industries are everywhere demoralized and families ruined, an…
July Crisis: The chain of events
Full article: July Crisis
• June 28, 1914: Serbian irredentists assassinate Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
• June 30: Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Count Leopold Berchtold and Emperor Franz Josef agree that the "policy of patience" with Serbia had to end, and a firm line must be taken.
Domestic political factors
Left-wing parties, especially the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), made large gains in the 1912 German federal election. The German government was still dominated by the Prussian Junkers, who feared the rise of left-wing parties. Fritz Fischer famously argued that they deliberately sought an external war to distract the population and to whip up patriotic support for the government. Indeed, one German military leader, Moritz von Lynker, the chief of the military c…
Imperialism
Imperial rivalry and the consequences of the search for imperial security or for imperial expansion had important consequences for the origins of World War I.
Imperial rivalries between France, Britain, Russia and Germany played an important part in the creation of the Triple Entente and the relative isolation of Germany. Imperial opportunism, in the form of the Italian attack on Ottoman Li…
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism was a theory of human evolution loosely based on Darwinism that influenced most European intellectuals and strategic thinkers from 1870 to 1914. It emphasised that struggle between nations and "races" was natural and that only the fittest nations deserved to survive. It gave an impetus to German assertiveness as a world economic and military power, aimed at competing with France and Britain for world power. German colonial rule in Africa in 1884 to 191…
Web of alliances
Although general narratives of the war tend to emphasize the importance of alliances in binding the major powers to act in the event of a crisis such as the July Crisis, historians such as Margaret MacMillan warn against the argument that alliances forced the Great Powers to act as they did: "What we tend to think of as fixed alliances before the First World War were nothing of the sort. They …
Arms race
By the 1870s or the 1880s, all the major powers were preparing for a large-scale war although none expected one. Britain ignored its small army and focused on building up the Royal Navy, which was already stronger than the next two navies combined. Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Russia, and some smaller countries set up conscription systems in which young men would serve from one to thre…