Main causes and factors of World War I

WWI Overview

World War I was the first war fought on not only an international scale, but on a global scale. Beginning in 1914 and ending in 1918, this global conflict involved not only various counties in Europe and Asia, but ultimately also ended up including the United States of America who formerly entered the conflict on April 6, 1917, almost two years after the attack on the RMS Lusitania by Germany.[footnoteRef:1] There are several reasons that can be considered in determining the root cause of World War I and the political and historical issues that led up to the conflict between various neighboring countries. [1: "U.S. Enters World War I," History Channel, accessed June 22, 2013, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-enters-world-war-i]

The event that will forever be remembered as the catalyst for beginning World War I is the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914.[footnoteRef:2] The assassination further increased tensions between the two countries because Archduke Ferdinand was the nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.[footnoteRef:3] The assassination was considered to be a terrorist attack based on the delicate relationship that Austria-Hungary and Bosnia had at the time. The Serbian government was ultimately blamed for the attack and Austria-Hungary "hope to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Slavic nationalism once and for all."[footnoteRef:4] [2: Hew Strachan, editor, World War I: A History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 9.] [3: "World War I," History Channel, accessed June 22, 2013, http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i] [4: Ibid.]

Austria-Hungary did not retaliate until July 28, 1914, one month after the assassination, because it was waiting until Kaiser Wilhelm II and Germany to ensure they would support them if Russia and its allies, including France and Great Britain, intervened and sided with Bosnia on their behalf.[footnoteRef:5] The Serbian government was wary of an imminent attack from Austria-Hungary, thus they began preparing for war by mobilizing their army and appealing to Russia for support. What would begin as the third Balkan war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia on July 28, 1914 quickly escalated to a global conflict within one week.[footnoteRef:6] [5: Ibid.] [6: Hew Strachan, editor, World War I: A History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 9.]

The conflict between the Triple Alliance -- Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Romania[footnoteRef:7] -- and the Triple Entente -- France, Russia, and Great Britain -- can be traced back to at least 1878 when European countries began to piecemeal the Ottoman Empire.[footnoteRef:8] Egypt and Cyprus went to Great Britain, Morocco and Tunisia went to France, Tripoli (Libya) went to Italy, and Bosnia-Hercegovina went to Austria-Hungary.[footnoteRef:9] The Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 contributed to the continued decimation of the Ottoman Empire, and unlike the distribution of Turkish holdings between Great Britain, France, Italy, and Austria-Hungary, Russia, Serbia, and the Hapsburgs continued to fight for a claim to the Balkans.[footnoteRef:10] Additionally, Austria-Hungary wanted to continue to strive to create a bridge to the east through the Balkans while Serbians wanted access to the sea[footnoteRef:11], which contributed to the tensions between the two countries and catapulted them into the World War I. [7: Ibid., 11.] [8: Ibid., 10.] [9: Ibid.] [10: Ibid.] [11: Ibid.]

Scholars speculate that there are a variety of reasons that further contributed to the escalation of a third Balkan War and its transformation into World War I. Among these reasons are alliance alignments, which forced various countries to honor alliance treaties and be drawn into the conflict; an arms race; the desire to preserve imperialistic legacies; economic rivalries; and "virulent" nationalism.[footnoteRef:12] [12: Ibid., 11.]

As previously stated, Austria-Hungary was allied with Germany, Italy, and Romania, while Serbia, France, Great Britain, and Russia were allied with each other. Furthermore, the countries that comprised the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente were in naval competition with each other, which also contributed to their arms race interests.[footnoteRef:13] Additionally, after 1911, every country in Europe, except Great Britain, had mandatory male conscription, thus ensuring that they had a potentially sizeable standing army. By 1912, Germany had 646,000 enlisted men and added 130,000 by the end of the year; France had 611,000 and added 90,000 by the end of the year; and Russia had 1,332,000.[footnoteRef:14] By July 1914, when World War I broke out, the total number of enlisted men exceeded 3.6 million.[footnoteRef:15] [13: Ibid.] [14: Ibid., 12.] [15: Ibid.]