World War Why?

The First World War lasted more than four years. Between 15 and 19 million people died. The war destroyed the global economy. It also led to the spread of a virus that killed millions of people. Why did this war happen?

Historians have three explanations for what caused the First World War. The first is the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The second explanation is a global rise in certain ideas. One such global trend was alliances. The third explanation is that the war almost started by accident. Leaders did not handle Ferdinand’s assassination well. Let’s look at each of these ideas. We will see if the causes of this deadly war were simple, complicated, or accidental.

One shot: The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Ferdinand was a member of the Habsburg family. The Habsburgs ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire for nearly 400 years. Franz Ferdinand’s uncle was the emperor of Austro-Hungary. This large empire was in the center of Europe. The population was multi-ethnic, meaning there were many distinct ethnic groups.

Austro-Hungary had many different ethnic groups. Nationalism made many of the groups want independence. One group was the Serbs. The Serbs in the Ottoman Empire had become independent. These newly-independent Serbs created the country of Serbia.

However, many Serbs still lived Bosnia. Bosnia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Serbian nationalists made a plan to gain independence for the Bosnian Serbs. They would kill Franz Ferdinand. Then, Austria-Hungary would declare war on the Serbs. Austro-Hungary’s rival was Russia. The Russians supported the Serbs. The Serbs hoped Russia would join the war and help them become independent.

On June 28, 1914, the Serbs killed Franz Ferdinand. Two days later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire gave the Serbs a list of demands. The Serbs rejected these demands. They felt the demands took away their independence. The Bosnian Serbs turned to Russia for help. Within a month, much of the world was at war.

Deeper trends: Help me help you help me

Franz Ferdinand’s death caused conflict between Russia and Austro-Hungary. But how did the rest of the world get involved? Some historians blame other historical trends. Many of those trends have already appeared in this course.

Let’s start with the alliance system. These were “communities” of nations that promised to help each other. European countries thought alliances would balance power and prevent war. Russia, France, and Great Britain made up the Triple Entente. Austro-Hungary, Germany, Italy and the Ottoman Empire formed the Triple Alliance. It was later called the Central Powers. This helps explain how other countries got involved. Russia and Austro-Hungary went to war.
Their allies then joined the war, too.

Nationalism also added to the war. Nationalism states that national pride is a good reason for war. For example, the Serbs killed Ferdinand because of nationalism.

National sovereignty¹ also widened the war. Sovereignty refers to a nation’s ability to rule itself. Britain is one example. They joined the war to protect Belgian sovereignty. German troops had invaded Belgium.

Many countries joined the war because of imperialism. These states wanted to gain territory. For example, Britain and France wanted land from the Ottoman Empire. Japan also sided with the Triple Entente. The Japanese hoped to take German colonies in the Pacific Ocean. There were other reasons for imperialism. Empires wanted to take trade routes and materials from their enemies.

The big powers believed war would be short and easy. They had successfully used their military power in Africa and Asia. Why would Europe be any different?

Finally, industrialization brought new technologies. There were new weapons. Railroads could now quickly move troops and materials. Nations believed that whoever moved their troops first would have an advantage. Railroads made it easier to move troops and materials. So once Austro-Hungary sent troops to Serbia, everyone else had to send troops, too. Everyone thought the war would end quickly. Boy were they wrong!

Accidental war: Missed the memo, hit the target

It might seem like states did nothing to stop the war. This leads us to another idea about why the First World War happened. Diplomats and governments communicated slowly back then. Diplomats represent their country’s interests in other nations. At this time, technology was advancing faster than diplomats could keep up. This became a problem. Troops were moving faster than ever before. Diplomats missed many opportunities to stop troops. Some historians say this was the real reason for the war. Other historians think the other big trends would have led to war anyway. What do you think?

1 These terms can get confusing. Nationalism was introduced as the idea that a state should govern itself. But at some point, that feeling can turn into the idea that your nation is better than others. This becomes a form of extreme patriotism. We call that nationalism as well. As we will see, nationalism can be used for different purposes.