WORLD WAR ONE STORYBOARD

IMPERIALISM

NATIONALISM

THE SPARK

Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence by taking over other countries or colonies. Europe was constantly competing for colonies in Africa and Asia. The rush for colonies often pushed some European nations to the brink of war. As the great powers in Europe competed for colonies, their sense of rivalry and mistrust of one another became more intense. This was significant because all of the great powers were already fighting over colonies and caused rivalries that cause countries to hate each other in war.

Nationalism is the deep devotion to one’s nation. During World War I this caused intense competition between nations, because they each wanted to overpower the other. Right before WWI there was a fierce rivalry among Europe’s Great Powers. With nationalism came territorial disputes. For example France had never gotten over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and intended to get it back. This is significant because it caused all of the great powers in Europe to take pride in their country and fight in the war to prove themselves as a great power and defend their country.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was considered the spark that triggered the explosive that was World War One. The assassination happened in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. His killer was 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, backed by Serbian terrorist organization, ‘the Black Hand’, and joined by a group of other would-be assassins. One of them threw a bomb at the Archduke's motorcade in a first, unsuccessful, attempt on his life. But, when a fateful mistake meant Franz Ferdinand’s driver took the car directly to the street corner where Princip was standing, his two shots killed the Archduke and his wife, Sophie Chotek. Although Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination, the Serbian government tried to distance itself. The Austrian chief of military wanted war. But the foreign secretary was more cautious, fearing that Serbia’s long time ally Russia would be angered by any attack and would step in. But in case of Serbia having allies, Austria-Hungary’s powerful ally Germany would back them against Russia.

MILITARISM

THE POWDER KEG

In order to try to stop the creation of a Slavic state, Austria-Hungary annexed, Bosnia and Herzegovina. These were two Balkan countries with large Slavic populations. Serbian leaders, who wanted to rule these provinces, were outraged. In the years that followed, tensions between Serbia and Austria-Hungary rose. The Serbs continually vowed to take Bosnia and Herzegovina away from Austria. In response, Austria-Hungary vowed to crush any Serbian effort to undermine its authority in the Balkans.

The powder keg of Europe before WWI was the Balkans. This region had a long history of uprisings and ethnic clashes. By the early 1900s, the Ottoman Empire which included the Balkan region, was in rapid decline. Some Balkan groups struggled to free themselves from the Ottoman Empire, but others already had already broken away to form new nations. Nationalism was a powerful force in these countries, and each group wanted to extend its borders. For Example Serbia had a large Slavic population and it wanted to attract all the Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula. Russia, which was mostly Slavic, supported Serbian nationalism. However Austria-Hungary, opposed this effort. Austria-Hungary feared that efforts to create a Slavic state would stir rebellion within the country.

SOURCES

Militarism is the policy of glorifying military power and keeping an army prepared for war. Having a large and army made citizens feel patriotic and safe, and it threatened other countries. By 1914, all the Great Powers except Britain had a large standing army that was able to mobilize quickly, in case of a war. This was significant because when countries started declaring war on each other their armies mobilized quickly, catching some other countries off guard.

BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.

“Firstworldwar.com." First World War.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.

ALLIANCE SYSTEM

The alliance systems of WWI started because of growing rivalries and mistrust had led to the creation of several military alliances among the great powers of Europe. At first these alliance systems were designed to keep the peace in Europe. But eventually it would instead help push the continent into war not keep peace. Otto von Bismarck saw France as the greatest threat to peace. He believed that France still wanted revenge for its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Bismarck’s first goal was to isolate France because if they didn’t have allies it wouldn’t be a danger. In 1879, the Dual Alliance was formed between Germany and Austria-Hungary. Three years later, Italy joined the alliance, forming the Triple Alliance. Soon the fact that the German navy was equal to that of the British fleet alarmed Great Britain. So, they formed an alliance, with France and Russia. They became the Triple Entente. This agreement did not guarantee Britain to fight with France and Russia. However, it did ensure that Britain would not fight against them. A dispute between two rival powers could easily draw all the nations of Europe into war. This did drag them to war because they were teams and when one country from one alliance declared war on a country from the other alliance it dragged the whole continent to war.

WORLD WAR ONE STORYBOARD