The four causes of the great war (world war one) can be remembered as the MAINS acronym.
Militarism was a long term cause of WW1. Militarists
believed that their country should be well armed and that military methods
should be used to gain nationalists needs. During the decades before the battle
in 1914, Europeans idolised the idea of military power as never before in their
history. The superpower nations of Europe such as Britain and Germany competed
in what became known as the arms race, the strengthening of their armed forces
and the accumulation of supplies of weapons.
In 1905 England had four dreadnought battleships while Germany had none
and by 1913, one year before the war started England had four dreadnought
battleships while Germany had three. From this evidence it can be seen that
although, in 1905 England had the strongest naval base, by 1913 Germany had
significantly improved their naval base of battleships as a result of mass
technological innovation.
The Alliances made between nations, in particularly, two
alliance systems, was another long term cause of the First World War. This was
because it divided Europe into two armed camps with the triple alliance of
Germany, Austria and Italy on one side and the triple entente, France, Russia
and Britain on the other. The two sides became extremely hostile towards each
other and as a result the repercussion was increased tension, fear and
suspicion among the nations of Europe.
Furthermore, imperialism was another long term cause of the
First World War. It was the desire of nations to conquer colonies and form an
empire. From 1870 on, there had been a competition between the European nations
to take over areas of the world they had not considered worth colonizing. In
the fight to gain colonies, Britain, France and Germany almost went to war over
clashes in Northern Africa. Italy resented France because it prevented them
setting up colonies of their own. The British and Russians clashed over who
should have influence in Persia, modern day Iran while at the same time both
were worried that Germany would take over the majority of territory in the
Middle East. Therefore it can be seen, as each European country gained
colonies, these colonies became committed to helping Europe as a whole in the
event of the First World War.
In addition, Nationalism was another long term cause of
World War One. Nationalism was a strong feeling of support for one's nation.
Many nationalists strongly believed that the needs of their nation were vastly
more important than the needs of other nations.
Therefore, as a result those strong feelings made nationalists
aggressive toward other nations and unforgiving if their nation had been
offended for e.g. someone criticised their country because they military wasn’t
superior to the next nation.
Significant individuals were a major cause of World War one
because the consequences of their actions caused the First World War. For
example Kaiser Wilhelm II who was responsible for Germany’s navy uprising from
1905 to 1913 he said ‘’ “Germany must have its place in the sun”
“The world belongs to the strong’’, strong meaning Germany.
Another significant individual was Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand.
He was responsible for shooting Archduke, Franz Ferdinand and wife. After this
Austria sends an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia rejects ultimatum. Austria Hungary
declares war on Serbia. Germany declares war on Russia. Germany declares war on
France. Germany invades Belgium as part of the Schlieffen plan, which violates
Belgian neutrality. Britain declares war on Germany. Austria Hungary declares
war on Russia. As a result, this causes a domino effect through Europe and the
rest of the world.
