Skip to main content

Which factors led to the declaration of World War I?

Several factors led to the declaration of World War I. The immediate cause was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Therefore, nationalism, or a feeling of patriotism about one's own country or ethnic group, was one of the factors that led to the declaration of war. Serbian nationalist groups wanted to unite all Slavs in one country, an effort supported by Russia (a country that also had a number of Slavic people) and opposed by Austria-Hungary.


In addition, strong feelings of nationalism among the major European powers--Italy, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Britain, France, and Russia, led these powers to develop their militaries and to be very willing to use them to promote their national strength. Therefore, militarism was another factor that led to the war. Connected to the concepts of nationalism and militarism, imperialism was also a factor in the war, as the European countries had been involved in competing to establish overseas colonies for access to raw materials and markets. Therefore, tensions were running high among them in the decades before the outbreak of the war. 


As a result of competitive nationalist sentiment among the European countries, the nations were undergoing shifting balance of power agreements and new alliances. France, wary of growing German strength after the German unification of 1871 and the Franco-Prussian War, allied itself with Russia in the Franco-Russian Alliance. England also allied itself with Russia with the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907, and the three countries eventually formed the Triple Entente. England was also wary of Germany because Germany's growing naval power threatened English naval power. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed the Triple Alliance, and countries in those alliances promised to defend each other if they were attacked. Therefore, when the assassination of Franz Ferdinand occurred, Russia backed Serbia, and Austria-Hungary eventually declared war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary was given a "blank check" by Germany (this blank check meant that Germany provided unconditional support for Austria-Hungary). As a result, the major countries of Europe were all drawn into the war.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more