Essential+Theme+-+Causes

What were the various causes of WWI and how did they interact with one another?
Nationalism Strong sense of unity due to common history, religion, culture, heritage, etc…. Competition between groups within a nation (ex. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire) Competing groups within countries cause them break apart and grow weak Empires/Imperialism Economic Concerns: creates markets Strategic Concerns: Control of key locations such as the Suez Canal and naval bases to allow projection Nationalistic Concerns: projection of power show the might of a specific national group Cultural Concerns: shows supremacy over other people groups Militarism Dramatic increase in military spending in order to defend against other nations with growing militaries: defensive Tremendous focus on mobilization: deploying troops, moving them to where they need to be Whoever gets to a battlefield first wins Germany was able to conquer France and Austria-Hungary quickly due to its large railroad systems France can mobilize quicker although it is weaker that Russia, so it must be conquered first Russia mobilizes with wagons and horses so although it is more powerful than France, its speed of mobilization is much slower buying Germany time The Balance of Power (BOP) is controlled with permanent alliances If any one person gets too strong then alliances can change so many powers can gang up on the few The German Unification opens the possibility that Germany could become a hegemonic power (defeat everyone else) Bismarck always wants to be in the majority on the balance of power He does not punish France and Austria-Hungary after defeating them Bismarck wants to keep France, Austria, and Germany as allies so that he is not surrounded France hates Germany because Germany took a small portion of their land France wants to isolate Germany and break up Bismarck's idea of a French-German alliance France also tries to make a permanent alliance with Russia France makes a triple alliance with Russia and Britain France sides with Britain after Germany causes colonial disputes France support the Russians on their claim of the Balkans Germany makes a triple alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy Italy drops out after WWI becomes a defensive war Britain wants to maintain its superiority Germany threats them with a growing navy, powerful army, and economic interests Germany wants to be seen as a powerful power and wants allies, must keep Austria-Hungary or they will be all alone France wants revenge on the German expansion into their land Austria-Hungary wants to expand into the Balkans after the German Unification Russia wants to expand into the Balkans The Ottoman Empire has more of a threat from Russia taking land so it allies with Austria-Hungary Japan strategically needs resources