Cause Of Ww1 Essay

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR 1

World War One (1914-1918) was a turning point in history. Many scholars study about WW1 and what caused this huge conflict. Germany used to be responsible for this was, but after many controversial debates later, the blame was gradually put on the different great powers of Europe as well. In this piece of writing, the main causes of WWI will be analyzed, especially targeting the long-term causes. World War One was a time of struggle in Europe. Many factors lead to great tensions in Europe, enlarging the need for a war. World War I was immediately precipitated by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian nationalist in 1914. There were many factors that had led toward war. Most of these causes and events are classified into five main themes:

Imperialism was a major cause of WW1 because Britain, Germany and France needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the industrial Revolution (BBC, 2008). The three countries competed for economic expansion over the whole of Africa. This caused plenty of conflicts between France & Great Britain and between Germany on one side and France and Great Britain on the other side, almost precipitated a European war between the three nations. Sometimes colonies are acquired after a fully-fledged invasion or a fight against the local population. British control of South Africa was established after a series of campaigns and native tribes like the Zulus, followed by two magnificent wars with the Boers (farmers of Dutch extraction) (Quizlet, 2013). Once an imperial control was established, the purpose of a colony was to benefit the mother country. Usually this included the supply of metals, other raw materials, cheap labour or agricultural land for usage. The empire of Britain was largely based on trade, particularly the importation and exportation of raw materials and the sale of manufactured