What Are The Long Term Causes Of World War 1

World War 1 was a conflict that stretched from 1914 to 1918, ending with the Armistice of Compiègne. The war was fought between the Central and Allied powers. The Central Powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, whereas the Allied powers included France, Britain, Russia, and eventually the U.S. There were many long term causes of- World War 1 such as imperialism, the policy of extending a nation’s authority over other countries by means of economics or military, and militarism, defined as the development of armed forces and a tool of diplomacy. But, the most crucial event leading to the war was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Though the conflicted lasted from 1914 through to 1918, the United States did not play a part until 1917 as many Americans wanted their country to stay neutral. Unfortunately, events such as the Zimmerman Note and the Germans

They would attack every ship, even ones from neutral countries, passing through the British Isles. Many innocent merchant ships were sunk, but one of the most notable was the Lusitania. Though it was carrying ammunition, it was mostly just a passenger ship. The attack killed around 1,201 people, including about 128 Americans. After hearing this, President Woodrow Wilson had told the German government to stop sinking unarmed and neutral ships. For a while Germany had agreed, but soon went back to their previous methods and further turned the U.S. opinion against them. The United States broke diplomatic relations with Germany, and the American ship Housatonic was sunk by a German U-boat hours later. That seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, and the United States started preparing to enter the war. During that time, Germany sank four more American ships. Finally, on April 2nd, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson stood before congress and declared war against the German forces in a speech shown in Document