Immediate Causes Of World War 1 Essay

The immediate cause of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Previously, he was going to visit his friend to discuss the situation in the Balkans at the time. On June 1914, a 19 year old Serbian nationalist, named Gavrilo Princip, assassinated him and his wife while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia (which was part of Austria-Hungary). The pair was there to to inspect imperial armed forces. Princip was given weapons by a Serbian terrorist organization called the Black Hand. This was in protest to Austria-Hungary having control of this region. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina. This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to mobilize due to its alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. Thus began the expansion of the war to include all those involved in the mutual defense alliances.

By 1914, Germany had the largest increase in military growth. Germany and Great Britain both majorly increased their navies at this time period. Particularly in Germany and Russia, the military establishment began to have a much bigger influence on public policy. This swell in militarism assisted by pushing the countries involved into to war.

In the years before 1914, militarism often defined most European countries. Governments were heavily influenced by their military powers. Generals and admirals acted as a higher power and often influenced domestic policy and demanded increase in spending. Militarism fuelled the arms race that pushed multiple European nations to expand and modernize their military. Militarism was not the leading cause of World War I, but it fed into nationalism and fed expectations to the public about strengths. It also created a standpoint where it looked like the only resolution for political and public problems.