WWI DBQ

Causes of WWI The first world war was not caused by any specific event whose nature can be pinpointed and avoided. Instead, an interrelating network of many things led to an environment which caused aggression and allowed it to grow into the tragedy of World War I. At the time, each country’s intense nationalism created an aggressive setting and an underlying desire to go to war and destroy other countries in order to be the best. Militarism and the arms race, fueled by this competition, gave countries the means for mass devastation. In addition, huge alliances with a mixture of smaller and bigger countries had the potential to involve the world’s strongest military powers in a small dispute between obscure countries. This situation all meant the countries created increasingly effective weapons in order to be the best started a war which was further escalated by the

Some countries such as Russia and Austria-Hungary didn’t greatly increase expidentures until around 1910, but this still evidences growing aggression before the war. The average of these country’s expidentures in 1870 was $1.91, and in 1910 this had increased to an average of $3.99. Instead of doing so in a way that made allies feel safer, it seemed this new technology could be used against anyone; “the imperialism of all European states has chronically poisons international relations” (document 5). Counrtries prioritized advancing their own military far over helping allies, and thusly allies became aggresive. Eventually, “a European war broke out. Why? Because in each country [of Europe] political and military leaders did certain things that led to the mobilization [of troops].” Leaders wanted the best military in Europe, even the world, which meant they tried to beat friends and enemies alike. This made for the means for Europe to break into a world-scale