Causes of World War 1

Causes of World War I

• 2,200,000 German soldiers were involved in the war.
• Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, on 28 June 1914, by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb student, triggered the war.
• Sarajevo, the provincial capital of Bosnia, was the location of the assassination, which was formally annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908.

Militarism

• The arms race and the building of large armies and navies made a big war possible.
• This led to an escalation of tensions between countries, increasing the likelihood of war.

Alliances

• The formation of the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance created a complex system of alliances.
• This made war more likely, as countries were obligated to defend their allies, leading to a larger-scale conflict.

Imperialism

• Imperialism refers to the desire of European countries to expand their empires at the expense of other countries.
• This led to competition and rivalry between countries, making war more likely as they sought to protect and expand their territories.