What were some major causes of World War I?
1 Answer
There were quite a bunch, Nationalism, Militarism, competing Empires that were decaying. An impulse to war. Complex and evolving diplomatic situations that often used brinkmanship.
Explanation:
Nationalism was a prominent force in Europe at the time since becoming widespread during the Napoleonic Wars. Large and small countries called on citizen patriotism. This was often a call to arms. Germany and Italy were relatively new nations and were struggling hard to establish Empires. Other small independent countries were trying to develop.
Militarism. Nationalism help create large conscript Armies. Militarism armed, trained and planned for their use. Militarism helped create an impulse to war as a way to solve problems. New technology created powerful armies and navies but also new complex logistic problems.
The complex set of alliances that the competing Empires developed did not create peace. Diplomacy often used the threat of war to get an advantage. Inflexibility made the slide to war unstoppable.
The rise of socialism, democracy and other never far away revolutionary ideas ate away at the power structure. The relationship between the upper and lower classes was restive. Competition between colonial spheres created friction.
Europe stumbled from crisis to crisis in the early part of the Twentieth Century. In 1914 the whole thing started a chain reaction that was impossible for anyone to stop.
