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Militarism
One of the leading causes for WWI was militarism. There was an escalation in military influence mainly on policy making post-1907. This was extremely prominent in Germany and Russia. The German Army at the time was nicknamed "State within the State". -
Alliances
By 1914 there were two alliances made up of the worlds greatest powers.The two alliances were the triple entente and the triple alliance.The triple entente was made up of Great Britain,Russia,and France.The triple alliance was made up of Germany,Austria-Hungary,and Italy. -
Imperialism
Imperialism is a system. This system is a nation that fully controls and exploits colonies. The colonies happen because the powerful nation colonizes the area usually by force. In most cases the imperial nation establishes control over its colonies by coercion. This can be through many different ways such as infiltration and annexation, political pressure, war and military conquest. Once a place is conquered its territory is claimed as the leading nation's colony. -
Nationalism
A factor in which the Slavic Serbs and others that were seeking independence and autonomy was because of the rise of nationalism. This is because they wanted freedom from being oppressed by the Austria-Hungary political domination. -
The Assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie
A member of the Black hand (a terrorist group from Serbia) killed the Archduke of Austria-Hungary and his wife while they were visiting Sarajevo. This helped spark WWI. -
Germany's Blank check to Austria
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany speaks for his country and vows unconditional support to Austria-Hungary. This is because of Austria-Hungary's long term issues with Serbia. The previous
year the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife had caused much chaos because a Serbian nationalist murdered them while they were visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia. -
WW1 begins
At first it was just Austria and Serbia before Russia came in. Then, Germany and France came in later on. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
German u-boats sank the British passenger ship which was a deciding factor in the US joining the war because there were American citizens on board. -
Zimmerman Telegram
This was the final cause that made the US officially decide to join the war because it was a telegram from Zimmerman which told Mexico that if they allied with Germany that Germany would help Mexico reclaim land from the United Sates. Although, the US knew that it was an empty promise because they knew Mexico would never aid Germany since they could never stand against the US' military powers. The US didn't like that Germany would make such a proposal. -
Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare
Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare upset many countries and angered the US. The reason was because passenger ships were now at risk for no logical reasoning. -
US entry into the war and her impact on it
Since the US had a modernized military system they took over the place of Russian in military powers. Their powers were superior and helped win the war for the Allies. -
Rise of Hitler
Adolf Hitler rose to power because Germany was in economic crisis and needed a strong leader. Hitler was there to pull them out of their economic crisis by promising quick fixes. He appealed to nationalism and his radical views were just right for the time because of it's political turmoil, economic chaos, and the Nazi party was gaining popularity. Hitler was then elected into office in which he became chancellor and he then seized total control. -
Effects of WWI
Military and civilian casualties estimated 40 million. 9.7 million military and 10 million civilians. Allies lost 5.7 million soldiers and Central Powers lost 4 million. New countries formed: Finland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The disillusionment occurred because there hadn't been a good reason for the US to get involved. Also, the fact that the Great War had resulted in many casualties with no issues being resolved and more issues. -
Treaty of Versailles
The war made Kaiser abdicate the throne. There were also 7 million casualties on the German side. German's economy plummeted by more than 40% between 1914-1918. The social consequence of Germany taking the blame for the war was that they became insistent that they didn't lose the war and had been mislead to which Hitler later called 'The stab in the back'. -
The Great Depression
This was a time period from 1929 to 1941. Stock prices started to fall in early October. October 18 the fall began. People began to panic so October 24 a record of 12,894,650 shares got traded. Investment companies and leading bankers wanted to stabilize the market. They attempted to by buying large blocks of stock. After the market plummeted. Black Monday was followed by stock prices collapsing completely and 16,410,030 shares being traded in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost. -
Dawes and Young Plan
This was a time period from 1924-1930. American aid during the mid-1920s helped the Weimar Republic. This is because the Weimar Republic was on the edge of ruin.
