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Nationalism
Nationalism, or the pride in ones country, helped contribute a lot towards WWI. Everyone was so prideful and conceited toward their own country that others decided to attack and show who was better. -
Imperialism
Imperialism is the control over ones colonies. Through imperialism, there was a rush to see who could gain more land. However, the people in these lands started to retaliate, causing discomfort toward the mother land. From all of the tension, people clashed and battles broke out. This in itself caused countries to disagree and go after each other. -
Militarism
The idea of militarism gave everyone the idea of entering into a war. With regular talk and public opinions flaring all over the country, it was all anyone could think about. This started an arms race, in which every country tried to have the best, newest, and strongest weapons than everyone else. By starting an arms race, everyone was gearing up for battle. The talk of war made peaceful negotiations seem as something nobody could accomplish. Militarism definitely helped start World War 1. -
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie
The death of the Archduke led to a series of events. When Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbians for the attack, they declared war. Both countries had allies that were brought in to help so when the fighting began, we saw the beginning of the first world war. -
Germany's Blank Check to Austria-Hungary
Germany pledged to have the backs of Austria-Hungary no matter what it took. Even if they had to go to war with Russia, they would. The formation of this alliance brought Germany into war throughout Europe which in turn sent the rest of the alliances in as well. -
World War 1 Begins
After all of the buildup, the war finally broke out in July of 1914. Once the archduke was assassinated, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. With all of the alliances that had been formed, the rest of the world got dragged into the war. Germany attacked France through Belgium, which did not please the Britain government. In retaliation, Britain entered the war to fight Germany. -
Alliances
The idea of alliances caused the world to separate into groups. By forming bonds with different nations, they could help support each other. However, by forming an alliance, the risk of one nation going to war could lead the rest of the alliances right behind them. When you fight against one country with someone else supporting you, you are bringing not one, but two countries into the battle. By having alliances, more countries entered the war each day. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
When a German U-boat sank a passenger carrier heading from New York to Liverpool, more than 1,100 people perished. This act turned the public opinion against Germany and caused a lot of tension before the United States would enter the war. -
Zimmerman Telegram
After Germany had caused more tensions toward the allies, they needed to gain more power. The minister of Germany sent a telegram to Mexico promising United States territory if they joined their side. This upset the U.S. and brought them into the war. -
Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare
After Germany had sunk the Lusitania, American forces, along with Britain, were angered. Having written a very strong worded letter, the Germans said they wouldn't resume the submarine warfare. However, they breached this contract by resuming their tactics, which in result angered America and the idea of entering the war started to arise. -
US entry into the war and her impact on it
After debating on entering the war for the past years, Germany had finally angered President Wilson enough. After breaching their contracts and promising land in turn for an alliance, America was ready to enter the war. Declaring war on December 7, 1917, the fated outcome was starting to change. The United States entered a bloody war only to come out as a strong world power and industrial leader. -
Effects of WWI
The first world war was bloody and dangerous. Having lost about 10-13 million lives, one third being civilians, people were starting to regret their involvement at all. People felt as thought their government didn't know what they were doing, so the disillusionment raised in nearly every country. Some countries were formed throughout the war such as; Finland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. -
Rise of Hitler
While Germany had been making their reparations, they started to lose the nationalism in which their country had. Adolf Hitler, an army political agent, started his rise to power. He started to make the country feel pride again, which gained him a lot of popularity in his own party, the National-sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, known as the Nazis. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles officially ended the war. Germany was to take full responsibility in all of the damage and outcomes created by World War 1. Germany strongly opposed the treaty as they were not there to distinguish the consequences. Calling it unfair, the allies threatened to go to war again if Germany did not agree. This treaty reduced Germany's land which stirred mixed emotions upon all of the people living there. This gave Germany a sense of anger towards themselves. -
Dawes Plan and Young Plan
The Dawes and Young plan were put in place to help Germany meet the requirements needed to make the reparations from the damage they had caused during WWI. However, Germany could not meet the money that the allies were going to need. Through the Dawes plan, the allies loaned Germany the money until their economy boosted back up. The Young plan was put into place to give an exact number, 121 billion gold marks (roughly $29 billion) demanded for the reparations of Germany. -
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a lasting event for years throughout America. After the stock market crashed, a lot of people panicked and took all their money out of the banks, which in turn, caused the banks to close down. Unemployment rates rose as the reduction in purchasing started to grow more and more. The drought conditions also served as an impact since farmers couldn't maintain their crops. As the stock market crashed, the Great Depression Began.
