CAUSES OF WW1

Question 1

Which were the political causes of WW1?

Answer 1

Imperialism
Militarism
Alliances

Question 2

What is Imperialism?

Answer 2

European nations want strong empires to obtain prestige and political power

Each country had an overseas empire and they competed to have the most powerful one, this led to territorial tenstions between countries.

Question 3

What was Militarism?

Answer 3

Government wanted the war because they all thought it would be fast and they would win, therefore they started building up strong armies and to enlarge them. They started investing in their military industry, investigating in research of new technologies and increasing their weapon production. getting ready for war

Question 4

What was Alliances?

Answer 4

They made pacts and alliances to protect the allied countries in the case of an attack.

Triple Alliance/Central Powers:
Germany Austro-Hungarian Empire Ottoman Empire Italy (swicthed sides when the war started)

Triple Entente/Allied powers:
Russia Great Britain France

Small alliances:

Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
Great Britain and Belgium
Great Britain Japan
Serbia and Russia
Germany and Ottoman Empire
Italy and France

Question 5

TERRITORIAL CAUSES: What happened in the Balkans?

Answer 5

Many powers were interested in controlling it due to its strategic position. The Ottoman Empire was weak because the countries inside the Empire wanted independence, so Austria and Russia wanted to take advantage of this, by annexing Ottoman territories. Britain, which was another big power, didn’t want any powerful empire in the area, because it wanted to control the Mediterranean Sea from Malta, so Britain supported Balkan countries which wanted to become independent.

Question 6

What happened with Alsace and Lorraine?

Answer 6

Germany took Alsace and Lorraine in 1871, after defeating France at the Franco-German war.

Then in the Treaty of Versailles Alsace and Lorraine returned to France.

Question 7

ECONOMIC RIVARLY: What was Colonialism?

Answer 7

European countries needed raw materials, cheap labour and new markets to develop their industry and economy, so there was a big race to control land overseas, Africa, in particular.

Question 8

What happened in Africa?

Answer 8

There was a big race to control land overseas, Africa, in particular. This interest for Africa ended in a Conference in Berlin in 1885 between European powers to decide the partition of Africa and avoid further conflict in the area. However, they didn’t invite African countries or ask the opinion of local people. As a result, the Conference was probably not a good idea for future peace.

Question 9

What was the ultranationalism?

Answer 9

The ultranationalism mentality; they believed their country was superior) led to WW1. They thought they could win the war, as they considered themselves superior (ultranationalism)

Question 10

Triple Entente/Allied powers:

Answer 10

Russia Great Britain France

Question 11

Triple Alliance/Central Powers:

Answer 11

Germany
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Ottoman Empire
Italy (swicthed sides when the war started)

Question 12

Small alliances

Answer 12

Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
Great Britain and Belgium
Great Britain Japan
Serbia and Russia
Germany and Ottoman Empire
Italy and France