WWI DBQ

World War I, " the Great War," involved all of the great powers of Europe and killed more than eight million soldiers. Discuss the reasons which led to the rising international tensions that sparked World War I.

The Great War, later called World War I after the Second World War occurred, was one of the greatest most devastating wars Europe had seen in its time. This war was the cause of nearly eight million deaths alone. During the beginning of the 20^th century everyone expected war to be inevitable and they were right. Rising tensions between European nations in the early 20^th century particularly Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and Serbia along with the death of the Austrian crown prince at the hands of Serbian nationalists were the significant events that lead to the start of what is now called World War I.

As soon as Germany united it became a powerhouse in Europe. It began to challenge Britain and France and other European countries in manufacturing, finance, shipping, and population. This began to worry the other European countries and they were soon all competing with each other to be the best and most powerful. The British felt threatened by Germany’s naval power and its success in foreign markets. France also had not forgotten all of the defeats at the hand of Germany and so was not on very good terms. With all of these tensions, countries were allying themselves to nations that had similar goals in mind or religious views. In this way Russia and Serbia were allied together and Russia with France. Germany on the other hand allied itself with Austria-Hungary and Italy in what is known as the Triple Alliance. This said that if any country is attacked, then the other two countries had to come to its aid (doc. 1). These countries also made a deal to not ally themselves with any country that is engaged in combat against their first allies being Germany, Austria-Hungary, or Italy (doc. 2). With Germany becoming a powerhouse, European countries were becoming worried and so made alliances; these alliances eventually became their allies during times of war.

Rising patriotism and nationalism was one of the major causes for World War One. Germany believed in the Aryan race and that they were physically and mentally better than everyone else (doc. 3). With this kind of belief and Serbian nationalism rising, the two were going to come head to head. When the Austria-Hungarian crown prince visited Serbia, and a Serbian nationalist part of the Black Hand killed him, this sparked the beginning of World War one. People part of the Black Hand knew they were signing up for a chance to commit terrorist acts (doc. 6). Because of this act of aggression, Austria-Hungary acknowledged themselves to be at war with Serbia (doc. 7.) With this declaration, Russia started to mobilize her forces. Germany became worried because Russia and France were allied. They tried to talk to Russia and tell her to stop mobilizing her forces, but since she didn’t, Germany declared war on Russia (doc. 8).

Because of the rising tensions between the powerhouses of Europe and the aggression of Serbian nationalists, war was inevitable in Europe. With two groups of alliances and tension between the two, war was foreseen, it was just a matter of time. Economic and military power along with patriotism and nationalism lead to the international tension, and from their sparked the Great War.