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Us History Hist 405n-63210
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Us History Hist 405n-63210
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the immediate cause of World War I. But the events that led to the Great War go further back into the nineteenth century. As with the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, nationalism, imperialism, and militarisms all played a part.Analyze how the forces of nationalism, imperialism, and militarism irrevocably led to World War I. Pay particular attention to the rise of Pan-Slavism in Eastern Europe and the corresponding rise of nationalism in German-speaking states. Analyze how the alliance system contributed to the ultimate outbreak of war.
Many people believe that the World War I started as a result of the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Well, they are not wrong because it did put the last nail in the coffin, but historians seem to believe that the First World War started way before the 20th century. The truth is, they are right, and their notions seem to make sense because evidence can be drawn from the events of the 19th century. Evidence from the 19th century seems to include factors such as nationalism, imperialism, and militarism as causes of the First World War. Europe was relatively peaceful in the 19thcentury,andpeople had become accustomed to wars which were fought with crude weapons and over long distances. In these wars, victory was assured, but slowly, the quest for more land, power, and dominion was soon to become the major factor in leading the world to war.
As a factor that led to the First World War, nationalism has indeed been widely discussed. Llewellyn et al. (2017) define nationalism as “an extreme form of patriotism or loyalty to one’s country.” He continues to state that “nationalism was prevalent in early 20th century Europe and became a significant cause of World War 1.” However, what this article fails to recognize is the evidence of the rise of nationalism before the 20th century. A good example of increased nationalism can be found in Germany. Germany is relatively younger than Britain and France,and from history, it can be argued that it was formed in 1871. In the 1860s, Prussia emerged as the leading German power and the leaders of Prussia were working towards a unified Germany. Apparently, it grew continuously obvious that the unification of German-speaking states would lead to the emergence of a powerful nation and the Franco-Prussian War was a testament to this fact. Immediately after this war, all the leaders that assumed leadership in Germany started making nationalism a weapon which they would use to generate public support. Evidently, their use of nationalism worked, and Germans grew more ‘patriotic’ than ever before. The only problem with nationalism was that it often cast the other nations in a bad light and the people believed in these notions.
Aside from Germany’s example of nationalism as a cause of World War I, one can also point towards the Pan-Slavism in Eastern Europe. Pan-Slavism is defined by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary as “a political and cultural movement, originally emphasizing the cultural ties between the Slavic people, but later associated with Russian expansionism.”This movement was solely based on the idea that all the Slavic speaking communities belong to a single nation. Once Russia was defeated in the Crimean War, its leaders resorted to using nationalistic rhetoric with the aim of creating and encouraging Slav speaking people to unite. Initially, Pan-Slavism was not used as a political tool, but once Germany united, the spirit of nationalism soon started to spread across the Slav-speaking communities. Russian pan-slavists were not as reserved and cautious as their predecessors and most of them resorted to claiming that only fueled nationalistic values. Some of the rhetoric a majority of them fostered included, but was not limited to notions that Western Europe was corrupt and that it was Russia’s responsibility to direct Europe towards a sober path. These notions heavily influenced the nationalistic values of the Slav-speaking people who became overly unimpressed, rattled, and restless.
Aside from nationalism,Llewellyn (2017) opine that imperialism and militarism were also essential factors which contributed to the First World War. Before the War, Britain and France were quite rich and powerful, and their influence was spread across the globe. “The sun never sets on Britain” was one slogan that was coined during this time and it was indeed true because Britain was controlling almost a quarter of the world (Tamura, 1998). France was not far behind,but after unification, Germany also felt the urge to spread its wings and have a taste for imperialism. However, this was never bound to end well as these nations started feuding over who should take which territories. Therefore, rivalries developed early and coupled with the fact that a majority of these nations had already grown militarily, the ground was set for war.
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