World War 1: Causes, Events, and Consequences

Running head: WORLD WAR 1
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World War 1
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WORLD WAR 1
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World War 1
World War 1 was as a result of a range of factors, one of the factors was the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassination together with his wife. Some other factors such as
imperialism, militarism, and nationalism also instigated the start of the war.
Nationalism
Most people in the 20th century believed in the supremacy of their countries. There
existed naval and economic supremacies in the British Empire. The Germans strengthened their
military power and industrialization and also thought on how they could have won the war
against other nations. Russia also had a significant number of military personnel. They believed
that having a considerable number of soldiers could help them win any war. France had built a
wall on the eastern border, and this made them feel confident they could prevent any nation to
invade their lands. The countries played superiority battles, and this made them be drawn easily
to any war (Herwig, 2014).
Imperialism
Before commencement of this war, Great Britain had occupied a quarter of the world.
Their significant objectives were on trade, importing raw materials and agriculture. France had
also colonized some parts of Cambodia, Vietnam, Pacific Islands and Africa. The Germans had
dominated some parts of China, Samoa, western Africa, Pacific Islands and the New Guinea.
The Spanish had occupied vast parts of South America while Russia ruled parts of Asia, Finland,
and Poland. Scramble for the colonies thus led to increased conflicts of interest for the empires.
These made the countries to be prone to war.

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Militarism
This is the rise in the expenditure of the military forces and policies with regards to
forcing in the resolving of conflicts. During the war period, there was increased control in the
military for the government of the state. There was also an increment in the power of the army
and policy-making more so in Russia and Germany. In 1910-1914, Germany had increased their
expenditures of the military during this period to about 80% and Russia by 40% (Ford, 2008).
The increase in militarism led to the belief that there could be some war. Some countries
continued to form alliances to take part in the coming war.
America and World War 1
The United States influenced the result of the World War 1; the nation had made decent
attempts to remain impartial in the European contention. In 1917, the strategy of Woodrow
Wilson played a major role during the World War I.
United States entry into World War I
In the year 1917, the president of the U.S., Woodrow Wilson, appeared before the joint
session of the Congress to ask for the assertion for starting the war against Germany. He spoke
on the infringement of the vow that Germany had made to suspend the unimpeded submarine
fighting in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, and the actions to draw Mexico to cooperate
against the United States. On 4th April 1917, the Senate then voted to support to declare war on
Germany (Ford, 2008).