Long Term and Short Term Cause of World War 1 Essay

There was no particular cause for the rash of the First World War. The causes are much more complex than those of the Second World War and include short, intermediate and long term factors that all ended to cause the July Days in 1914. These factors include militarism, nationalism, imperialism, the alliance system, and industrialization as the long term causes. The intermediate causes included the crises in the Balkans and the short-term trigger for the war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the Sarajevo, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. Militarism in the 19th and early 20th centuries involving the great powers of Europe was definitely important issue in the beginning of World War 1. Militarism means that the army and military powers are given a high profile by the government. More money was put into the military to increase arms and power of each country. This made each country ready and willing to fight one another. This build up and competition between the major powers developed into the arms race, which for many years put up looseness between Britain and Germany An alliance is an agreement made between two or more countries to give each other help if it is needed. . If any one country was attacked the other members of the alliance was repeatedly forced into the war as well, even if they did not want to fight. When an alliance is signed, those countries become known as Allies. A number of alliances had been signed by countries between the years 1879 and 1914. These were important because they meant that some countries had no choice but to declare war if one of their allies. For example: in 1879 Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance to protect themselves from Russia.