The Causes Of The Great War I - 1632 Words

World War I was a complex war with tensions simmering for numerous years before finally boiling over. The immediate and obvious cause to the war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist society in June of 1914. The underlying causes of World War I were nationalism, imperialism, and militarism by actors on both sides of the war and would only be resolved by American intervention. The causes of the Great War go further back into the nineteenth century The powers of expanding nationalism, imperialism and militarism had the ability to cause international difficulties. Nationalism grew towards the end of the 1800s as Bosnia and Herzegovina no longer wanted to be a part of Austria-Hungary and joined Serbia†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"European violence against African and Asian states was a cause and consequences of peace in Europe. Great power crises over rivalries in Africa and Asia occurred periodically between the 1880s and 1911, but few o f these threatened to end in war† (Mulligan 2001). Even though there were many conflicts, great powers were able to cooperate to suppress threat, such as happened during the Boxer Rebellion in China. â€Å"Because of the Boxer Rebellion, the Ch ing Dynasty lost the respect of the Chinese people as well as the respect of foreign powers. Many people with skills and education avoided serving a government that seemed so incompetent. Nationalism became a stronger force among the Chinese people, especially in Chinese communities overseas† (The Boxer Rebellion 1999). Each country with numerous interests to protect, engaged in growing militarism leading up to World War I as a means to defend colonies and borders. The complex web of alliances caused a chain reaction of nation states joining the war. The alliances â€Å"reshaped the map of Europe, but they also settled the most significant territorial disputes between great powers† (Mulligan 2001). These alliances created in more peaceful times would helpful in solving regional issues, but would escalate in the beginning of the 1900s. â€Å"What was intended to be a strictly limited war between accuser and accused, Austria-Hungary and Serbia, had