In 1914, the actions of nationalism caused one of the greatest global conflicts in history. By a country's desire to reclaim a relatively small territory that was lost by years of war, this resulted in the deaths of millions of people. It also ended long established monarchies and brought revolutions to different countries. This research paper will discuss the cause of World War One and then show the effects it had on two countries that participated in it.
Nationalism was one of the causes of World War One. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic era spread the idea of political democracy through out Europe. It caused people of the same ethnic group to believe they had the right to unite as a country or independent state, thereby forming nationalism. People who desired this independency were subjects to other nations or kingdoms. The Germans and Italians were an example of this subjection; many different duchies, kings and monarchs, separated them. Nationalism finally caused revolutions during the 19th century forming different nations, Belgium in 1830, Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1871.
Nationalism also affected the European economy. Countries as Germany, France and Great Britain began to compete with their industrial power, forcing a dependency of foreign markets such as Africa. War almost broke out between the late 1800's and early 1900's because of the intense economic battle being fought out in Europe and African settlements.
Another cause of World War One was the expansion of military forces in Europe. Because of the incidents during the turn of the century, Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia began to maintain and expand their large armies. Naval expansion was also done; which brought a lot of competition between Great Britain and Germany. With the advancement of military technology and organization, it formed the general staffs that would send millions of men to their deaths in the war to come.
Then on June 28th, 1914, nationalism finally initiated the First World War. On that day, Gavrilo Princip and others with his group were waiting for the Archduke Fraz Ferdinand to enter Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital. They were prepared to assassinate the Archduke because of hostilities between their country Serbia, and the Archdukes Austria-Hungary. The northern part of Serbia was under Austrian rule, which caused many rebellions and wars in that area. It also harbored a terrorist organization known as the “Black Hand”, which Princip and his men were associated with. As the Archduke Fraz and his wife entered the outskirts of the city, one of Princips men threw a hand grenade at the car. The grenade hit the car but bounced off and exploded from a distance, missing the Archduke. The first attempt failed but the second succeeded when Gravillo shot the Archduke himself. The Archduke Fraz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, so Austria felt that Serbia was responsible for the assassination. A list of demands was sent to Serbia, which were not accepted. Then on July 28th, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, causing the major countries of Europe to take sides and begin the First World War.
The effect that World War One brought to two countries, which we will discuss, was revolution from a monarchy to a republic and Union. Long established tittles such as Kaiser and Tsar were put to rest. It started two great political influences to take affect in the world, Nazism and Communism.
The greatest effect of WWI was the revolution of Russia. A long dynasty of Tsars ruled, causing great oppression among the Russian people. Prior to WWI, several revolutions tried to occur and over throw the government. But WWI caused the revolution of Russia to take place. The war caused food shortages for civilians and defeats for the Russian solders. Russia left the war in 1917, as riots began to occur through out Russia and Demagogues began to take power. It forced the Tsar, Nicholas II, to abdicate his throne, ending one of the longest monarchies in history. The Tsar and his family were later murder and a provisional government was set up. This government was overthrown on November 6th -7th of 1917, by soviets. A civil war also took place from 1917-1920, which resulted in forming the communistic U.S.S.R.
It had a similar effect on Germany. The Kaiser Wilhelm was forced to abdicate his throne to prince Max, and was sent into exile in Holland. A socialist revolution took place, causing economic ruin through out Germany. It led to the rise of the Nazi party and its leader Adolf Hitler.
So by reading this information we can see that WWI was caused by nationalism, military expansion of the countries of Europe and the assignation of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary. The war affected two countries greatly (Russia and Germany) by changing their political ideology and by turning a single country into a union of countries.
