A backgrounder to the
First World War 1914-1918
Introduction
The First World War came as a result of
many factors. Some of the contributing factors and relevant information are
included below.
I. Competition for
Colonies:
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1800’s and early 1900’s, European nations carved
nearly all of Africa and much of
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The race for colonies was fueled by
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Colonies supplied European nations with raw materials
for factories, markets for manufactured goods, and opportunities for
investment.
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The competition for colonies strained relations among
European countries
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Incidents between rival powers flared up almost every
year.
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Several of the clashes nearly led to war.
II. Nationalism:
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The French Revolution and the Napoleonic era had
spread throughout most of Europe the idea of political democracy, with the
resulting idea that people of the same ethnic origin, language and political
ideals had the right to independent states.
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The principal of national self-determination,
however, was largely ignored by the dynastic and reactionary forces that
dominated in the settlement of European affairs at the Congress of
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Several peoples who desired national autonomy were
made subject to local dynasties monarchs or to other nations.
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These movements helped to facilitate the notion of
self-determination and sovereignty of the nation-state.
Examples of nationalist movements in
1.
German People: The Congress
of Vienna divided the people into duchies, principalities, and kingdoms
fostering a struggle for unification that lasted the majority of the 19th
century.
2.
Italian People: These people were divided into many
parts, some of which were under foreign control causing Giuseppe Garibaldi to
lead a nationalist movement.
3.
French-speaking Belgians of the Austrian
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Revolutions during the 19th century
nullified much of the anti-nationalist work of the Congress of Vienna
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1831:
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1861:
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1871:
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At the close of the century, the problem of
nationalism was still unresolved in other areas of Europe
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This resulted in tensions between various European
nations
III. The Entangled
Alliances
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1871: Chancellor
Bismarck (German Leader) united his country with the defeat of
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The occupation of Alsace-Lorraine created a
longstanding animosity between
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1879:
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1882:
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1882: The Triple
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1887:
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Only
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1887:
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1890: Major
Problem: Kaiser Wilhelm II dismissed
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1894-1895: Due to the
actions of Wilhelm II,
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1904-1907: The
British government made cautious agreements with
IV. The Arms Race:
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1898: The German
government wanted to reduce the gap in British and German naval power.
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1906: The
British launched a new battleship called the H.M.S. Dreadnought (10 12” guns
and a speed of over 20 knots)
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The Dreadnought began an expensive race on the part
of
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Ships of the past became obsolete as new technologies
developed.
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V. The Balkan Crisis:
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This crisis created a dispute between Austria and
Russia
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The Balkan countries are located in South East Europe
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The rivalry was complicated by a problem that had
troubled the Austrian Empire for years.
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Within the Austrian Empire lived millions of Slavs
who resented Austrian government.
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They (Slavs) wanted to break away from
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The Slavic people had an ethnic kinship to the
Russians. The nationalist movement that promoted this connection was known as
Pan-Slavism.
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To the Austrian leaders, the acquiescence of
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(1) it could
quiet their own Slavic rebels
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(2) might also
act as a stepping stone towards the
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1914: The
Russians agreed to help
VI. Assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand:
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On June 28, 1914, a young Serbian student named
Gavril Princip shot the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the Bosnian
capital of
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1914: August 1, 1914, War broke out between
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Strategically,
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The German military had a strategy known as the
Schlieffen Plan.
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Once in
More information:
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CLICK HERE FOR ANIMATION OF WW I –BBC.
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Canada’s
role in World War I