Causes of World War One

• Nationalism: a feeling of intense loyalty to one’s country or group.– Encouraged new nations (Italy & Germany) to

unify and establish their power in the world.– Inspired certain ethnic groups to break away

from existing nations.

Joining the armed forces showed your pride in your country.

• Imperialism: the actions used by one nation to exercise political or economic control over smaller or weaker nations.– European countries competed for colonies in

Africa and Asia for raw materials and world power.

– As fewer areas were left to colonize, European nations conflicted with other powers.

– Great Britain and France already possessed large, overseas empires. Germany, Italy, and Russia wanted to increase theirs.

An Italian cartoon from 1915

Who do you think Italy was worried about in 1915?

• Military Buildup: The strengthening of armies and navies to protect a country’s interests.– If one nation increased its military strength, its

rivals felt threatened and built up their own military in response.

– France, Germany, and Russia developed huge armies in the early 1900s.

– Great Britain had the world’s largest and strongest navy.

– Germany and Great Britain began a bitter rivalry when Great Britain felt threatened.

Big Bertha!

You better carry as much as you can!

Tanks, a World War One invention.How useful would they be in the trenches?

Flying machines! Another first for war!

• Alliances: defense agreements among nations.– By 1914 two major alliances had been

established.• Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed the

Triple Alliance.• Great Britain, France, and Russia joined in the

Triple Entente. (entente: an understanding among nations.)

– The alliances aimed to keep peace by creating a balance of power.

– An attack on one nation was all that was needed to trigger a war involving many countries.

Right) Big Four Picture (left to right) David George (GB), Vittorio Orlando (Italy), Georges Clemenceau (FR), Woodrow Wilson (U.S.)

Celebrating the wartime alliance of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and the Kingdom of

Bulgaria.

Who is taking care of whom?