Abstract
World War I or the Great War lasted for about four years and cost the lives of millions of combatants and civilians. A number of factors and events have been identified as the main causes of this war. First is the tenuous existence of two main alliances involving the major European powers – the triple Alliance versus the Triple Entente. Second is the emergence of Pan-Slavism, the main objective of which was the unity of all Slavs across Europe, and the “liberation” of Slavs under the oppressive rule of the Austrian-Hungarian regime. Finally, a strong sense of nationalism grew in Germany, and this country rose to hegemony during the last half of the 19th century. It began to compete with Great Britain militarily, and also in terms of economics, the Germans also conquered several territories in Africa, providing them with abundant natural resources that enabled the country to modernize its infrastructure and technologies. All the while tensions in the Balkans were such that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand simply became the trigger for this great conflict.
Introduction
World War I is also known as the Great War. This war lasted for about four years, and took the lives of about nine million soldiers and seven million civilians. It is therefore said to be one of the deadliest conflicts in world history, and let to major political changes thereafter. This short paper will look at the factors and political events that have led to the conflict, and will closely examine the involvement of the United States in the said conflict (Willmott, 2003).
Factors Leading to World War I
While the main event that served as the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, a series of events had already unraveled by the time of the assassination. One of the factors that played a great role in the conflict was the emergence of Pan-Slavism. Pan-Slavism was a movement that aimed to unite all groups of Slavic people in Europe. One objective of Pan-Slavism in Austria-Hungary was to work for the creation of an independent Slav state – Yugoslavia. This movement also sought to free all Slavs from the oppression brought about by the rule of Austria-Hungary and by the Ottoman Turks. Serbia was the hub of Pan-Slavism in Eastern Europe, specifically in the Balkans, as it wished to bring together all Slavic people after the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary in 1908, and along with it, around half a million Slavs (Lyons, 1999). Pan-Slavism was also based in Russia, as many Slavs resided in Russia, and that these Russian Slavs wanted solidarity with their Eastern European brothers. Russian Pan-Slavism was thus a thorn in the side of the Austrian-Hungarians as well. Thus by the time of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, matters were not clearly in order between the Serbs and Austria-Hungary. Serbia demanded from Bosnia that their Slavic brothers be free from oppression from Austria-Hungary, and of course nothing was done by the latter. To make things worse, Austria-Hungary was able to annex Albania, which Serbia had initially tried to protect, but Russia then could not support Serbia. Hence Albania became the territory of Austria-Hungary, and landlocked Serbia was denied any access to the sea (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob and Von Laue, 2010).
Germany was then allied with Austria-Hungary. Nationalism grew swiftly in Germany towards the end of the 19th century, and this surge of nationalism was also characterized by this country’s evolution into an economic and military power. Just before 194, Germany had over 700,000 enlisted men in its peacetime army. Weltpolitik or a desire for world dominance soon became the objective of the German government, and the military with its power had greater influence over public policy. In 1878, after Russia ended its alliance with Germany, the latter formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary, and later on this alliance became a Triple Alliance with the addition of Italy. (Willmott, 2003). German nationalism was now based on the fact that it could be a superpower in Europe and perhaps all over the world. The newly conquered lands in Africa became sources of economic power, and with more wealth, Wilhelm II built a very strong navy that he thought ought to rival the British Navy.
The United States remained neutral until 1917. President Woodrow Wilson in fact, sent several emissaries to the war front to attempt to broker a peace treaty between and among the belligerent participants of the war. Even when German submarines sank the British liner Lusitania in 1915, the US still remained neutral in its position. Ethnicities played a role in the decision to remain neutral as many of the new migrants to the United States were from the various countries currently involved in the war. The decision to join the Entente may have been influenced by a letter from the German Prime Minister Zimmerman enticing the Mexicans to join the German side incited the United States. Zimmerman promised the Mexicans the return of New Mexico, Arizona and Texas to Mexico if the Germans won the war. The Germans had likewise embarked on unrestricted submarine warfare – they now targeted any ship they considered as enemy territory, and this angered the Americans, whose merchant and passenger ships plying the Atlantic could now be targeted by German submarines. While the US military tactics could not be considered as very effective, the arrival of fresh US troops on a daily basis provided fresh legs for the weary Alliance troops (US Department of State, 2014).
Conclusion
Therefore, the First World War was caused by a combination of German nationalism, Pan-Slavism, and the unsettling alliances (Triple Alliance and Triple Entente) which could have caused so much tension in this part of the world at the time. One cannot exactly determine the effectiveness of the American participation in the war as the US joined the war only in 1917, whereas the other forces had been it for at least three years already. However, the American presence on the European continent provided fresh legs for the battle-weary combatants fighting under the Triple Entente alliance, and allowed this alliance to triumph over the triad of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. President Wilson sought the blessing of Congress only when Germany threatened the United States’ hegemony with regard to the newly-annexed states of California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
References
Lyons, M. (1999). World War I: A Short History. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Perry, M., Chase, M., Jacob, J., Jacob, M. and Von Laue, T. (2010). Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society, Volume II; From 1600. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
US Department of State. (2014). American Entry into World War I, 1917. Retrieved from: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi
Willmott, H. (2003). World War I. NY: Dorling Kindersley.
