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How Did Imperialism Cause Ww1

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Between the years of 1914 - 1918, World War One had a damaging effect on the people of Europe, with over 17 million people killed and billions left without homes. The outbreak of World War One (WW1) was triggered by numerous causes that built up the tension in Europe among multiple countries. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was an extensively significant event that led to the outbreak of war after just one month. His assassination triggered the different factors that had escalated the tension in Europe, and caused this tension to transform into the beginning of a war. However, the alliances formed by the six countries initially involved in WW1 were considerably significant, as the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance …show more content…
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro - Hungarian empire, was a fundamentally significant event that created an excuse for European countries to ignite all the tension-building factors and initiate an international war. Before the start of WW1 in 1914, Austria - Hungary had conquered the small country of Bosnia and angered the neighboring country of Serbia by doing so. A Serbian Nationalist group called the Black Hand strongly believed that Bosnia belonged with Serbia, as the two countries were very similar in culture and language. The Black Hand therefore concluded that by assassinating the heir to the Austro - Hungarian throne, Serbia could take back Bosnia and leave Austria - Hungary vulnerable and without an heir. This assassination was also supposed to unite the Bosnian-Serbs and liberate them from the maltreatment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Thus, the seven members of the Black Hand congregated in Sarajevo, a town in Bosnia and the next destination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Among the Black Hand …show more content…
During the late 19th century, many European empires had begun formulating alliances and extending their control into other continents. However, the emergence of “a unified Germany in 1871” stimulated fear in other empires of Germany’s potential and will to gain power. This fear prompted France and Russia to constitute an alliance in 1894, which in turn caused the establishment of an alliance between Germany and Austria - Hungary. By the early 20th century, most of the alliances that were part of WW1 were already founded, and the disparity between two sides, the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, had become easily detectible. Each side developed a fear of the military power of the other, and so an arms race (particularly between Germany and Great Britain) took place in the years leading up to the outbreak of war. At the same time, Serbia and Austria - Hungary were still engaged in a quarrel over the

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