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The Great War

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THE GREAT WAR
US History online
2/23/13

World War I is also known as The Great War. In our readings from our text book it concludes the cause of The Great War was directly due to the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist Group who was bent on driving Austo-Hungarians from Serbia. (Schultz 2010) During that time period there were two major powers called the Allied Powers (France, Russia, and England) and the Central Powers (Germany, Turkey, and Austro-Hungarian Empire). Clearly with all of these alliances it was inevitable that a conflict between these countries. The assignation was the straw the brought the camel’s back and in turn started the war. The other issues that lead to this war however were Militarism, Nationalism, and Imperialism. Any of these qualities can strengthen a country but the combination of them can be deadly. “Militarism is the glorification of one’s military. It is the belief of a nation or its people to build and maintain a strong military, with the intention to use it whenever it is necessary.” (Brown) In essence Germany was big on militarism since they were known for their military. To be such a little country compared to England and France their military was phenomenal. Germany’s Navy more importantly, their U-boats, threatened England and forced them to concentrate on building their Navy up as well as France. It is impossible to believe that all of these countries were building these militaries for nothing. Everyone knew a war was bound to happen to the point people wrote fictitious statements of such war before it happened. (Ferguson) All of the counties were very proud of their militaries and it was only matter of time before they would have to put them to the test. “Nationalism is the pride

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