{"id":1043,"date":"2016-06-14T19:43:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T19:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=1043"},"modified":"2026-04-22T22:41:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:41:38","slug":"world-war-i-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/world-war-i-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"World War I: A Detailed Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

World War I<\/a>\u00a0occurred from 1914 until 1918 and was one of the most significant events of the 20th century.\u00a0 At the time, it was referred to as the \u2018Great War\u2019 or the \u2018War to End All Wars\u2019.\u00a0 Today, it is remembered as one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.\u00a0 For instance, historians estimate that over 21 million deaths resulted from World War I, including 8.5 million soldiers and 13 million civilians.\u00a0 Besides this, World War I is also important because it created the atmosphere that led to other events, including: the Russian Revolution<\/a>, the\u00a0Spanish Flu of 1918<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0World War II<\/a>.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"World
French soldiers carrying out a flame and gas attack on German trenches in the Western Front of World War I. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

World War I began in June of 1914, and is considered to have five major causes that led to the outbreak of the war.\u00a0 These five causes include the four\u00a0long-term causes<\/a>\u00a0(militarism<\/a>, alliances<\/a>, imperialism<\/a> and nationalism<\/a>) and one short-term cause (the\u00a0assassination of Franz Ferdinand<\/a>).\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four long-term causes each occurred in the years and decades before the actual outbreak of World War I, and all combined to set the stage for war in 1914.  Most people think of these as the \u2018MAIN\u2019 causes of World War I.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bMilitarism\u00a0can best be understood as the buildup or expansion of the ability of a country\u2019s military to wage war.\u00a0 In the decades before World War I many European countries began to practice militarism and worked to expand and strengthen their military forces.\u00a0 For example, there was an intense arms race and\u00a0naval race<\/a>\u00a0between several European nations in the buildup to World War I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Militarism
Militarism was one of the M.A.I.N. causes of World War I, alongside alliances, imperialism and nationalism.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The second long-term cause of World War I was the\u00a0system of alliances\u00a0that existed in the years before the outbreak of war in 1914.\u00a0 When World War I began Europe divided between two separate alliance systems.\u00a0 Britain<\/a>, France<\/a> and Russia<\/a> made up the\u00a0Triple Entente<\/a>\u00a0while Germany<\/a>, Austria-Hungary<\/a> and Italy<\/a> made up the\u00a0Triple Alliance<\/a>.\u00a0 Both sets of alliances were created in the years and decades before World War I between the partnering countries.\u00a0 The assassination of Austro-Hungarian archduke Franz Ferdinand<\/a> and the resulting crisis between Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire caused each system of alliances to enact and World War I began. Ultimately, the alliance systems that existed before the start of World War I obligated countries to go to war in defense of their allies.\u00a0 This obligation is how countries such as Britain, France, Germany and Italy were pulled into the conflict.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"world
Map of the European Alliances Before World War I, including the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. (Created by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The third main cause of World War I was European\u00a0imperialism\u00a0that occurred in the 1800\u2019s and early 1900\u2019s before World War I erupted in 1914.\u00a0 Imperialism<\/a> is understood as a process in which a country overtakes another country or region\u2019s political, economic or social life.\u00a0 Imperialism was carried out by the powerful European nations against the rest of world in the decades before World War I began.\u00a0 For example, in the 19th century European nations carried out massive campaigns of imperialism against the regions of Africa in an event known as the\u00a0Scramble for Africa.\u00a0 The Scramble of Africa<\/a> led to the start of World War I because it increased rivalry between the European nations as they fought against each other for territory in Africa and control over different regions.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth and final long-term cause of World War I was the growth of\u00a0nationalism<\/a>\u00a0that occurred in Europe in the decades before World War I and the tensions it caused.\u00a0 Nationalism is best understood as when a group of people identify with each other and display a loyalty to their nation or country.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bNationalism grows when people share similar beliefs, values, ethnic heritage, relationship to land, language, culture and customs.  Nationalism was a major cause of World War I because it caused tensions and unrest to grow in certain parts of Europe.  For example, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not made up of one single nation, but rather consisted of many different groups.  Many of these groups sought to have control over themselves and wanted sovereignty from the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  This created a great deal of unrest in the empire.  This was especially apparent in the Balkans, which is a region in Southeast Europe that contains many different nation-states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Long-Term
There were four M.A.I.N. causes of World War I, including: militarism, alliance systems, imperialism and nationalism.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

ASSASSINATION OF FRANZ FERDINAND<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Franz Ferdinand<\/a>\u00a0was the Archduke of Austria-Hungary and the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in the years before World War I.\u00a0 Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were\u00a0assassinated\u00a0on June 28th, 1914 in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina while there on a visit to inspect the military forces.\u00a0 The assassin was a Serbian nationalist named\u00a0Gavrilo Princip<\/a>.\u00a0 Just nineteen years old at the time, Princip was a member of the\u00a0Black Hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Black Hand<\/a> was a Serbian nationalist organization that existed in the early part of the 20th century. The Black Hand was first created in August of 1901, by members of the Royal Serbian Army.\u00a0 It was a secret society that worked to promote Serbian nationalism.\u00a0 They were opposed to Austro-Hungarian influence in the Balkans, which was the name for the southeastern region of Europe.\u00a0 As such, the Black Hand planned to assassinate Franz Ferdinand as a form of protest towards Austria-Hungary.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Assassination
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand artwork by Achille Beltrame from an Italian newspaper. It shows Gavrilo Princip killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. (1914)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand<\/a> and his wife Sophie caused the nationalistic tensions of the Balkans to spill over and the event is considered to have directly led to the outbreak of World War I.\u00a0 In fact, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was a direct cause of the \u2018July Crisis of 1914<\/a>\u2019, which saw tensions escalate between the major European powers to the point that it resulted in World War I.\u00a0 For instance, the July Crisis of 1914 was the immediate result of the assassination and saw Europe divided along the two major series of alliances (Triple Entente and Triple Alliance).\u00a0 A month after the assassination, World War I had begun.\u00a0 As such, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was a vitally important event that changed the course of history in the early 20th century.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Balkan
Cartoon showing the European leaders of the time struggling to stop the Balkan tensions from ‘boiling over’.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

TRENCHES OF WORLD WAR I<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

World War I was a global conflict that was fought on several fronts, including the Western Front<\/a>, Eastern Front<\/a>, Italian (Alpine) Front<\/a> and the Middle East.\u00a0 The armies of World War I fought across the many different fronts of the war, which resulted in the many famous and deadly battles of the First World War.\u00a0 In fact, over 70 million soldiers were mobilized by the nations of World War I across the different fronts.\u00a0 Much of the fighting on these fronts occurred in the famous\u00a0trenches of World War I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n