FIRST WORLD WAR

CAUSES OF THE WAR

Rise of Militant Nationalism
 Aggressive nationalism meant love for one’s own country and hatred of other
countries. Each nation thought about its own national interests and did not care
for the interests of the other nations.
 Kaiser William II of Germany wanted to make his country the leader of the world
and establish a vast empire
 Germany after defeating France in the Franco-Prussian War, Germany had taken
two important provinces of Alsace and Lorraine which were rich in minerals and
industrial products.
 France wanted revenge and take back her lost provinces (Alsace and Lorraine)
 Germany and France wanted to seize Morocco in Africa which created enmity
between them.
 Italy wanted to get back the territory of Trentino Trieste from Austria.
 Balkan states like Serbia wanted that their fellow nationals (slaves) who lived in
other states should come together to form a greater Balkan States.
1. Imperialism Ambitions and Colonial Rivalry
• Economic competition among the nations led to the rise of military nationalism.
• England and France had large number of colonies in Asia and Africa.
• Germany, Italy, France and Russia also wanted colonies in Asia and Africa.
• These colonies provided raw materials for their industries to sustain and markets
for their finished products. This led to a clash of interests among these countries.
2. Division of Europe into two Hostile Groups
• Two armed camps- Triple Alliance and Triple Entente
• In 1879, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy had signed a treaty to help each
other in case of enemy attack.
• In 1907, France, Russia and England entered into a treaty known as Triple Entente.
• Thus, Europe was divided into two hostile camps.
TRIPPLE ALLIANCE TRIPPLE ENTENTE

Germany France
Austria-Hungary Russia
Italy England
ITALY (1917)
 USA (1917)

3. Sarajevo Crises (immediate cause of war)

• On 28th June, 1914 the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the Prince Austria, and his
wife were assassinated at Sarajevo, the capital Bosnia.
• The assassin Gavrilo Princep was a nineteen-year old Bosnian student, who
belonged to a secret society known as 'Black Hand' (Union of Death).
• Though Princep was an Austrian citizen, the assassination had been planned in
Serbia's capital Sarajevo by a Serbian terrorist organisation "Union of Death" or
better known as " Black Hand".
• The Crown Prince was targeted because it was feared that after he become the
king, certain policies preventing the union of the South Slaves could be instituted.
• Austria served an ultimatum on Serbia on July 23rd, making eleven (11) demands.
• Serbia accepted most of the demands except those that would have led to the loss
of her sovereignty.
• Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28th, 1914.

RESULTS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The Treaty of Versailles: As a result of the discussion at the Paris Conference, on
June 28th, 1919 The Treaty of Versailles was signed. The Treaty declared Germany
guilty of aggression. The terms of the treaty were:
• Germany had to pay a huge war indemnity to the Allied powers.
• The amount of reparations was fixed at 33 billion dollars.
• Germany had to cede her merchant ships to the Allies as compensation and had
to supply huge quantity of coal to France, Italy and Belgium for 10 years.
• The area of Rhine was to be demilitarized and the German territory west of
Rhine was to be occupied by the Allied troops for 10 years.
• Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine to France, Eupen-et-Malmedy to Belgium,
Schleswig to Denmark.
• Danzing was internationalized, became a free port in the Polish territory.
• Germany ceded parts of her pre-war territory to Denmark, Belgium, Poland,
Czechoslovakia and France.
• The Coal mines in the German area called Saar were ceded to France for 15
years and the area was to be governed by the League of Nations.
• Germany lost all her colonies to the victorious Allies-Britain, Belgium, South
Africa and Portugal.
 • German colonies in the Pacific and the areas under her control in China were
given to Japan.
• The German army were restricted to a force of 1 lakh soldiers and the Navy was
limited to 15 thousand men and 24 ships.
• The Air Force and submarines were banned.
• The Treaty affirmed the complete independence of Belgium, Poland,
Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
• The Covenant (an agreement) of the League of Nations was added to the Treaty
of Versailles.
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