Nationalism During World War One History Essay

World War 1, the conflict which submurged the world between 1914 and 1918 left a massive mark on the 20th century, and shaped the world in which we live in today. Never before has nation clashed with one another on such a grand scale. Advances in weaponry allowed for the killing of soldiers of vast numbers. When the war clouds finally cleared, monarchies had fallen apart. New nations were born and the seeds were planted for an even greater conflict to engulf the world. A major contributing factor to the tension between great powers that led to the outbreak of the First World War was called Nationalism. Nationalism led to the outbreak of the War when countries wanted to show themselves as the most powerful and advanced society on the planet. When countries started to get nationalistic, they became to see themselves as superior, as proud, as dominant, became very compulsive as many became too proud of their nations. When the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand came about, thus triggered the World War and more and more countries started to get involve. The war changed the world and the society we live in today.

During the 19th and 20th century, nationalism had spread itself all over Europe. All powerful nations such as Russia and Germany had strong beliefs towards the concept of supporting their own nation. When Nationalism was brought up, nations believed that their own needs must be met before those of other nations. These strong beliefs came to play a pivotal role as many nationalists became so proud of their nations that later on the nations that they struggled for it to become the richest and most powerful nation of all. The signal of national pride became a massive problem for the Austro-Hungarian Empire while they attempted to maintain order and peace within seize are of Bosnia. This power was put under threat due to the Slavonic peoples detest of the Austro-Hungarians and wanted themselves to be no longer part, and wanted to be a separate nation know today as Yugoslavia. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife was a major outcome of nationalism.

The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists was an event which was caused by numerous factors which produced widespread shock across Europe. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated on the 28th of June 1914. The assassination occurred during the Archduke’s visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Archduke was targeted due to the general feeling amongst Serbians that when he would have been appointed the throne, Ferdinand would continue the persecution of Serbs living within the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Just moments after the two had been shot; the authorities arrested the killer, Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian student, who was believed to have been linked to the Serbian terrorist organization, “The Black Hand”. After two days into the assassination, Austria-Hungary and Germany advise the Serbs that they should open an investigation to find the trail of the assassination. The Austrian government later on saw this as a chance to end the perceived threat from Serbia. Austria-Hungary issued Serbia with many ultimatums after the assassination, but nothing had changed. Afterwards, on the 28 of July, 1914, assured with German support, Austria had declared war on Serbia which swift shock and threat around Europe. Later on, Russia mobilized its armies in Serbia’s defense, which triggered France to join in with the Russians and the French. Germany took this as an act of war against the Austro-Hungarians and mobilized their armies in large numbers on the Western Front. Germany had invaded France through Belgium which their neutrality had been protected by the British. Later on, this was an excuse for the British to enter the war and sent many troops to France. As the British dedicated that no one power should dominate Europe, particularly the coastline facing the British Isles. Germany’s actions therefore, drew the British away from its colonial ambitions and towards attempting to stabilize Europe. Although the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered the begging of the World War, Europe has already been awaken up by the groups of nationalists and hatred been spread throughout Europe.

On the other hand, many people had different views on how the Great War started. Many believed that the alliance system was the major cause of the World War. The alliance system is a group of nations joined together to support one another whenever backup is needed. Each nation made an agreement to support and help whenever their alliance calls out for help. In 1879, the Dual alliance which was made up of Germany and Austria, made another agreement with Italy, then was named the Triple alliance. France and Britain became allies in 1892, and later on Russia joined in. These three countries joined together and were called the Triple Entente, which was one of the most powerful set of alliance in Europe. Both alliances were very well armed and powerful, and when disagreement occurred within 2 countries, because of the alliance system, a small local war turned into the biggest war that our planet has ever seen. As Belgium was a land-locked country and was surrounded by the two alliances, Britain agreed to protect it when a nation would declare war on them. After the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria declared war on Serbia. With the alliance system, countries declared war on each other as countries swore to protect their alliance system whenever war was about. To sum up, a small war between two countries spread all over Europe as alliances were made up to protect one another.

To summarize, WW1 left a massive mark in the society we live in today. Many people had died from uncontrollable forces which were raging to show off their society. Nationalism triggered the World War as countries tried to show others what they were capable of. When nationalism spread itself around Europe, it angered many as many important figures were assassinated and left a massive mark which angered thousands. Nationalism led to the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand when he selected a Serbian national holiday to parade through Sarajevo, stoking nationalist distaste. When Ferdinand was killed, as a symbol of hatred against Austria and Serbia, since countries were allied within each other, a small local war became the largest and most dangerous war our planet has ever seen. Besides the assassination of the Archduke, there was another major cause which many people believed in. The alliance system gathered societies together swearing that if any help is needed, the other societies that swore to help must do their best to achieve their responsibilities. When two countries clashed into each other, they called in for help and alliances took place shortly after. World War one has left an indulging mark on the 20th century that will never be forgotten , even thousands and million years later on.