The main Long term causes of World War ONE (1914-1918) There was no single cause for the outbreak of the First World War. The causes are much more complex than those of the Second World War and include short, intermediate and long term factors that all culminated to cause the July Days in 1914. These factors include militarism, nationalism, imperialism, the alliance system, and industrialization as the long term causes. The intermediate causes included the crises in the Balkans and the short-term trigger for the war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the Sarajevo, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. Militarism in the 19th and early 20th centuries …show more content…

Imperialism is the political doctrine most prevalent in the 19th century that was characterized by the desire of nations to own colonies therefore forming an empire. Every great power during this time had this common desire and this was a major causes of World War 1 not because what was happening in Europe itself, but what was happening in the other colonies of the great powers. As countries like Germany became united and more established, they decided that to gain more international power and influence, imperialism was the key so in the late 19th century in particular, there was what was called the scramble for Africa. This occurred because Africa was the only continent on the earth that hadn’t been heavily colonized so every major power in Europe decided to try and grab any land that was left for their nation. One aspect of colonialism of that directly linked with the reason why the war became a World War was because the colonies of the great powers were committed to helping the motherland in times of war therefore creating warfare outside of Europe as well Although the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand wasn’t the greatest cause of the First World War it would be incorrect to rule this event