The Real Causes Of Nationalism And Imperialism History Essay

Generally, war is the result of a national entity wishing to improve the standard of living for its people. A major second cause is when a nation perceives a possible reduction in a current standard of living and fights to protect what it at ready has.

War is a behavior pattern exhibited by many primate species including human most basically and other species in the other hand like ant species. The primary feature of this behavior is a certain state of organized violent conflict that is engaged in between two or more separate social entities such conflict is always an attempt at altering either the psychological hierarchy or the material hierarchy of domination or equality between two or more groups. In all causes; at least one participant (group) in the conflict perceives the need to dominate the other participant. The perceived need for domination often arises from a belief that an essential ideology or resource is somehow either so incompatible or so scarce as to threaten the fundamental experience of the one group experiencing the need to dominate the other group. Leaders will sometimes enter into a war under the protest that their actions are primarily defensive, however when objectively their actions may more closely resemble a form of unprovoked, unwarranted or disproportionate aggression.

World War I was the result of leader’s aggression towards other countries which was supported by the rising nationalism of the European Nations. Economic and imperial competism and fear of war prompted military alliances and an arms race which will further escalate the tension contributing to the outbreak of war

What really causes war are:-

Nationalism

Imperialism

Bismarck and Alliance

Collapse of Bismarck an Alliance

Arms Race

Crisis in Africa

Nationalism

At the settlement of the Vienna congress in 1815, the principle of nationalism was ignored in failure of keeping the peace. Germany and Italy were left as divided states, but strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany too in 1871. Another result of the Franco Prussian war of 1870-71 was that France was left of tumid the nation seethed with suppressed revolutionary activity over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany and Revanche was a major goal for the French Nationalism posed a problem for Austria-Hungary and the Balkans area in Germany comprised of many conflicting national groups. The ardent pauslavism of Serbia and Russia willingness to support and contribute to its Slavic brother conflicted with Austria-Hungary’s pan-Germanism.

Imperialism

The factor which contributed to the increase in rivalry in Europe was imperialism, because of the competition between these countries; Great Britain, Germany and France because they needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the industrial revolution. These countries were competing for economic expansion in Africa, although Britain and France resolved their differences in Africa, several crises fore-shadowing the war involved the clash of Germany against Britain and France in North Africa.

In the Middle East, the crumbling Ottoman Empire was alluring to Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia.

BISMARCK AND ALLIANCES

World War I was caused in part by the two opposing alliances developed by Bismarckian diplomacy that was after the Franco-Prussian war, and in order to diplomatically isolate France, Bismarck formed the three Emperor’s league in 1871 an alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia. When the French occupied Tunisia, Bismarck took advantage of the Italian indignation and resentment toward France and created the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary in 1882. In exchange for Italy’s agreement to stay neutral, no distinctive quality or characteristic or type if war broke out between Austria-Hungary and Russian. Austria-Hungary and Germany would protect Italy from France. Russia and Austria-Hungary grew suspicious of themselves over conflict in the Balkans in 1887, but Bismarck repaired the damage to these suspicious to his alliances with a reinsurance Treaty with Russia, allowing both the two powers to stay neutral if the other was at War.

COLLAPSE OF BISMARCKIAN ALLIANCES

Bismarck was fired by Kaiser William II in 1890, the tradition dislike and don’t like the idea of slaves kept Bismarck’s successors from renewing the agreement with Russia. France took opportunity to get an ally-to place in a friendly association, as by treaty or to unite or connect and the Franco-Russian entente was formed in 1891. The Kruger Telegram William II sent to congratulate the leader of the Boers for defeating the British in 1890 and he gave the German soldiers instructions to behave like Huns in China during the Boxer Rebellion and particularly the large-scale navy he was

Building all contributed to British distrust of Germany. As a result of that, Britain and France overlooked all major impenalistic conflict between them and formed an Entente coordinate in 1904. Russia formed an Entente with Britain in 1907 after they reached an agreement with Britain’s ally Japan and William II had further alienated Russia by supporting Austrian ambitions in the Balkans. The Triple Entente, an informal coalition between Great Britain, France and Russia now countered the Triple Alliance. International tension was greatly increased by the division of Europe into two armed camps.

ARMS RACE

The menace (something that threatens to cause evil, harm, injury or a threat) of the hostile division led to an arms race, another cause of World War I. Acknowledging that Germany was the leader in military organization and efficiency the great powers of Europe copied the universal conscription, large reserve and detailed planning of the Prussian system. Organizational and Technological developments led to the formation of general staffs with precise plans for mobilization and attack that often could not be reversed once they were begun. The German Von Schlieffen plan to attack France before Russia in the event of the war with Russia was once such complicated plan that attracted and drew more countries into war than necessary. Armies and Navies were greatly expanded. The standing armies of France and Germany doubled the size between 1870 and 1914. Naval expansion was also extremely competitive, particularly between Germany and Great Britain. By 1889, the British had established the principle that in order to maintain naval superiority in the event of war, they would have to have a navy two and a half times as large as the second-largest navy. This motivated the British to launch the Dreadnought, invented by Admiral Sir John Fisher in 1906.

The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 had demonstrated how effective these battleships were. As Britain increased their output of battleships, Germany correspondingly stepped up their naval production including the Dreadnought. Although efforts for worldwide disarmament (the act of laying down arms especially the reduction or abolition of a nation’s military forces and armaments) were made at the Hague conferences of 1899 and 1907 international rivalry caused the arms race to continue to feed on itself.

CRISIS IN AFRICA

The friction (the rubbing of one object or surface against another conflict, as between persons having dissimilar ideas or interest) of an armed and divided Europe escalated into several crises in Morocco and the Balkans which nearly ended in war. In 1905, Germany announced its support of independence for Morocco, the African colony which Britain had given France in 1904. The British defended the French and war was avoided by the international conference in Algeciras in 1906 which allowed France to make Morocco a French protectorate.

BOSNIAN CRISIS OF 1908

There was conflict incited by the Austria-Hugarian annexation of the former Turkish province of Bosnia in 1908. The Greater Serbia threatened war on Austria-Hungary. Russia had pledged their support to Serbia, so they began to mobilize, which caused Germany, allied with Austria-Hungary, to threaten war on Russia. The beginning of World War I was postponed when Russia backed down but relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia were greatly strained.