Was WWI the result of tensions caused by German Nationalism?

There were many factors that led to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, despite common belief that Germany was entirely to blame as was stated in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Nationalism was one of the causes, but not just German nationalism as all the countries involved were as nationalistic and created just as many tensions with it as Germany. Other factors that caused tension between nations were Militarism, Imperialism and alliances between countries.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian student is widely known as the ‘spark’ of World War I it caused a chain of events, leading to world war and it brought countries such as Germany and Britain in to the conflict. This also resulted in Germany giving Austria-Hungary a ‘blank cheque’ after Austria-Hungary asked Germany for assistance in getting revenge on Serbia. This ‘blank cheque’ meant that Germany would give any help that Austria-Hungary required. The chain of events that followed was the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia and Russian mobilisation to defend Serbia. Germany’s reaction to this was to declare war on Russia, which worried France so they also began to mobil

It is widely believed amongst historians that the majority of blame for World War I was Germany’s as their aggressive foreign policy was seemingly designed to promote a war, though perhaps not on the scale of a world war. However, whether this aggressive foreign policy was created as a way to divert attention from their domestic troubles cannot be determined.

Militarism of the time is further evidence that the countries involved were prepared for and maybe even expecting a war. At this time, the majority of countries had a plan in place ready if a war should happen, the most well-known of these being Germany’s Schlieffen Plan, which was to attack France quickly from the North by going through Belgium before Russia had time to mobilise, so that they did not have to fight a war on two fronts. (France on the west and Russia on the East). The major powers had been competing with each other in terms of their military power for the half century leading up to World War I, particularly the race between Britain and Germany for naval strength. This was partly due to nationalism as both countries wanted to have a strong and superior navy. It might seem odd of these countries to continuously build up such a large military force when there was no immediate threat of war. This was due in part to the Social Darwinist ideas of thinkers such as Treitschke who believed that war was a good and necessary thing as it unites people to work in the interest of their country, rather than their own, which shows nationalism. Therefore, it can be seen that militarism was a result of nationalism, but is not as important as a cause of World War I as nationalism itself.

At the time leading up to World War I, the mood in Europe had been pushed to the point that war was not hard to start. Each country wished to look after their own interests due to widespread nationalism and from that imperialism and militarism. However, it can be been seen that most countries’ foreign policies were influenced, at least partly by Germany’s Weltpolitik, such as Britain’s naval development, in order to compete with Germany for power or simply to defend themselves against a possible German attack. It is clear to see that Germany adopted an aggressive position, and quite readily offered Austria-Hungary support in a matter that did not concern them in any way, perhaps as a way to finally used their Schlieffen Plan-which was first designed in 1905, or to further their own needs in to becoming a world power by fighting a small-sc

Some topics in this essay:
World War, Britain France, Plan Britain, Social Darwinism, Ulrich Wehler, Western Europe, Triple Entente, War German, Weltpolitik Britain’s, Austria-Hungary Germany, world war, german nationalism, leading world war, triple entente, chain events, war germany, countries involved, countries germany, ‘blank cheque’, foreign policy, leading world, germany declared war, causing world war, britain france strong, aggressive foreign policy,