MAIN Causes of World War I
Overview
This is a short lesson on what are the four MAIN causes of World War I. MAIN stands for militarism, alliance, imperialism, and nationalism.
War is Declared!!!
World War I, also known as “The Great War” or “The War to End all Wars”, officially started in 1914. It is called a World War because most of the major countries in the world were involved in the war. We will discuss how that happens later on! World War I, may be considered the first “world war”, however, it will not be the last.
There were many factors that preceded the war that actually led to the start of the war. We often place these factors into four groups, known as the four MAIN causes of World War I. If you notice, the word MAIN is capitalized, indicating that it is an anagram. The four MAIN causes of World War I are:
M - Militarism
A - Alliances
I - Imperialism
N - NationalismWe will discuss each cause individually.
CC PDM 1.0 | US Department of State
Militarism is the belief or desire of a government that a country should maintain a strong military and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interest.
Before the start of the war, militarism was an ongoing process as European countries were building up their militaries. This buildup also allowed them to conquer foreign lands - something that we will address later, and protect their political and economic interests.
CC PD | National Archives at College Park
Alliances, unions or relationships based on mutual interests, helped to start the war. The two main military alliances formed at this time were the Triple Entente (formed by Britain, France, and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). During the war, Italy would change sides. Members of each alliance made promises to defend each other should any of them get attacked. As we will later see, this had a direct impact on the start of the war. Watch this video from Khan Academy for more on how the alliances formed prior to the war.
Imperialism, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, happens when one country takes over another country or territory through direct or indirect control. The map of Africa above is just one case of how imperialism was used throughout the world. As a result, in many cases, empires were created.
Many of the dominant countries wanted to establish colonies to gain wealth and get access to natural resources that they would not naturally have (remember the industrial revolution). As a result, imperialism served as another form of competition amongst “developed” countries, many of which were in Europe.
CC BY SA | davidjl123 / Somebody500
Nationalism is the belief that one’s greatest loyalty is to a shared culture, including aspects of common history, language, religion, and nationality rather than to a leader or border. Think of it as an extreme form of patriotism.
Because of imperialism, many European countries had empires. The people in these empires desired to become their own nations - and to be free of European control. In addition, there were ethnic and ideological differences within the empires themselves that spurred feelings of nationalism.
The Powder keg of the War……
The action that started World War I is considered as the powder keg, or trigger, of the war. That event is the assassination, or killing of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand. Watch this video from Khan Academy to learn more about the assassination.
To learn more about how the MAIN causes of the war came together and how the war actually started, watch this video from Khan Academy. You will notice that there are a lot of assumptions, blame, and countries
looking for a reason to fight each other.