1. Week 1 – The Causes of World
War 1
Term 1 – WWI and the Treaty of
Versailles
2. What caused WWI?
• There are 7 main causes of World War I, but
some causes are more complex than others
• Today we will look at 3 causes – the rise of
Germany, the Alliance System, and the
assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
• A different way to look at the causes of WWI is
to ask, “Why did the first World War begin in
1914?”
3. I. Rise of Germany
• The “rise” of Germany was the growth and
development of Germany’s economy
• This was a problem for two reasons – (1) Great
Britain and France had ALWAYS controlled
most of the money and power in Europe, and
now they would have to share with Germany
• (2) but maybe Germany would not want to
share with Great Britain and France, and
instead take everything for itself.
4. Kaiser Wilhelm II • Became the king (Kaiser) of
(born 1859) Germany when his
Grandfather, Wilhelm I died in
1888
• He was 12 years old when
Germany became a country in
Let’s 1871, by defeating France in
fight! the Franco-Prussian War
• The hero of the Franco-
Prussian War was Otto von
Bismarck, the Chancellor of
Otto von
Germany
Bismarck • In 1888, the Kaiser asked
Bismarck to help him fight
No another war, and Bismarck said
5. Why did Bismarck not want to fight?
• In 1871, Germany defeated France, then
humiliated France by signing the peace treaty
in the Palace of Versailles
• France was angry about this loss for
decades, and wanted to get revenge against
Germany
• Otto von Bismarck knew this, and decided that
the best way to keep France from attacking
was for Germany to make lots of allies
6. Why did Bismarck not want to fight?
So no matter what happens, Germany will be safe
• …as long as Germany doesn’t attack anyone
So Bismarck made an alliance with Austria (the
War!
Dual Alliance, 1879) to defend each other against
Russia if necessary
• Then he made an alliance with Italy and Austria
(no war)
(the Triple Alliance, 1882) to protect each other
against France, if necessary War!
• THENWar! War! agreement with Russia in
he signed an
1887 (the Reinsurance Treaty) that if war
started, Russia and Germany would not attack
each other
7. Maybe he was racist
Because he was and thought
greedy and Germans were better
wanted a grand than everyone else
empire
So why would Kaiser Wilhelm
want to start a war?
Or maybe he
was just CRAZY
Because he was 12 (he was an only
years old when Maybe he was child, so he
Germany beat not loved by his would have
France, and he wanted parents, and become king
to be a hero, too wanted to anyway)
prove himself
8. Kaiser Wilhelm II So Wilhelm decided to start
(born 1859) fighting anyway
1. He fired Bismarck
2. He stopped the agreement
with Russia
Let’s 3. He made many offensive
fight! comments about the French
4. And, he started to build the
biggest navy fleet in Europe
(over 100 warships)
Otto von
Bismarck
No
9. I. Rise of Germany
• So as Germany’s economy increased, Wilhelm
planned to dominate Europe
• Wilhelm reversed the policy of peace created
by Otto von Bismarck, and prepared for a war
with France and Britain
10. II. The Alliance System
• Two alliances formed from 1898 to 1904 –
Britain, France and Russia vs. Germany,
Austria-Hungary and Italy
• It is quite surprising that Britain, France and
Russia – traditional enemies in Europe –
would be allies
13. Why did Britain and France work
together?
• Gradually Britain and France decided that they
were more afraid of Germany than each other
British and
French Empire
14. Why did Russia and France become
allies?
• Kaiser Wilhelm made plans to take over parts of
the Middle East that Russia had always wanted
(the Ottoman Empire)
• Wilhelm encouraged the King of Austria-Hungary
to push Russia out of the land between Austria,
Russia and the Ottoman Empire (known as the
Balkans)
• France and Russia made an agreement that if
Germany attacked one of them, they would both
Balkans
attack Germany (Two-front war).
15. Alliances by 1904
• France and Russia had a formal alliance.
• Britain did not agree to a formal alliance, but
agreed to a general “understanding” (Entente)
• Germany only had 2 friendly countries left –
Austria-Hungary and Italy – so they became
the “Central Powers”
17. III. The Assassination of Archduke
Ferdinand
• A Serbian nationalist killed the son of the king
of Austria (Archduke Ferdinand)
• Serbian nationalists wanted to be
independent of the Austrian-Hungarian
Empire
• Russia often encouraged any group of people
to rebel against Austria, to make Austria
weaker
18. Why were Russia and Austria
competing?
• The Ottoman Empire was weak, and soon it
would collapse
• The area between Austria, Russia, and the
Ottoman Empire was called the Balkans
• Some empire – either Russia or Austria – was
going to gain lots of territory, people and money
in the moment that the Ottoman Empire
collapsed.
• So both countries tried to get an advantage in the
Balkans
region
19. III. The Assassination of Archduke
Ferdinand
• Russia signed a secret agreement to support
Serbia if it fought against Austria-Hungary
• Kaiser Wilhelm agreed to support the King of
Austria-Hungary if he attacked Serbia for the
death of his son
• Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, Russia
attacked Austria, Germany attacked Russia, so
France declared war on Germany, and Britain
and Italy got involved to fight with their allies.
20. Why did the Serbians want
independence?
• What is nationalism?
• What is imperialism?
21. In review, now it should be easy to see
1. Why a Serbian nationalist would kill the
Austrian king’s son
2. Why Russia defended Serbia when it was
attacked by Austria
3. Why France, Britain and Russia were allied
against Germany and its allies
4. Why the rise of Germany was a problem for
everyone in Europe
