Nationalism and World War

The seeds of World War I were planted 44 years prior to its start.  In 1870, a union of German kingdoms fought a brief war against the mighty French Empire, led by Napoleon III.

The Franco-Prussian war, had some long lasting effects: 

First, France was humiliated by losing to Germany.  The Germans took over land that belonged to France, and France wanted it back.

Second, hundreds of smaller German kingdoms united into a large German Empire.  Germans were ethnically related, but they had co-existed in hundreds of small political states for centuries.  Now, they were a unified people.

Third, the success of Germany (led by Prussians) caused other European nations to adopt their model of military recruiting and training.

World War 1 is said to have resulted from FOUR causes, which we will identify by using the acronym MAIN:

M:  Militarism

We previously stated that other European nations copied the Prussian model of a military.  All over Europe, millions of men were trained to be called up for military service if the need arose.  Each government invested in new military technology, in hopes of gaining an advantage over their potential enemies.

A:  Alliances

To ally with someone is to become their friend (or at least non-enemy).  An alliance is what we call a group of two or more allies.  In Europe, the largest nations formed two great competing alliances, and they promised to support each other if war came about.  This made the nations confident, because someone else "had their back".  The two alliances were called The Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.  

I:  Imperialism

Imperialism is the desire and willingness to expand the control of a kingdom into other parts of the world, taking them over as colonies and exploiting their resources.  The largest countries in Europe were Empires, ruled by a monarch (except for the French Republic).  These nations controlled vast portions of Asia and Africa, and were competing to gain more control against each other.

N:  Nationalism

Nationalism is the identification of yourself with a particular nation.  A nationalist is very patriotic about their own country, and sometimes takes a negative view of others.  French, English, Russian and German all wanted their country to maintain its pride on the national stage, whatever the cost.

These four factors created a very hostile and dangerous environment in Europe.  All it took was a small spark to set off the bomb of war.  But no one could imagine just how horrible this war would be.  When World War 1 was over, people decided it was so bad, that it had to be the "war to end all wars."  Until 20 years later, when it was overshadowed by World War II.

Take the quiz on the Next page, then go on to watch Part 1 of History Oversimplified.  

WARNING:  The narrator of History Oversimplified uses some mild profanity, and non school-appropriate terms.  I apologize for this in advance.  But these are by far the most engaging lessons, and extremely accurate, that I can find.