Aggressive Nationalism

“How militarism, nationalism and imperialism contribituted to the outbreak of World War One.”

World War I was the result of an increase in military power, national pride and imperialism. Aggressive nationalism was partly responsible for World War I. The love of one’s country demanded the hatred of another country. European leaders ' aggression towards other countries was supported by the increasing nationalism of the European nations.Imperial and Economic competition and fear of war encouraged military alliances and an arms and navy race, all of which contributed to the outbreak of war. Another factor that contributed to the outbreak of World War I was the ever-rising militarism in Europe. The key event which led to the outbreak of the First

The love of one’s country demanded the hatred of another country. Therefore the love of France demanded the hatred of Germany, while the love of Germany demanded the hatred of England and vice versa. This aggressive nationalism created a favorable atmosphere for war. There were national rivalries between Germany and Britain, between Japan and America and also between Germany and Russia. This led to World War I. The German Kaiser William II declared that Germany was determined to become a world power and this would arouse rivalry with Britain, to become a “place in the sun.” The unification of Slavic states into Yugoslavia and the formation of the Black Hand organization were both expressions of nationalism. There was also a crisis in the Balkans, leading to the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, because of the rivalry between Germany and Russia. This aggressive nationalism created a great atmosphere for war. Three empires had an interest in the area of the Balkans. These three countries were Turkey, Austria-Hungary and Russia. Austria wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia was being badly affected. Hence Russia hated Austria and that was a cause of the

Although Britain and France had the largest empires, Germany would not stop trying to become bigger and stronger. European powers were so imperialistic at this time because of the fight for raw materials, foreign markets and trading, respect, power and new territory. Germany wanted to build up its wealth, power and international image. European nations began to acquire colonies in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Their imperialistic activities accelerated from 1880 onwards. Between 1895 and 1905 imperialistic expansion reached its climax. Colonial rivalry led to strained relations among the European powers. In Africa, all the European powers except Austria and Russia had colonies there. Thus there were many clashes among France, Britain, Germany and Italy. For example, France rivaled with Italy over Tunis and with Germany over Morocco. In the first and the second Moroccan crises, war nearly resulted and, France and Britain nearly came to war over their rivalry in the Sudan in