Nationalism: A Negative Force Of Unification

In 1914 a war that brought the world together, sparked by the assassination of Austria-Hungary’s heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by an assassin from Serbia. Austria-Hungary coming to a point where they blamed Serbia for being behind the assassination requests that Germans back them up when they declare war on Serbia. But there was more to the cause of the World War 1 than what meets the eye.

The nationalism was a huge chunk of the reasoning. Although, the alliances split Europe into two sides, there was the Triple Alliance (Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy) and also the Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia). But the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie was the last straw. A man had assassinated the heir to the Austria-Hungary Empire, to them this was a declaration of war to them. The cause of WW1 wasn’t just one event, but multiple things that added up: classes, nationalism, and alliances between countries.

World War one, known as being the Great War/Battle, not only shaped civilization but it also resulted in millions of deaths. Nationalism, defined as a excessive patriotism, was the factor to ignite its start. This extreme patriotism, bordering on hysteria, appealed to the egos of citizens prompting them to consider themselves superior and more powerful, than the other nations. The French ambassador to Russia Maurice Paleologue described nationalism as “world madness” (“W.Bruce Lincoln in Passage through Armageddon: The Russians in War and Revolution 1914-1918”). Nationalism was the core cause of World War One (WW1) because it brought in Imperialism, militarism and alliances/paranoia, which resulted in tension, violence and aggression.

To a moderate extent, the First World War can be blamed for the fall of the Romanov Dynasty. Tsar Nicholas’s poor judgement in prioritising the war over his people led to both economic issues in Russia, and numerous defeats on the front. His decision to command the army further made Russian people lose faith in the Romanovs, as he was now responsible for all of Russia’s losses. Furthermore, Tsarina Alexandra, who was left to rule the country, fell under the destructive influence of Rasputin, increasing her unpopularity. However, the Tsar’s desire for his autocratic power to be maintained, and his incompetent leadership also played a major role in the fall of the Romanovs.

The tense battle between the triple entente and the triple alliance may have been blamed on Germany alone but really there are quite a few more details that came into play when starting this terrible fight. One little argument between two countries turned into a full out world war that ended with 38 million casualties The underlying causes of WWI include the forming of alliances across Europe, the quick ride in military and supplies, each country 's intense love for their nation, and the fast imperialization that was spreading across Europe. The forming of alliances built up tensions between all of Europe which helped cause WWI. In Document A, the triple entente is shown to be surrounding the triple alliance which made everyone believe that a war would spark from the high tensions.

After being aware of this, Theodore Roosevelt’s plan was to make America the stronger country and gain power by taking other nations. Theodore Roosevelt is a patriotic American icon to many people today because of his acts of bravery and toughness. (Burton, 357) In the olden days (maybe until today), a huge country with dominance over other countries is the ideal country for Americans. “Theodore Roosevelt was a nationalistic patriot and imperialist in his very bones” (Burton, 357).

Nationalism, can benefit a nation and unite its citizens, but it can also lead to biases that cause a false sense of superiority and disdain towards other nations. In the early 1900s nationalism gave both normal citizens and European leaders an overabundance of confidence in the strength of their nation, their governments and their military strength. In Germany, the nationalist believed that war was a “biological necessity” and that it was the right and the obligation of Germans to expand their empire as the “head of all progress in culture” (Tuchman, 14). In concert with fear, nationalistic honor contributed to a mass delusion that made a European war seem both necessary and winnable by all parties.

War broke out in 1914 due to forces that had been building up in Europe for years. While the Allies blamed Germany for the war too harshly, its actions certainly did directly contribute to World War I, as did those of Austria Hungary. However, each country involved fostered militarism in their country, and became in entrenched in the web of alliances and race for imperial power, all causes of the environment that led to the Great War. Therefore, it could be said that all European countries were responsible, in part, for World War I, as reflected in Documents 5, 6, and 7.

WW1 was a terrible war between the central powers; Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire against the allied powers; Great Britain, France, Russia and later joined by the U.S. and Italy. The main reason why all the countries got irate at each other was because of the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand the heir to Austria’s throne. But overall the main causes of WW1 were either Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism or Nationalism. I strongly believe that the cause that had the biggest impact on WW1 was Imperialism.

Many individuals were emotionally scarred by atrocious scenes of the war front that led them to dehumanize themselves and were unable to regain their identity. Countries like Germany in particular ended up in a vulnerable state in the economy, which gave a gateway for Hitler to rise in power. Overall, people believed that violence from “the war to end all wars” would be the answer to solve tensions, but only causes a series of more unfortunate events to occur later on in

Major empires like Britain and Germany dominated Northern Europe and gave their people a form of nationalism that filled the people with righteousness and superiority. However, there was another form of Nationalism forming in Southern Europe, mainly the Balkans, that didn 't involve military power or supremacy. This form of Nationalism that included a fight for independence and autonomy and self government. “Pan-Slavism, the belief that the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe should have their own nation, was strongly opposed to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its control and influence over the region.” (Alpha History)

Why WW1 was inevitable. With the crazy number of deaths you’d wonder why the war was alled “The Great War” and were gonna find out why it is called that. There are many reasons that WW1 was inevitable but some main ones are the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the power vacuum in the balkans and nationalism. There are more reasons why WW1 would have started or things that would of sparked the flame too start

Nationalism is defined as a patriotic feeling, principles, or efforts. In the 1800s Nationalism had causes and great effects on europe and Latin America. One cause being the want to have a greater nation. An effect could be a song or a mural done in honor of the nationalism in these great countries. Nationalism caused populations throughout Europe to unite in order to overthrow existing power structures and develop new ones based on liberty and national identity, the causes, for a greater nation as a whole.