Eliner said 3/23...

Today, we were introduced to the beginning of 1914 and the causes of World War I. We started off class with a packet called, “Causes of the Great War” and each group got different factors that caused the war. A great way to remember the causes is MAIN. MAIN stands for militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. The one I received was arms buildup which discussed the powerful navies and new, superior battleships that were constructed. Each country became a threat to each other and started to have a naval race of who retained naval superiority which was mostly between Germany and Britain. This naval race contributed to international tensions and hostilities between nations.
We also looked at a map of Europe in 1914 which included Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Ottoman Empire, and Serbia.
We also briefly went through each cause of the war (MAIN):
- These big countries start to advance militaristically by stock-piling weapons and building up strong militaries. For an example, Germany is slowly becoming as strong as Great Britain, which makes them a threat to Britain.
- Alliances start to be made in Europe during this time period as well even if the “balance of power” policy doesn’t allow it. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy make up the Triple Alliance, while Great Britain, France, and Russia make up the Triple Entente. Due to these alliances, if only 2 countries get into a dispute, everyone would get involved.
- Imperialism, which leads to competition for economic gain, resources, land, colonies, power, etc.
- Nationalism starts to build up in the Balkan States. The Balkan States are located on the Balkan Peninsula and are made up of Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The people there are all different ethnicities, but they’re all Slavic nations. These states are controlled by Austria, but they’re still independent nations. Since Russia also has a lot of Slavic-speaking people too, they believe that they should be the one controlling the Balkan States. This causes a huge dispute and chaos, especially since the Balkan States just want to rule themselves instead of being controlled. The States are called, “Powder keg of Europe” since they are angry and might explode one day if one more thing goes wrong.
Then we ended class with quick information that Serbia is the state that starts all the trouble and we find out that World War I actually started on the Balkan Peninsula.
Homework: Textbook assignment #2 due Friday
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