THE STAGE IS SET FOR WAR 29.

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THE STEADY RISE OF NATIONALISM: Nationalism was one of the many purposes that propelled a peaceful Europe into war. Nationalism has its positives and negatives; it brings the people and the country itself together, but with the patriotic pride comes competition between states. Europe had its Great Powers, which were competitive with each other, and the countries were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy and France. Between these countries, nationalistic rivalries arose because of things like industrialization and territory. Britain has always been the top country of all things industry, finance and shipping. But then other countries like Germany began to challenge Britain with their own industries and economics. This led to tensions and competition for industrial dominance. Also territory was a large cause of tension. For example, France was never over their loss of Alsace-Lorraine which Germany took in the Franco-Prussian War. Also Russia and Austria-Hungary were both trying to dominate the Balkans. And in the Balkans, a want for independence became outspoken demands.

IMPERIALISM: Europe has for almost a century been fighting and conquering overseas colonies in Africa and Asia and made them part of their own territory. This was known as imperialism. With the competitive rush to get overseas lands, war almost broke out a few times. For example, France and Germany almost went to war over who would control Morocco, but

with most of Europe on Frances side, Germany backed down. With this competitiveness, distrust and tensions grew stronger. THE GROWTH OF MILITARISM: With all of the competition, the Great Powers of Europe believed in order to be superior, a country must have a strong and outstanding military prepared for a war. This race for arms, and belief that a strong army must be always prepared was called militarism, and by 1914, all of the Great Powers except Britain had large, outstanding armies, with already drawn up plans on how to mobilize them in case of war. However, some were frightened by this, and some people, such as Noble Peace Prize winner Frederic Passy expressed their concerns. BISMARCK FORGES EARLY PACTS: The chancellor of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck made Germany a strong unified country after his glorious victories in the Franco-Prussian War. After that, Bismarcks main goal was to maintain peace in Europe. However, Bismarck thought that one thing held Europe back from peace: France. He thought that France still wanted revenge for losing territory in the war. Therefore, he cut off some of Frances allies. In 1879, he formed the Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary. Then in 1882, Italy joined, forming the Triple Alliance. In 1887, Bismarck took another ally away from France: Russia. However, this web of alliances was weak, because of the tension between Russia and Austria-Hungary and their want for the Balkans. Therefore, the tiniest diplomatic shift and disagreement could break the alliances. SHIFTING ALLIANCES THREATEN PEACE:

In 1890, Kaiser Wilhelm II forced Bismarck to leave, and became in charge of Germany. He was a very stubborn and impulsive man, and did not want to share his powers with anyone. Right away, he let the treaty with Russia lapse, which made Russia form a defensive military alliance with France. Now, war with either country would turn both of them on Germany. He wanted Germany to be better than everybody at everything. He really loved the military. However, when he sow how big and strong Britains naval fleet was, he began to build ships in order to also have a navy as good as Britains. Britain noticed this and began to enlarge its own fleet, and made an entente with France I 1904. In 1907, Britain formed an entente with Russia, creating the Triple Entente. Now, it was the Triple Entente of Great Britain, France and Russia and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. A dispute between these two could lead to a continent wide war. EUROPES POWER KEG: The Ottoman Empire was falling, and the Balkans, which were part of it, were slowly becoming independent. New nations had formed, including Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. Nationalism grew in these countries. Serbia had a large Slavic population, and therefore it wanted to control all the Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula. This caused more tension between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Russia, being basically a Slavic nation supported Serbian nationalism. Austria-Hungary feared rebellion amongst its small Slavic population because of Serbian growth. In 1908, Serbia annexed, or took over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia was outraged. They were ready to go to war, and Russia had their back. But when Germany stood behind Austria-Hungary, Serbia and Russia backed down. In 1914, Serbia won a few conflicts and had new confidence. They

were eager to take Bosnia-Herzegovina away from Austria-Hungary, but AustriaHungary promised that any attempt by Serbia would be crushed. A SHOT RINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE: The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand took the throne, with his wife Sophie. The couple visited Sarajevo, and were shot point blank by a member of the Black Hand, a secret society determined to rid Bosnia of Austrian rule. The murder, since caused by a Bosnian caused anger in Austria-Hungary. Germany told Austria to be harsh, and told them that they have their unconditional support. Now Austria-Hungary had the freedom to do whatever they want with Bosnia. They made a ultimatum; a list of demands that if not met would lead to serious consequences. Demands included the illegalization of all non-Austrian activities, and letting AustroHungarian officials in to investigate the murder. Serbia had no option but to agree. But now, the agreement meant nothing. Austria-Hungary had made up their minds. They were going to war. Austria-Hungary declared war, and the same day Russia sent its troops to the Austro-Hungarian border. Then, Italy, Britain and even the Kaiser tried to convince Austria and Russia to negotiate, but it was no use. The wart was on.