national feeling is one of the basic traits of the period . . . ” and that “.
. . The effective impulse (for the war) came from national feelings and from
passionate emotions.”
As tensions grew between countries, feelings of insecurity began to
develop. Many countries decided to increase their armies, and their navies,
also known as militarism. As one country would begin to enhance their
military, other countries felt compelled to do the same to avoid possible
unsuspected attacks. On a chart representing the per capita expenditures on
armaments, many countries, within just ten years prior to the war increased
their military’s defense and offence by two to even three hundred percent.
The actions of the European nations greatly intensified the chances for fore
coming of a full scale war. In the Origins of the World War by Sidney
Bradshaw Fay, it says “This hostility (within Europe) was accentuated by the
increase of armaments, economic rivalry, and nationalist ambitions . . . ”
When one or more countries felt that they needed support, or protection,
they would find another country searching for something comparable, and make
an agreement to stand by each other during war. These agreements were known
as alliances. During the war, two major allied groups came about. They were
the triple entente which consisted of Great Britain, France, and Russia, and
the triple alliance which consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary.
Throughout the war, alliances maintained a great role, however, initially
alliances were not a contributing factor. If there had not been imperialism,
nationalism, and militarism occurring simultaneously, there would have been
no need for allies, because they were the factors that created the hostile
environment in which the war formed. What could have remained a regional
incident, turned into a world war due to alliances. Alliances were for other
nations to be able to rely on others during relentless attacks from other
countries. These alliances were only useful during war, and had imperialism,
nationalism, and militarism not been present, world war one would not have
occurred.
World war one was a grand war which contained a very in-depth, detailed
background, ranging from the assassination of the Arch Duke of Austria, to
the imperialism, nationalism, militarism, and alliances of the European
nations. Imperialism, nationalism, militarism and alliances, all played
major roles in the preparations for war, and without even one of these
factors, world war one would not have occurred.