Causes of World War I
...strong sources of primary resources, and were an additional market for goods. The outcome of this was disputes over colonies and bad blood between nations. So, these disputes arose from not only an imperialistic standpoint, but also a nationalistic, and militaristic standpoint, as they need to have their military to gain some colonies (hard power). The mentioned reasons illustrate how imperialism and industrialization led to feuds between the European countries that participated in WWI. The growing need for colonies and their resources resulted in disputes, which developed tension and rivalries between countries. So, the rise of industrialization and the need for colonies were strong factors in the development of World War I. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand did indeed start World War I, but it was not the most important of the issues that had been brewing long before Princip and the Black Hand’s work. The event was the culmination of other forces. For instance, The Black Hand was formed to unite the Slavs, which could be considered nationalism. However, nationalism was just one of the four roots of WWI, which combined for a magnitude much larger than any assassination. The assassination also acted as an inadvertent declaration of war between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, as Serbia took the blame for the Black Hand’s work. The Black Hand believed that they would be making a statement towards their goal by killing Ferdinand, but all they achieved was a rapid declaration of war upon Serbia. This resulted in Serbia’s allies joining, and both sides calling in their alliances, making the situation much larger than it once looked. In conclusion, the act of assassinating the Archduke of Austria-Hungary was merely a climactic point in a situation where tension was already escalating. The death of Franz Ferdinand was a fairly large event in World War I’s development, but the background forces at play were what made it so important. These forces were militarism, imperialism, alliances, and nationalism. These were a...