Nationalism As a Main Contributor to The Outbreak of World War 1

July 28, 1914, the Great War began. Whether one thinks that the rivalry or the break of trust between two nations were the real cause of the First World War. Historians all over the world believe that there are four main reasons as to why the Great War came to be; militarism, imperialism, nationalism and alliance. Of the four that were mentioned, nationalism is thought to be the main factor that contributed the most to the outbreak of the war.

By definition nationalism is one’s loyalty and devotion to a nation. It was quite prevalent throughout the twentieth century and many citizens throughout Europe took pride in their country; extremely confident in their governments and military. However, this brought fierce competition between the nations. The most well-known of them being Germany, AustriaHungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy and France. They all strived to become the best, meaning that they should both be doing well economically and militarily. With the industrial revolution, the Germans rose to the top with its advancement in technology and being a young nation at the time, it strived for more power. Germany saw Great Britain’s powerful navy and aimed to become better. Germany built bigger and stronger ships, only to leave them at port as if it were mocking Britain. Thus causing pre-war rivalry between the two nations as they both competed against each other leading into the war. This rivalry between the two grew as the war continued.

As a result of this fierce race for power, the nations needed more territory. Which was one of the many disputes that did cause the Great War. At this time, Austria- Hungary was trying to take control over Southeast Europe, consisting of the Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. Those three nations had a different type of nationalism and demanded for independence, especially Serbia. Serbia wanted to extend its borders in the Balkans but Austria-Hungary did not want that. In fear of a rebellion, they put utmost effort in stopping Serbia from gaining more territory. Later on, Austria-Hungary was able to take over Bosnia and Herzegonina which greatly angered Serbia because they were planning on annexing that area. This caused an extreme hatred between the two nations but also a burst of nationalism. Serbia thought of taking Bosnia and Herzegonina but Austria-Hungary did not let them in anyway. This conflict eventually led to the shooting of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand causing the sequence of events leading into the First World War.

As many countries competed against each other, showing what they were capable of. Nationalism made its way throughout the nations of Europe. In turn it caused the events which made the war. Nationalism caused the assassination of important figures and angered many within each country. It lead to many rivalries before the war. Although there were many other factors that helped cause it, nationalism was one that contributed the most in causing the outbreak of the First World War.

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