Many believe that the sole cause of the First World War was nationalism. A common thought about the cause of the war is that “The growth and outpouring of nationalism in Europe in the 1800’s and early 1900’s is the overall cause of the First World War. It impacted most, if not all, of the other causes of the war.” However, when returning to the beginning of the series of events that led to the war, it’s quite obvious that nationalism played a role in the commencement of the war, however the very first incident was not caused by nationalism, but rather assassination. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were brutally assassinated by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Although people believe that the assassination …show more content…
Both Austria-Hungary and Serbia had alliances that not only supported their desire to go to war, but agreed to aid in their battle against their enemies. Austria-Hungary was allied with Italy and Germany in the Triple Alliance, which lasted from 1882 to 1914. Serbia was allied with Britain, the United States, France, Italy and Russia. Italy was originally allied with Austria-Hungary, but later allied with Serbia. Because of these strong and powerful alliances, the war that was once between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was now among the most powerful countries in the world. Some may see the assassination as a result of nationalism, which would make nationalism the sole reason or start of the war. However, when analyzed further, one can see that regardless of what caused the assassination, without it, the war would have not happened. Therefore, even though nationalism played a significant part in the assassination, the assassination itself was the commencement of the war, not nationalism.
Overall, the event that lead to the First World War was the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. Gavrilo Princip killed them both on June 28th, 1914. This assassination was the main cause of World War I. Although both the alliances and nationalism played a significant role in the commencement of the war, it all comes down the assassination and how if it never would have happened, the war wouldn’t have happened