World War I DBQ

World War I, " the Great War," involved all of the great powers of Europe and killed more than eight million soldiers.  Discuss the reasons which led to the rising international tensions that sparked World War I.


World War I dramatically changed life in Europe as it was previously known. With more than eight million soldier deaths, the effects were obviously enormous. Causes of "The Great War," as it was called in its time, have been largely disputed over the years because there was so much history and so many events leading up to it. A war this large cannot have just a single cause; many events and beliefs, including the German's sense of superiority and the racism throughout Europe, anxiety and revolution within countries, and the allying of many European countries built up the pressure which lead to World War I.

Many unfavorable traits thrived in the hearts of the European people prior to and during the war. Germany truly believed the Germanic races to be above everyone else. Document 3 exhibits the belief of Germans which states that they are more gifted than all other races. This gave Germany many ideas and the confidence to try to see them through. They wanted to expand their country and eventually take over the world; after all, they did think that they were the most fit to be on top (Doc 4). Other countries, as shown in document 4, resented Germany for wanting to take over the world. However, some were too afraid to go against them, and allied along with Germany to see if they could get a piece of their superiority.

Jews were one group of people that would definitely not get in on Germany's attempted rise to the top. Anti-semitism ran wild throughout all of Europe. Adolf Hitler took this anti-semitism to the max by killing unthinkable amounts of Jews and other "inferior" races. Racism between countries also was a common theme. Germans, however, were never excluded from anything. Document 9 shows Germany's declaration of war against Russia. This was a very gutsy move for Germany, but they were extremely confident and ready to get a jump start in ruling the world. Before it was realized, almost every country was at war with one another, like Austria-Hungary declaring war against Serbia to sort out their differences once and for all (Doc 7).

As a result of the vast amounts of fighting, countries allied. They all knew that nothing could be accomplished if they each fought on their own, so they found similar desires and allied. Germany allied with Austria-Hungary, as shown in Document 1, so that they could protect each other from Russia. These two then later added Italy to their alliance, creating an even stronger force that was sure to conquer. This alliance guaranteed each member a protector when they got into trouble(Doc 2). Alliances like this one, The Triple Alliance, looked like a good idea to everyone, and soon many new enemies were made as countries sided against each other.

All of these influencing factors lead to one of the most devastating wars in history. These causes, as stated above, will always be disputed, but in reality the reasons are quite clear. People get over confident and want to try for more, and after that, things just spiral out of control. World War I was caused by the self absorbed Germany and the disputes they brought about between all of the other countries.