Role of Nationalism in Outbreak of WWI

Additional circumstances, however, contributed to the outbreak of the First World War; in particular, nationalism and imperialism. Nationalism undermined some Great Powers, notably Austro-Hungary. In others it contributed to an atmosphere of war fever that made it difficult for policymakers to step back from the brink. At the same time, imperialism created a new field of competition among the Great Powers. In particular, Germans came to feel that overseas colonies and a powerful navy were necessary elements of Great Power status. Nationalist sentiment then led to sentiment that Germany was being denied its place in the sun.

The following discussion will explore the role of nationalism in creating a crisis of survival for Austro-Hungary, and the combined effect of imperialism and nationalism in leading Germany into antagonism toward Britain -- each of which played a crucial role in the sequence of events in 1914 that led Europe into t

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(Fromkin 15). Subsequently Turkey would re-emerge as a national state. Imperial Russia in 1914 was not yet fractured by nationalist sentiment, partly because much of the population was still unexposed to nationalist ideas, and partly because a substantial part of the empire's population was made up of ethnic Russians. Pan-Slavism, however, also gained a strong hold among Russians, and in particular led Russia to claim to be the leader and defender of Slavs everywhere. This led Russia to take on a big-brother role with respect to Serbia, and thus to insert itself directly into Austro-Hungarian ethnic politics. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist, and a Russian threat of intervention if Austria-Hungary acted against Serbia, thus became the immediate trigger event of the First World War. German nationalism was born in the Napoleonic era, though the medieval patchwork of German states was not unified until 1871. The new German Empire was immediately a Great Power, succeeding to the place of Prussia in a sharply enhanced form. By 1914, Germany was the most powerful and highly industrialized state in continental Europe. Rivalry with France and Russia was inevitable. So long as Germany did not gr
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Approximate Word count = 1484
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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