Europe was a strong proponent of militarism. They spent more and more money on military technology, employing more troops, and training their soldiers. They found that to gain colonies it helped to be militarily superior to the people they colonized and the other industrialized countries they were competing with. 

reference: Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda UFSD

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CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

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• He was educated at the University of Bonn

• He was smart and was tempered, impulsive

• His family relationships were not very good, especially with his British mother.

Black Hand is the Serbian secret group that used terrorist techniques to contribute to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in 1914 which is part of the cause of WW1.

How did Serbia do to stop The Black Hand?

Chief of the Serbian army, Prince Alexander brought leaders of black hands to trial on dubious charges in Salonica in 1917. Dimitrijević and the other two got killed and more than 200 people got thrown in jail.

The Plan of the Black Hand

A lot of members were Serbian army officers, the professional goal was to establish the greater Serbia by using violence if necessary. They trained guerillas (members of a small independent group that fights) and saboteurs and arranged murders.

Resources:

Black Hand | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica. (2023). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Hand-secret-Serbian-society

The Black Hand. (2023). Byu.edu. https://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/comment/blk-hand.html#:~:text=Many%20members%20were%20Serbian%20army,3%20to%205%2Dmember%20cells.

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Wilhelm always overestimated his power for political judgment, and was too self-confident, causing him to make huge mistakes.

Austria Hungry's heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed by a member of the Black Hands (A national group from Serbia) 

Germany sent a Blank cheque to Austria Hungry which had the meaning “We will give you as much military support you guys need if you want to invade Serbia”. Which was on 1914 July, 5 

When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in June by a Serbian terrorist group(black hand), Austria-Hungary decided to give a list of demands to Serbia that were very unreasonable. Serbia refused to agree with them and so Austria-Hungary decided to invade Serbia. When they invaded they were encouraged by Germany with the "blank cheque" representing unlimited military support. Germany was looking for a reason to begin its wish to start its take over Europe. But if Serbia is invaded, Serbia's main ally, Russia will defend them. This was how WWI started, so one can blame Austria-Hungary for invading Serbia but one can also blame Germany for encouraging them.

APA reference "How The World Went To War In 1914"

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-the-world-went-to-war-in-1914#:~:text=When%20Archduke%20Franz%20Ferdinand%20was,encouraged%20by%20its%20ally%20Germany.

"Germany's Blank Cheque to Austria-Hungary"(2015)

https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/germanys_blank_cheque_to_austria-hungary

”ブランクチェック Blank Cheque"

https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/jp/blank-cheque

• When the town was controlled by an enemy country, citizens were forced to work.

• Austria-Hungary was trying to keep the empire together during ww1 by making people join the empire.

• When WW1 broke out, Austria-Hungary weakened up and was forced to keep the empire together.

• Nationalism rarely was in conflict with the Habsburg state

• Focused on the imperial framework with nationalism

He always overestimated his power for political judgment, and was too self-confident, causing him to make huge mistakes.

The Blank Cheque created a larger impact on the outbreak of World War 1 which created a domino effect of conflict throughout the world.

• The "domino effect" led to Germany declaring war on Russia (August 1, 1914) and declaring war against France (August 3, 1914)

• Lastly, after Germany invaded Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914.

APA Reference

What was Germany’s “blank cheque” before WWI? (2014). History Skills. https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/year-9/germany-blank-cheque/#:~:text=In%20this%20meeting%2C%20the%20German,from%20Germany's%20highest%20political%20echelons

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• Germany had aggressive intentions for expanding to be come a major power. Proof of this is constructing the Schlieffen plan, before WW1. More proof is expanding their army creating a bigger and more technology advanced army.

• In the late 1890's German aggression developed and so did their foreign policy, this was because of the imperialism, and tension in Europe starting to form.

• Germany caused the arms race which is a big part of the cause of WW1, by being " insecure". So everyone had these advanced weapons and were exited to try them out.

Kaiser Wilhelm didn’t want to admit the fact that Germany lost in 1918, and soon realizing that the fact caused his loss of the throne, he refused to abdicate.

Kaiser Wilhelm's support of Austria-Hungary was one of the main causes of WWI.

He got married in 1881 and had 7 children.

IN 1888 his grandfather and his father became emperor. His father already had cancer and was dying at the time and Wilhelm became emperor soon at the age of 29.

When the war was lost, he did not resign. He was forced to escape to Netherlands. He did escape to not get in prison or to be killed in Germany after the war. Because of this he was not able to keep the power. Hi lived without power until he died in 1941.

‌Lind, M. (2014, June 30). Germany’s Superpower Quest Caused World War I. The National Interest. https://nationalinterest.org/feature/germanys-superpower-quest-caused-world-war-i-10778

The. (2023). Historpedia - The Origins of World War I: How Responsible Was Germany? (Fall 2012). Google.com. https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/historpedia/home/politics-and-government/the-origins-of-world-war-i-how-responsible-was-germany-fall-2012?pli=1

Board, E. (2018, July 19). Between Empire and Continent. British Foreign Policy before the First World War. TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research. https://trafo.hypotheses.org/10669

‌Lind, M. (2014, June 30). Germany’s Superpower Quest Caused World War I. The National Interest. https://nationalinterest.org/feature/germanys-superpower-quest-caused-world-war-i-10778

‌The. (2023). Historpedia - The Origins of World War I: How Responsible Was Germany? (Fall 2012). Google.com. https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/historpedia/home/politics-and-government/the-origins-of-world-war-i-how-responsible-was-germany-fall-2012

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