History

1 There are many contributing factors that led the World War I. Germany increased in economic and military power which led Russia, France, and Great Britain to form the Triple Entente in the early 1900s for military and political alliance. This was countered with the alliance were some tensions between Austria and Italy that caused the latter to switch sides in 1915. There was also increased tension caused by the New Imperialistic era that led the Europeans nations to want more colonies and fed jingoism and the arms race. In July 1914, Serbian nationalist, Gauriel Princip, assassinated heir to Austria-Hungarian throne, Archduke Ferdinand, in Sarajovo- the administration center of Bosnian province. Austria declared war on Serbia and Russia backed Serbia causing Germany to declare war on them- their allies soon joined them.

2 The eventual outcome of the war had many different factors. The failure of quick German victory over France led to a stalement on the Western Front. On both sides the generals lacked imagination and most were incompetent and corrupt. Both sides used old military tactics with modern weapon which greatly increased death rate along with the poorly trained soldiers that were sent to fight. There was also fractured loyalty of the soldiers forced to fight along with the natives of the colonies that were shipped to Europe to contribute in the war.

3 World War I also drastically affected life on the home front. There was increased propaganda that tried to promote involvement in the war. Most countries rationed resources and regulated production and increase of women in the workforce giving them more freedom.