1. What were the underlying causes of WWI?
Many causes of the First World War were due to nationalism and the expansion of nations. France and Germany entered the war due to their strong nationalism, they both wanted the same regions and fought to gain colonial power (imperialism). The media during these times was filling the peoples' minds with ideas of superiority of their nation. THe government most likely had a tight hold on what went out through media and could therfore make it so that only good things were printed about their nation, and bad about others which influenced the peoples' views. Militarism was another big factor because after several other battles, many nations had built up their military as well as their war supplies. This led to an arms race between the nations to gain the biggest and best weapons and machinery available. This helped cause the war because nations were competing and striving to have the most power and to do that, in many cases, meant the downfall of another nation.
2. What was the specific cause of WWI?
The First World War started soon after the assasination of Francis Ferdinand. Francis Ferdinand, the Archduke of Austria- Hungary,decided to go to Serbia because he was supposed to claim the throne. . Ferdinand was warned several times of plots of his assassination and he ignored them. He was later killed by Serbian nationalists who didn't want him to obtain the throne. The Serbs were especially upset because he was touring the city on the same day the the Serbians were conquered and had theiri independence taken away in the Battle of Kosovo. Due to this assassination, Austria-Hungary placed strict reforms and laws on Serbia, and they did not listen so Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and thus the war began.
3. How did the soldiers react as they went off to war? Why?
Before setting off for war, many soldiers thought of war as being romantic and heroic. Each thought war was going to be adventerous and to prove that they had military strength. After going to war, they began to think differently. Their barracks were far from decent, rations, were few, and fighting was brutual. Minds soon changed and war was seen as harsh and cruel rather than glorius as they had once viewed it.