Question

The War that broke out in 1914 was different from the previous wars in many ways. In this context discuss the following points briefly:

Militant Nationalism as a cause of the War.

Answer 1

Militant nationalism was one of the major causes of the War of 1914. Militant nationalism arose in Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. It meant outright wars by the European countries to achieve their goals. Militant nationalism included two main features: First, the mechanism of maintaining great large standing armies and navies. This was accompanied by espionage, suspicion, fear and hatred, etc. Second, the existence of a powerful class of military and naval officers, headed by staff, who tended to dominate, especially at a time of political crisis, over the civilian authorities. Militant nationalism was caused by aggressive nationalism, economic competition and international tension.

Aggressive nationalism meant love for one’s own country and hatred towards other countries. Each nation thought about its own national interests and did not care for the interests of the other nations. Countries developed expansionist policies in the name of nationalism. Therefore, military might became synonymous with national prestige and power, and all countries began to increase their military power. By the end of the 19th century, England and France had built up huge colonial empires
in the continents of Asia and Africa. These colonies provided the raw material for their industries and acted as a readily available market for their finished products. As a result, even newly emergent nations like Russia, Italy and Japan made efforts to acquire colonies. As the scramble for colonies became fiercer, the political situation became more and more hostile, which resulted in the War of 1914.