The Modern World, Part Two: Global History since 1910 -- Week 1 Video Lecture Summary
Video 1: The Shock of 1914 Reasons for WWI International rivalry: WWI began in August 1914 and people didn't see it coming. The most common reason given for WWI is international rivalries in Europe: [The Central Powers: Germany and Austro-Hungary] against [the Entente: France and Russia]. GB didn't have a formal treaty with France so it wasn't part of the Entente but it did have friendly relations with France. After WWI began though GB joined the Entente. Militarism and arms race: lots of people were bulking up their armies Imperial rivalries Economic rivalries: Many empires were financially insecure. Businesspeople were loaning money internationally with low interest rates, which meant that they deemed its return highly probable. There was no indication in the bond markets in the summer of 1914 that war was coming. Why were so people surprised when it happened with so many reasons for war? Why did so many expect peace? - Europe had been mostly peaceful for 40 years. Peace