IndexConclusionCounterargument 1: AlliancesCounterargument 2: The SparkWorks Cited:World War I was a deadly and devastating event that occurred in 1914-1918. But how did such a horrible war begin? There are many factors that lead to the Great War, but nationalism is the main cause of them all. Nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism, characterized by a feeling of superiority over other countries. It also means being extremely loyal to your country. But how did nationalism cause the First World War? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to History Home, an English history website run by Marjie Bloy, a trained history teacher, in the early 1900s, nationalism created strong competition and rivalry between the most powerful nations of Europe. These nations were; Great Britain, Russia, France, Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary. They competed over who was the strongest both militarily and economically to determine who was the best and most powerful nation. However, the competition caused a lot of tension between the nations. We can connect this to the concept of power, because every nation's goal was to have more power and they competed fiercely to get it. Nationalism was a big problem for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This was because the empire was made up of many ethnic groups, which was problematic since many of them wanted independence and hated each other. There were demands for political and cultural equality for all national groups in the Empire. Eventually the nationalist rivalry between the nationalities became intense. Another problem for the Austrian Empire was the growth of South Slavic nationalism among the Slovenes, Croats and especially Serbs. The empire felt immensely threatened by Serbia's rapid growth, and therefore agreed that Serbian power must be ruined. We can connect this to the concept of choice, because the Austrian Empire made the decision to plan an attack on Serbia because they felt threatened that Serbia would become superior to them. This caused a lot of tension between the two countries. Eventually, nationalism led a Serb to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to World War I. Many sources and historians agree that nationalism was the main cause of the First World War. For example; Alpha History, a website run by several former or current history teachers and a historian named Lawrence Rosenthal. The value of Alpha History is that the website is run by industry professionals, but its limitation is that the professionals were not alive at the time of the First World War, so accessing the data could have been problematic. Alpha History explained that citizens of great nations believed in the cultural, economic, and military supremacy of their nation. This was due to popular culture and the media, which spread rumors about rival nations and their evil intentions. They also boasted and exaggerated the nation's successes, power, and military. This has led to people becoming overly confident in their country, government, and military strength, which ultimately leads citizens to believe that their nation is unbeatable in war. The media would also portray their nation as fair, just and innocent. While it would paint rival nations as aggressive, scheming and evil. This only fueled the hatred and anger that citizens felt against their rivals. Nationalism believed that war was necessary and easily winnable. Lawrence Rosenthal is an expert in history, but the limitis that he expressed his opinion based on his knowledge. He argued that nationalism involved the fierce emotions that characterize human relationships at simpler sociological levels. He described nationalism as: loyalty inward, aggression outward. This meant that the fierce loyalty you felt for your nation turned into fierce anger at your rivals. (Despite all thisWith overwhelming evidence, some argue that one of the main causes of the war was the naval rivalry which was the main event of militarism. However, according to a tutor/student studying history at university; the naval rivalry began because of the German nationalism. This was because German nationalists felt that by building a larger navy they would challenge Britain, which would increase German prestige and allow Germany to gain more colonies in Africa. Britain felt very threatened by the plans of the Germany to build one larger navy.Therefore, this led to extreme tension between the two countries.We can link this to the concept of Change and Choice, because the choice to build a larger navy changed the relationship between Britain and Germany this choice because he wanted to feel superior to Britain by possessing a larger navy, which Britain feared might happen. After finalizing the decision, the atmosphere between the two nations changed and caused more tension. An author named Jamie Cawley even said that nationalism meant that groups of people would compete with each other, which was the sole cause of European competitiveness (in other words militarism) that led to World War I. Conclusion In conclusion, nationalism is the main cause of the First World War. because it has created so much tension between nations, countries and nationalities. Nationalism was also the main reason behind many of the issues that ultimately caused the outbreak of the Great War. Counterargument 1: Alliances While alliances may be the reason why so many countries were involved in World War I, it was because of nationalism that alliances were formed in the first place. In 1914, a German military writer named General Friedrich von Bernhardi wrote about the triple alliance, explaining that Germany and Austria-Hungary formed an alliance because Austria was rich in German history and, due to nationalism, the Germans they were extremely loyal to their country. and culture. This historical perspective has the limitation of providing a narrow focus when it speaks only of the German and Austrian Alliance and the value of the historian who is an expert in his field because he was alive at the time. He further states that they also shared the German language, and that the Germans were the backbone of Austrian territory, the bond of union that held together the different nationalities of the Empire. This can be linked to Identity and Relationships, because Germany and the Austrian Empire had good relations due to their similar identities. Overall, it means that the alliances would not have existed in the first place, if it were not for nationalism. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Counterargument 2: The Spark Even though the Spark caused the outbreak of World War I, it could not have happened if it were not for nationalism. According to Alpha History, this was due to the nationalist movement of Slavic groups in the Balkans. Slavic nationalism was very powerful in Serbia. Especially pan-Slavism: the belief that the Slavs should have their own nation, and was against the Austrian Empire. After the annexation of.