The Cause of World War I: Broad Causes

The cause of World War I has been around most of the 20th century. Actually, there were several of them. They include:

1. An exclusively narrow nationalism
2. Mutual fear--everyone was afraid of everyone else. Mutual fear was everywhere
3. Militarism--the more the nations built armaments, the more they feared each other. At the same time, militarism and the possession of armaments made politicians less inclined to negotiate
4. Economic rivalry among nations, especially economic rivalry between the British and the Germans
5. Imperialism--the carrying out of those rivalries through imperialism in the non-western world
6. Xenophobic propaganda--even schoolbooks were filled with propaganda teaching the hatred of foreigners
7. Social Darwinism--an application of Darwinism to society that glorified the survival of the fittest, aka Social Darwinism gloried war
8. Cultural malaise--a feeling that there was something wrong with society and that war would be the way to purge society of its poisons. Perhaps, per this cultural malaise, war was inevitable.
9. Speed: Decisions were made with great speed, without proper time for reflection. Perhaps some of the most fateful errors were caused by nothing more complex than lack of sleep.
10. Perhaps the most frightening cause of World War I, in the context of contemporary American politics: The polarization of Right and Left in the politics of European nations. This polarization destroyed the reliable center. As a result, we have the Left pushing for revolution and the Right pushing for war and nothing in the middle to restrain either force. Pre-war governments responded to superpatriotic brandishment. As a result, this tendency pushed the center in European politics toward the Right.

In looking for the cause of World War I, one must not overlook diplomatic causes and the causative effect of events themselves.