World War 1, World War 2, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War are all 20th Century conflicts, with different backgrounds but similar causes. The causes of these wars have not yet been officially stated, but historians have their own prediction on the causes. Between these four wars I think the main cause was nationalism. I think this is the main cause of the 20th Century conflicts we studied because they show up in a variety of the sources we used like books, websites and classes. .
I think that the main causes of World War 1 were the assassination o Franz Ferdinand militarism. I think militarism is the most important cause of WW1. Militarism is an important cause because all the countries believed in a strong military so they all tried to increase the size and strength of their army to prepare for the war. Germany had the best army, but Russia's was growing the fastest so Germany was worried that they wouldn't be able to overtake them as easily soon. The second most important cause in my opinion was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. He was the archduke of Austria. Franz Ferdinand was killed in Bosnia by members of a Serbian nationalist group called "Blackhand". Less than 5 weeks after Franz Ferdinand's death Austria made an alliance with Germany who declared war on Serbia. This war commonly known as the Great War soon turned into World War 1. .
The most important causes of World War 2 were nationalism and Japan attacking Pearl Harbor. One of the most important causes was Japan attacking Pearl Harbor because before this it was solely a European war, but after Japan attacked the US naval base in Hawaii it turned the 'European War' into a World War and as the Nazi army got stronger the other European countries had to defeat before they got too strong to defeat and without it there would be no armies for the war. Nationalism was also a very important cause of World War 2 because Hitler wanted Germany's old land back that they had lost in the treaty of versailles and wanted to make Germany the best country in Europe.
