World War I Essay
When a nation’s hunger for power and control become too great, the nation may be pushed to do things that may have harsh consequences. This was the case in the early 1900’s when the world engaged in its first major global military conflict. There were a number of causes of the First World War; due to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany accepted full responsibility for the war. Although the Germans had a large contribution in starting the war, they should not be fully held accountable for starting the war. The world was a place where only the strongest nations could thrive and expand. The major powers of Europe were all doing whatever it took to gain power, wealth, and control different areas of land; this caused
…show more content…
France had plans of its own; they wanted to quickly overtake Germany’s industrial heartland, Ruhr Valley. France felt that if they could get into Ruhr Valley they could lower the Germany’s chance to start a modern war. The Russians planned on preparing their army for a war against the armies of both Austria-Hungary and Germany. The pressure that each one of these plans put on the other nations led to a war where speed was a major determining factor in the victor of the war. Once each army began mobilization, turning back was no longer an option and the war became more inevitable than ever. A new innovation that brought the ongoing naval battle between the major powers was the introduction of the dreadnought. The threat of the new more powerful battleship started a race to see who could produce the most dreadnoughts and control the sea. The pride of each nation became a contributing factor in the war; all the major powers felt they could reign supreme and that is exactly what they all tried to do.
One of the dominant influencing factors of the war, according to the president of the United States at the time (Woodrow Wilson) and many others, was militarism. Military personnel had too much power in nations such as Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Surely this could not be blamed solely on Germany as a nation, this type of military based mindset could not be blamed on any single nation in particular, and it was just the way things were run in
Another cause of the war was the threat of the hostile division that led to the increase in military forces. Germany was the leader in military organization and efficiency. The great powers of Europe copied the
World War 2, famously known as the most devastating war, had causes dating back to WWI as well as,pre . Some people refereed it because of the Treaty of Versailles which most of the people agreed one that it was too unfair for Germany and that their anger was going to appear sooner or later. The people thought it will create fascism. Some historians saw that the failure of The League of Nations was also another factor.
As soldiers went away to war, waving at their family and friends goodbye hoping to see them on Christmas Day, instead were blown across a field, torso and head 50 feet apart. World War One, or the “War to End all Wars”, started when a Serbian terrorist assassinated ArchDuke of Austria Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, on June 28, 1914, which led to disputes and chain reactions of declarations of war between countries. Although this event was said to light the fuse, the big wires that were attached to the bomb consisted of alliances, militarism, and imperialism.
When asked who started it, many people will turn and point to someone else in the room. But when asked what started World War I people point to many different causes and countries. Little bit of background, World War I started in 1914 and ended in 1918. Many countries in Europe were involved and there were many casualties throughout the war. The one remaining question is what exactly was the underlying cause of World War I? There are three things that could have possibly been the cause of the war: militarism, imperialism, or alliances. These next three paragraphs will discuss, in order from least to most accusable, how they caused the war.
There were many underlying causes that could have been used to lead up to World War I. World War I had many turning points throughout the war. The war took over a huge piece of land and water for each country involved in the war. There were four main causes that have been believed to be the cause of World War I.
First, countries spent millions of pounds on weapons years before World War One. This showed they were getting prepared for a war they knew was coming. (Document C) Secondly, Great Britain built up their navy to be able to participate in the war. Great Britain is surrounded by water and in order to be active in the war, and to be a threat, they needed a powerful navy. (Document C) Also, German Secretary for Foreign Affairs gave a speech entitled, "The Hammer or the Anvil." It talked about how other countries were strengthening their power by increasing their armories and how Germany needed to start too. Germany knew something was going to happen due to the increase of arms, and wanted to build themselves up that way they could fight back. (Document D) The increase in militarism made nations worry about an attack, leading to the upgrade of armories, causing World War
> When WW1 was finished in November 11 1918, the Allied Powers signed the Treaty of Versie in which blamed the Germans for the war. This treaty made them lose territory, pay for the expenses of the war, and lose military control in which left them in a disastrous state. In the late 1930s, WW2 was about to occur amounting to a tragic event that would later go down in history. A German leader named Adolf Hitler wanted to conquer the world, but primarily he wanted to take Germany out of the misery that was put upon them. He boasted his military without the Allied powers noticing and he gained different territory. Most of all he put ideologies in the German people's minds. He made them believe that the ones that caused all of their defalts and
There were many causes that contributed to World War I like: Imperialism, Militarism, and Alliances. Europeans thought they could make the world their oyster and take over any areas they pleased. Most countries did not appreciate their land being taken from them. For example, Serbia wanted independence from their mother country Austria-Hungary, so a nationalist group called the Black Hand, decided to assassinate the Archduke. If Serbia didn’t assassinate the Archduke of Austria-Hungary the war probably wouldn't have happened at all. Europe’s imperialism is what caused the Great War that went for four long years from 1914 to 1918 and had over 30,000,000 million casualties. The main cause of World War I was Imperialism which caused Alliances and
For more than four years, World War One (WW1) was a conflict that caused a destruction to land and many family members who have lost their lives. Over sixteen million civilians were killed and ten million men died during the war. WW1 broke out because of the four main causes; Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism. Militarism was a crucial aspect that caused WW1 to break out because countries such as France and Germany had created a huge army to prepare for war. The Alliances was a fundamental long-term factor that led to the outbreak of WW1 as countries also decided to align with other countries so they could help each other if one goes to war. Imperialism was another vital factor that caused WW1 to erupt as many countries scrambled for territories that were not taken which began the tension of countries trying to expand their empire. Lastly, Nationalism was a very important reason in causing WW1 as European countries felt that they were more superior than the rest of the countries.
This is so because especially Germany which had during the Industrial Revolution began inventing new bigger, better and more deadly than ever more. These new inventions were then made in bulk. This gave Germany some new found confidence and an itch for war. Germany also started to use its multitude of weapons as a way of intimidation. These new inventions were not only used by germany but soon were taken up by other countries causing the start of trench warfare. The final thing that came from the arms race is the U-Boat. This didnt play a large part in WW1 but would change warfare for the upcoming wars. This new typeof warfare and World war 1 in general had begun to break almost all the Traditional European Rules of
There were several reasons why the United States gave up the policy of neutrality to enter the World War 1. One of the primary reasons had to do with threats due to the offensive tactics from the Germans.
World War I is known today as one of America’s worst wars in history, due to the facts because it was the First World War and well over eight million people died. World War I was between the countries of Germany, United States, Russia, France, and among many others. There are many causes of World War I, both immediate and underlying causes. Immediate causes meaning a specific short-term occurrence that is directly related to the event and essentially what created the event. The immediate cause of World War I is the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on June 28th, 1914. They were both assassinated by a Serbian nationalist of the Black Hand at Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital (Poon). To continue, there are also underlying causes. Underlying causes means that that it develops over a period of time and indirectly leads up to an event. Underlying causes of World War I include nationalism, imperialism, and militarism. Along with the events that specifically led the United States to even become a part of the war in the first place.
Militarism played a vast role in WWI. Since Germany’s nation was industrialized, they invested millions of dollars refining their military to make it ready for war. In order for all the other countries to compete with them, they had to update their armies as well. With all the military improvements, Germany was extremely anxious to make a use of their
So, Germany made a decision, as too much of the world had been claimed they must fight to gain countries, in order to build their much desired Empire. This lead to the war as it created rivalry between Britain and Germany, who were both powerful Empires in their own right. This meant in the case of a war between nations, such as the one which followed, these domains would be on opposing sides and would have a good motive to want to belittle the others status, Empire, National forces and wealth.
This question has formed part of the historiography of the causes of the First World War, a historical debate that has endured ever since the conflict ended. It periodically resurfaces with new theories being advanced such as the Fischer thesis, usually on account of the release of previously unseen documents or because of a shift in the political climate. It has emerged to the fore once again because this year is the centennial of the war’s outbreak and there are plans to commemorate it nationally across the UK.