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19th Century War

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War and Peace during the 19th Century The 19th century was characterized by a constant series of wars across the entire European Continent. War at this time in Europe was undergoing a substantial change in way conflict was initiated and executed. During the 19th century many nations funneled nationalistic pride and newfound industrial strength in to creating a militaristic state in effort to preemptively defend themselves against the other great powers due to a fragile balance of power set by the Congress of Vienna; which laid the groundwork for a long series of very important and devastating wars consisting mainly of the Crimean War, the wars to unify Germany, and WWI. After France was defeated at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the great …show more content…

After initial victories, Russia was finally beaten back when France and Great Britain declared war out of fear that a powerful Russia would off-set the balance of power in Europe. The Crimean War was the first conflict to use the power of the industrial revolution to its full extent. Devastating new technologies were used in conjunction with incredible logistical capabilities to bring war to a scale many could have never imagined. The war also demonstrated the power of nationalism and militarism in regards to a nations' ability to wage war, as evidenced by the loosely-bound Ottoman Empire's complete inability to match the motivated Russian troops and the escalating internal divides in the Ottoman …show more content…

Many alliances, non-aggression pacts, and defensive agreements had been organized between the great nations in order to maintain the balance of power mandated by the Congress of Vienna, resulting in two main factions; France, Britain, and Russia against the central-powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances dragged every nation into the terrible war when Austria-Hungry declared war on Serbia in 1914, bringing about the largest war in history up to that point known as WWI. When war was first declared many nations jumped at the opportunity with nationalistic fervor, reveling in the opportunity to achieve power (Doregeles). The war may have started with pride and hope from the citizens of participating nations, but after nearly four-and-a-half years of the most brutal fighting the world had ever seen, public opinion quickly turned. Devastating weapons of steel and chemicals specifically designed to defeat the human anatomy were detailed in firsthand accounts by soldiers and delivered with spite towards the nationalistic pride that fueled the devastation of WWI (Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est). Nearly an entire generation of men were lost to a war that resulted in very little change, and the public recognition of this fact was the main reason for the sharp decline of nationalistic pride at the end of the war

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