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World War 1 Dbq Essay

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Completely altering what a war was in every aspect of the term, World War I caused immense devastation and havoc. Excluding the American Civil War, it was the first war that took place lasting any longer than a few months. This was due to countless innovations made in both war strategy and weaponry. Involving 32 countries and causing the deaths of over 17 million soldiers and civilians, World War I was one of the largest and most destructive wars at that point in modern history. As a result of the abundance of militarism and nationalism throughout all European countries, most of the world was thrown into the chaos of World War I.
Bringing about a competitive attitude between the major powers of Europe, militarism greatly increased the chances …show more content…

As depicted in the map in Document 2, the Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, while the Triple Entente was made up of Great Britain, France and Russia. This source can be trusted due the fact that it is a map exhibiting proven facts. Similar to how building up one’s military made countries more likely to fight, forming alliances did the same. They felt more comfortable entering battle when they knew they had another army backing them up. This boosted confidence made the concept of war seem like a much smaller issue, causing more brash responses to the issues at hand. Therefore, as a defense mechanism, and a way to be more prepared for conflict, countries found allies in each other. Raymond Aron speaks of an example of this when, “The rise of Germany, whose supremacy France dreaded and whose navy menaced [or threatened] England had created among [England and France] an alliance which claimed it was defensive in nature” (Doc 7). England and France felt intimidated by Germany, so they teamed up, creating the Triple entente, knowing they stood a better chance together. Germany, in response, created its own alliance as a way to protect …show more content…

This included the countries of the triple entente, who fully blamed Germany for the war, despite their contributions. After winning the war, these countries saw the Versailles Treaty as an opportunity to use Germany as a scapegoat and avoid criticism for their own actions. In Document 4, they hold Germany completely responsible, because they were enemies and they could. This enmity towards Germany provides just cause to question the bias of this document. Germany had a differing view, saying they were “far from declining all responsibility for the fact that this great World War took place” (Doc 5). At the Versailles Peace conference, German delegate, Count Brockdorff-Rantzau, pointed out that “the imperialism of all European states has chronically poisoned international relations” (Doc 5), making hostility between countries more apparent and war more likely. Along with that, he mentioned that they fought the war defensively in response to the military advances made by their enemies. The author’s background being German should also be taken into account, as a German delegate is likely to favor their own country and be biased toward them. Thus, every country in Europe holds some responsibility for the causing of World War

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