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Disadvantages Of Europeans During World War 1

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From the turn of the Twentieth-Century to the beginning of the First World War in the summer of 1914, European civilization was at its apex. Its position in the world during this period was one of dominance and a sense of superiority; brought on by the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution, all of which gave them a tremendous advantage over what they considered to be "uncivilized peoples." In fact, the only non-western nation during this period considered "civilized" by Europeans was Japan, only because of their westernization policies beginning in 1871 (pg.1). Europeans benefited considerably due to these advantages including a higher standard of living and greater gender equality. These advantages also allowed Europeans to conquer these "uncivilized" peoples, and by the onset of the Great War, Europe controlled 84 percent of the world's land surface (pg. 1). To Europeans during this time it would have seemed, "that Europe was the world and the world was Europe's" (pg. 1). …show more content…

Each experienced elements of stability and instability in the years before the war. In the case of Austria-Hungary the only stability seemed to come from the Emperor himself as political disunity and the rise of nationalism within the empire grew more unstable, coming to a head in the summer of 1914. Russia, like Austria-Hungary, had little if any sources of stability during this time. The instability within Russia stemmed from conflicts between the government i.e. the Tsar and the peasantry. Although reforms were attempted, such as the October Manifesto and the Stoypin land reforms, instability remained, and the collapse of the Russian Empire would soon begin, even before the war was

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