The Differences Between France And Germany's Collision Of Powers

Decisions for War, 1914-1917 by Richard Hamilton and Holger Herwig investigates the origins of the First World War detailing individual country’s reasons for entering the war. Historians at War by Anthony Adamthwaite explores how scholars have understood the origins of the Second World War throughout varying times and differing national view points. Both works share a common theme of determinism; a retrospective notion placed on historical events by historians that Europe was inescapably predestined to go to war and that nothing nor anyone could inhibit that. Both remark that this popular approach does a disservice into the explanation of war as it does not accurately depict the economic and social agency present in Europe at the time. In

This paper focuses on the underlying causes of world war I instead of just immediate causes. In this article, I will answer the question what were the underlying causes of world war I. ("DBQ: What Were the Underlying ...", 2010, p. Doc 1) Some of these causes consist of militarism, nationalism, and imperialism. The immediate causes of the war were the ones that set it off but the underlying causes are the ones that had been building up over time. ("DBQ: What Were the Underlying ...", 2010, p. Doc 1)

Through the book ‘Europe’s Last Summer’ David Fromkin tackles the issues of pre WWI Europe, and the surrounding political, economic, social, debacles that led paranoid countries to go to arms after nearly a full century of relative peace within the European continent. While Fromkin certainly points his fingers to all the nations of Europe his primary focus lies with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Though he continues to stress throughout much of the book that Kaiser Wilhelm II and Archduke Ferdinand were fervent keepers of the peace within their nations, the fault of the war ultimately could be laid at the feet of their two nations and their constant attempts at war-mongering. He claims the war could have been avoided for the moment, had all the nations of Europe wanted peace, but the two bad eggs of Europe drew them all into an unavoidable general war.

Many historians argue that the reason for Germany going to war was due to the aggressive behaviour of Germany in the build up to the war. Throughout this essay I will be addressing this issue looking at whether Germany was responsible for the outbreak of a general European war in August 1914. There are many factors which contribute to the outbreak of the war from a short-term trigger such as the assassination of Franz Ferdinand to the long-term annexation aims Germany implemented in the years building up to the war, the most important reason was Germany’s aggressive foreign policy, they had provided

In addition to the damaging consequences of the First World War with the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles, certain features of Germany caused the state to be susceptible to the influence of this dangerous ideology. Along with the damage to the national ego as a result of the First World War, Germany had co-existing and conflicting highly modern strands of development forced to integrate with powerful remnants of archaic values and social structures, and had a deeply fractured parliamentary political system, and the weaknesses of this system reflected the social and political differences within the population. This shame and failure after World War I was superimposed onto a modern country which once had an advanced economy, a sophisticated state

Although the world seemed at peace in the early 1900’s but world’s powerful forces were pushing Europe towards war. These forces included militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism.

But, as much as extreme Nationalism does give a nice sense of pride to the people, it’s also very necessary to the theatre of politics and war. In a passage from The Age of Nationalism and Reform, it is stated that, “The extraordinary feeling that some people seem to derive from the belief that they are members of a superior nation or race is undoubtedly one of the great appeals of modern nationalism”(Rich). General von Moltke of Germany intended to use Nationalistic pride to his favor, saying, “I believe war is unavoidable and the sooner the better. But we ought to do more through the press to prepare the popularity of a war against Russia…” (Mombauer). Von Moltke wanted to prepare for war, and did so actively, but he needed the approval of the people. So, he and Kasier Wilhelm II spent

Although more countries than Germany itself is responsible for starting the first World War, Germany in its history to become a nation performed certain actions that helped guide the world toward war. War after war was fought in order to solidify Germany as a nation both politically and morally. These wars gave the German people a sense of unity but also fueled rage, hatred, and fear by those that Germany defeated along its path to become a nation. These feelings are not easily forgotten. These feelings could be seen rising up during World War I by the nation of France, who was defeated earlier by the Germans over land disputes as part of Germany’s quest to become a nation, one of the allied powers in the war. As another result of these wars and the quest to build Germany into a nation, Bismark put together a web of complex treaties with varies nations in Europe. These same treaties where then unraveled by William so that Germany could advance as a civilization. Through the actions that the Germans took in order to become a nation did not see them making too many friends as it made them enemies. It is these actions that lead the nations of France, England, and Russia to go on edge and distrust Germany and build an arsenal to defend themselves. When a nation displays the actions that Germany displayed it leads people, and nations alike, to believe that they are aggressive and that they plan to take military action against them in order to expand. This then causes distrust and fear that lead people to take certain measures so when the time comes for war they can defend themselves. As those nations build their arsenals tensions grow even higher. As these tensions grow high, countries form allies with other countries which

The start of the 20th century was marked by a strong sense of nationalism in many European powers. This shared patriotism, was evoked by many governments to gain support about becoming a part in World War I. Many people bought into this sense of belonging and sought to fight for

Between the years of 1914 to 1918, the whole of Europe was locked in arms, not only for pride but mostly for survival. The years of war brought devastation upon all societies. Men were massacred in droves, food stuff dwindled, and at times an end seemed non-existent. The foundation of the first Great War, one can muse, began as a nationalistic race between rival nations. By the onset of 1914, once the Archduke Frendinad had been assassinated in Saravejo, the march for war became not just a nationalistic opinion, but now a frenzy to fight. In battle, unlike previous wars, new weaponry caused drastic alterations in strategy. No longer will armies stand to face their rivals on the plains. Now the war will be fought in trenches, hidden

Before World War 1, Otto Von Bismarck had to Otto-matically unite the German states. World War 1, known as the “Great War” before 1940 was the world's first global conflict which lasted from 1914-1918. Ten million soldiers had died in the battle fields and another twenty million soldiers had been wounded by the end of the war in November of 1918. The war contented the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire against the Allied forces of Great Britain, United States, France, Russia, and Italy. This raises the question, “What were the underlying causes of World War I?”

Wilhelm II: Our policy have both pros and cons. The pro of the policy of Germany is, its diplomatic works successfully delayed the final war for about 40 years. The con is, since Germany is a monarchy state which control by conservative nobles and powerful officials group, it haven’t enough flexibility to solve unexpected events such as the betray of Russia. It finally cause the failure of Germany because of the pressure from both France and Russia.

World War I saw the nations involved rallied into two major alliances in order to curb German’s increasing power. It is evident that German amassing too much power poses a threat to the security of its counterparts in an anarchic system. As a result, other countries were willing to use various means not only to mitigate the risks but also maintain their independence in the world’s political structure. The balance of power theory focuses on how countries can achieve a balance and international order. The causes of World War one can be attributed to the balance of power mechanisms used by the countries involved.

The political and social conditions of Europe before the onset of the World War I were extremely unstable and undergoing a rapid transition that was driven by national interests of different nations living in the region. Nationalism was endorsed to promote patriotism among masses and to achieve political objectives that were in alignment with the national or political interests of countries. As the time passed, the growing influence of imperialism and the ideology of nationalism manifested multifaceted

On June 28th, 1914, the Belle Époque came to a halting ending when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. Because of the new technological advances such as tanks, aircrafts, and submarines, WWI was unlike any other. However, one of the greatest weapons of war Europe had created was nationalism (Shevin-Coetzee, p.98). Nationalism is the concept where one feels that their country is superior to others, it is taking patriotism to another level, and it was fostered during the Belle Époque. In France, this patriotism was centered on the Church, so much so that the denominations banded together to enhance the patriotism. In The Great War and the French People Jean-Jacques Becker states, “We have ceased dividing ourselves into Catholics, Protestants, Socialists and Jews. Suddenly something more basic has emerged, something all of us share: we are Frenchmen”(Shevin-Coetzee p.105). While this seems like a sentimental moment for the people of France, this was a weapon of war in the development of WWI because every country held some sort of nationalism and that was the fuel that kept the fire burning.