For almost 100 years, Europe was a war torn continent. The Crimean War from 1853 to 1856 was fought to stop Russian expansion, and further the rights of Catholics in Eastern Europe. The Austro-Prussian War in1866 was a war on the road to German unification. The Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871 was Bismarck’s last stage in his German unification plan, and allowed for the capture of Alsace and Lorraine. Many smaller scale wars also happened along side these major conflicts. Then the Great War happened in 1914 and lasted until 1919. The Great War changed the landscape of Europe, and was the most destructive war the world had seen. Then World War II happened 20 years later because of Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy of Lebensraum. Once …show more content…
Self-determination, or the right of a nation to choose what type of political entity as long as it respects equal rights, was the bases for now free countries to form their own governments without the protectorate of the USSR. A prime example of this is what happened in Yugoslavia in the 1990’s. The former communist state had elected a new president in 1990 named Slobodan Milosevic: a communist party member who represented the Serbians of Yugoslavia. As Slobodan pushed for Serbian supremacy, the Yugoslav army, which was Serb dominated, practiced ethnic cleansing. Both sides practiced genocide and nothing was done to stop it. This proves that Europe was still experiencing genocide and war even with the European Union. The EU failed to impose sanctions, which means they were powerless and could not stop the violence. It took bombings from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and intervention from the United Nations peacekeeping forces to bring an end to the violence in Yugoslavia. This helps prove the point the European Union is not the only reason for peace, and that non-member states are not as affected by the EU as member
As the war of the worlds began to collide between 1914 and 1918, there were numerous causes as to why the "Great War" began. The war began as a local European war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia on July 28, 1914. Later on it transformed into a general European struggle by declaration of war against Russia on August 1, 1914 and eventually became a global war involving 32 nations. Twenty-eight of these nations were known as the Allies and the Associated Powers, including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States. They opposed the coalition known as the Central Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. However, the immediate cause of
World War I, a war that started out locally in Europe between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that later ended up including thirty two different nations. This war has been around for almost a century and yet the causes of it are still being debated. There are many different scenarios that have been considered. Some of the key reasons that were believed to have instigated WWI were nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and an arrangement of treaties. Also the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was believed to be one of the immediate causes.
Great War, also known as The First World War, lasted for four year (1914 to 1918). It brought a huge development of war technics and weapons. More number of countries had been involved in the Great War than any previous war. It involved the mobilization of the whole nations, not just an enormous army that turned the war into a “total war”. (Clare 6) However, historians are still arguing about the major cause of the World War I. The major cause will be one of the four long-term causes of WWI, which are Militarism, Alliance, Imperialism, and Nationalism. In my opinion, the two major causes would be Alliance and Nationalism. Alliance is an association between two or more countries for mutual benefits that formed with different treaties, while
Wars have immensely contributed to human history for thousands of years, becoming highly destructive usually for the means of gain. The First World War, also known as ‘the Great War’ was a truly global war centred in Europe. The causes of one of the most destructive wars in human history are still debated to this day. Some historians have come up with a list of multiple causes of the war. However, experts have identified some of the primary causes of the war, including the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism. The causes of the truly deadly war, sending ripples of shock throughout Europe and the world, can be summarised into four points, and the start of the war pinpointed to one bullet from a young Serbians gun.
The difference between the two wars was the time length, one lasted four years and the other lasted six years. The causes of World War II were the political and economic instability in Germany, the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles Rise, the alliance of Adolf Hitler with Italy and Japan oppose the Soviet Union. The causes of the Great War was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914. Militarism, imperialism, nationalism, and the alliance system were also major causes.
How did the First World War lead to revolution in Russia and the disintegration of several once-powerful empires? (The Earth and Its Peoples, 776)
The Great War was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. What happened after that is history, countries coming to the aid of their allies and declaring war on the all those against. What happened in that little time period, sparked one of the biggest wars in the history of the war.
Since the onset of combat in what was referred to at the time as the Great War, historians have been engaged in debate in attempt to uncover the cause of the loss of peace in Europe. The victors of the war were eager to place the burden of blame on Germany, middle schoolers are taught that war was caused by Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination, while other academics have accredited the war to building tensions between Britain and Russia. However, while any one spark that lights an inferno is important, a hefty portion of fault must be attributed to the pile of fuel that composes the pyre. While the onset of the First World War was caused by a toxic mess of interplaying issues and tensions between nations, the rise of nationalism began the establishment
The First World War was only a catalyst for the war, not the principle cause as there were several precursors stretching back over a century. World War I had no one cause, however, the principle cause was increasing frustrations with their leader’s inability to maintain their increasing standard of life. The Great War worked as a catalyst by creating an environment conducive to revolution, focusing all of the causes in one place at one time, with the focal point being February and March of 1917. The source of power for this revolution began at the end of the 18th century, simultaneously building the arsenal against Nicholas II’s autocratic, repressionist regime. The revolution was generally of contemporarily liberal origins, however, it was
World War I was a conflict that claimed over 10 million peoples’ lives, ravaged all of Europe and engineered modern warfare, as it is know today. The Great War has been scrutinized and examined through many complex theories in order to understand how such a conflict escalated to one of the most epic wars in history. This essay, like many works before it, looks to examine WWI and determine its causes through two distinct levels of analysis, individual and systemic. The individual level of analysis locates the cause of conflicts in individual leaders or decision makers within a particular country, focusing on the characteristics of human decision-making. The systemic level of analysis explains the causation of a conflict from a system wide
World War I was a complex war with tensions simmering for numerous years before finally boiling over. The immediate and obvious cause to the war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist society in June of 1914. The underlying causes of World War I were nationalism, imperialism, and militarism by actors on both sides of the war and would only be resolved by American intervention. The causes of the Great War go further back into the nineteenth century
World War 1 (better known as The Great War), was caused by a great many elements, some long-term, some short-term and the spark. Together these reasons created a brutal war involving many countries across the globe and also killing a vast number of the world’s population. In this essay, I will thoroughly explain what started this war and which reasons made it start sooner.
Every single decision made, every threat everyone caused, added up to a war that led to the death of millions and millions of people. A tragedy that everyone could have stopped by letting go. What were the causes of the First World War?
World War 1, the war to end all wars, and also known as the great war, lasted from nineteen-fourteen to nineteen-twenty, killing more people than any previous wars in history. About sixteen million soldiers and civilians were killed in the war. In the United States, there were one hundred and seventy thousand four-hundred and sixty-five people lost but unfortunately, over twenty-one point two million people were wounded permanently. The war was an absolute mark on history.
Through the course of history, the most destructive war had emerged creating a distraught and treacherous 6 years. World War 2 was the result of 50 million people's death. Many lost their life and their love ones through this war. Both civilians and military lost their lives. World War 2 was fought over 6 continents and every ocean. It was by far the most global war fought, with 50 nations involved. Causes of World War 2 included the result of the Versailles Treaty, American Isolationism and the most important reason; Pearl Harbor