By Tan Kabra April 29th, 2009
Why Countries Go To War
There are many reasons why countries go to war. One country may want to go to war to take revenge on something that another country or countries did to them. Germany, for example, wanted to take revenge on the rest of the European nations after they all unanimously agreed that the responsibility for the First World War should be laid upon Germany. Countries also go to war for another reason, territorial expansion. The crusades were a good example of this because even though they started out a holy war, they converted into wars that focused on expanding borders. There are many other reasons why wars start, but revenge and land expansion are the two greatest ones.
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But that itself is another factor of war. After World War I especially, allies became tangled up. With secret alliances and public ones, countries were facing war basically with themselves in some cases and after sometime, nobody was really sure with who they were allies with (Doc 3). Not only were these countries forming alliances with each other, but their militaries were growing in enormous rates. These were some of the main reasons, even though there were multiple others about how and why World War II ended in a disagreement or other peace agreements. World War II and the crusades show one how wars start and some of the reasons for it, and how wars can end in expected or unexpected results. The events that led up to World War II were severe in some cases. One of these events was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles which stated that Germany was to bear the burden of the entire First World War (doc 4). Germany was angered greatly by this treaty because they knew that they could never pay the debt by themselves. The treaty also had other consequences for Germany. It limited Germany’s army to 100,000. This was bad because the size of Germany was great and the army was now so small that it could possible not cover the whole country. One thing that was unexpected about the outcome of World War II was that Poland created its polish provisional government (doc 6). It was not very free from many nations that were located
The Treaty of Versailles unfairly forced Germany to decimate their own army and the treaty took away some of Germany’s land. Document B states, “Germany must not exceed one hundred thousand men, including officers…” Because of this Germany was left outnumbered and suffered a maddening loss of power. Germany also lost their treasured Baltic sea port, which they relied on for different resources (Doc A). More importantly, the German citizens in that area were forced to either relocate or adjust to their new culture. Due to these forced injustices Germany started WWII.
attitude....Complete destruction of Poland is the military aim. To be fast is the main thing.
Another debated cause is imperialism, which is the policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. This contributed to WWI because of the rivalry it caused in Europe between Great Britain, Germany, and France. They needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. Great Britain, Germany, and France competed for economic expansion in Africa. Even though Great Britain and France came to an agreement several problems before the war had to do with the dislike of Germany against Great Britain and France in North Africa. Also the crumbling of the Ottoman-Empire in the Middle East was a big factor for Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia. So the competition for colonies brought great powers into conflict and fueled the ideas of war and added to the present tension that already existed, and that tension keeps on building up.
People go into war for countless reasons; however, power remains as one of the main factors of war. Wanting to have more power over the world can lead to a global conflict. By the end of the first world war, the Treaty of Versailles kept peace in Europe until Hitler of Germany began violating its contracts. Thus, began World War II that corrected the evil of Hitler with a justifiable cause. Although the second World War brought many casualties, World War II resulted as a justifiable war because it saved nations from German exploitation, began as a last resort after all forms of appeasement failed, and brought the German powers to an unconditional surrender.
From the Treaty of Versailles, to the rise of Hitler, and the failure of the League of Nations, there were many causes that lead up to World War II. World War I left Germany with many shortfalls, thus leaving them in the hands of the Treaty of Versailles. Rather unfair of a Treaty, this left Germany once again looking for another way out. A country resented by many had no other choice but to feel optimistic toward Adolph Hitlers empty promises… making it substantially simple for him to gain power so quick. Throw in the Great Depression, and you have a vastly unstable world, which the Germans believed Hitler would lead them out of.
Another main cause of World War I was Militarism. For each country there was a big increase in military and naval forces. For each country there was a big increase in military and navel forces. The policies and government created a big influence on the military men and because of this, force was a alternative as solutions to problems. This is what made militarism one of the main causes of World War I. There was a rise in military influence on policy making after 1907, in countries such as Germany and Russia. During this period of time the German Army was known as a “state within a state”. Everybody in the government such as the parliament and politicians were required to follow the General staff. The war atmosphere was endangered. It was because of the secret alliances and that triggered a armaments race among all the powers. During 1900-1914 the race became very serious and the international situation became much worse then ever before. During these years there was a rise in army and navel estimates. There was so much military rivalry within countries competing for the
World War I was started by alliances with militarism and imperialism as aiding factors. Although, there are many more possible things that could have kept the war between Serbia and Austria-Hungary alliances was most likely the main reason why the war became widespread. This is not to say that having allies is a bad thing, but this goes to show how quickly things can get out of hand when blood is
Due to Germany taking back the colonies lost after World War I and forming an alliance with Austria, Germany’s actions against the Treaty of Versailles contributed to the cause of World War II. After Germany got slapped with a $33 Billion dollar war reparation bill and Kaiser Wilhelm was removed from power, Germany was a mess, which allowed the rise of Hitler. Hitler, being a former Iron Cross winning
Even before the war started there were plotting and alliances made. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy made the triple alliance (Doc D), and the United Kingdom, France, and Russia formed the Triple Entente (Doc D). If another country would attack one of the countries in one of these alliances the other countries would employ all their forces to help, beginning an all out battle (Doc E). Along with this because they were thriving so well due to imperialism, many countries decided to build up their military to make sure they stayed strong (Doc L).
First of all, nations were pulled into the war for many reasons including: competition, alliances, patriotic enthusiasm, and propaganda. Competition is illustrated as a reason for war in Map 23.1: Europe in 1914. This map shows competition between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente for controlling the Balkans, which will lead to great conflict. Also alliances
World War II was a war unlike any other war that has occurred in the history of the war. In studying this war, there are some significant events that contributed to the start of World War II, that led to the US's entrance into W.W.II, and events that helped bring an end to W.W.II. The failure of the Geneva Peace conference, Hitler's annexation of Austria, the Spanish Civil War, Hitler's acquisition of Czechoslovakia, the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, Germany's invasion of Poland, and the fall of France all contributed greatly to the start of World War II. Some events that contributed to the entrance of the US into the war were Italy's invasion on Ethiopia, Japan's invasion of China, the Attack on
There are many reason why the world plunged into its first world war. There were over a half a dozen mutual protection pacts that forced other countries to enter the war. The fact that countries were in an arms race well before the war is a leading cause. Also Imperialism led to war because
There are many different causes that led up to WWI, but there were a handful of root causes that accelerated the development of hostility between nations. One of the main reasons was the shifting of the balance of power. The balance of power between nations is a delicate equilibrium that can be easily thrown off if one nation shows a bit of hostility, or if there is an emergence that threatens the sanctity of this balance. For a power to emerge or change, it directly affects all other nations involved through a butterfly effect of events. In WWI specifically, the unification of Germany threw off all alliances and the control of powers, as it was overwhelming for such a strong power to step up. Structurally and emotionally, this was a dramatic change to the stability of the balance of powers, and such a quick change disrupted the peace between the nations so greatly that WWI occurred. Apart from the breakdown of the balance of powers and emergence of hegemonic threats, other institutional and structural theories can explain the events that caused WWI. Some of these events include social conflicts within the countries, shifting alliances, power rankings, and the struggles to negotiate different resources between countries.
Almost every state on Earth desires peace, so why do countries go to war so
What in my opinion was the least important reason, for the war starting was how much richer all the countries were getting. England, Germany, France and Russia along with others, were all expanding their empires and in doing so they became a lot richer. England used their money to create a powerful navy, one that was said to be the “rulers of the waves”. Germany too