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
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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
Triple Alliance- Triple Alliance - Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy had a full offensive-defensive alliance (signed 1882). At this point in history this meant if any three of them got into war even if they started it themselves the others would follow. Britain, Russia, and France formed the Triple Entente. Britain, France, and Russia all had one thing in common, they hated the Alliance (more so Germany than anything). It also didn’t help that the Russian an Austrian had different ideas of what each country wanted with the Balkan Peninsula. While Germany was off getting
World War I was a great loss both physically and emotionally. It was a conflict between the Allies and the Central Powers from 1914 to 1918. More than 15 million people were killed in battled, making it one of the most deadly conflicts in history. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria- Hungary was seen as the trigger of the war. The war was described as a world war, a total war, and a modern war. A world war because it involved the whole world. A total war because people used maximum resources for the purpose of the war. A modern war because the people used technological and industrial mobilization.
World War I was often referred to as "The Great War". It began in 1914 and ended in 1918. America witnessed much devastation in this time period. In these four years alone nearly 9 million people died and millions more were maimed, crippled, grief stricken, or psychologically scarred, World War I is considered by many historians, the first man-made catastrophe of the twentieth century.There are many things that contributed to the war these causes were militarism, alliances, imperialism, and na's attempt to normalcy to be a challenge.
Alliances were formed with the European countries formed partnerships to protect each other. There were two different alliances, one was the Triple Alliance was between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Then there was the Triple Entente was and alliance between France, United Kingdom, Russia. In the midst of all the war the nations that remained Neutral were Spain, Portugal, Greece, Serbia, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire, and Montenegro (Doc. D). In document E it states that France and Russia have both equal desires to preserve peace, and only want to make sure that they meet the needs for a defensive war. Then in Document G shows a comic of how the different Allies had “ganged up” on Germany and Austria, then there was Italy that had been
France and England created an alliance because they both feared Germany’s naval strength and supremacy. Despite claiming it was defensive in nature, it spread east and eventually, other countries were involved. Since Austria-Hungary and Germany were in dispute over the assassination, they became involved too. Therefore, alliance systems played a significant role in the outbreak of the war. Since these countries. became involved in
When a nation gained more powerful arms, they were seen as a larger threat to the rest of the world, which was proven by post-war speeches from leaders of involved countries and statistics from the war. When Germany was blamed entirely for starting the war, German Versailles Treaty delegation leader Count Brockdorff-Rantzau argued that imperialism and the massive power put in the militaries across Europe had a larger impact on the war than Germany (Document 5). The mobilization of European armies and missed preventative steps to avoid war in almost every European country were both also cited by many historians for causing the Great War to occur (Document 6). The effects of military advancement and involvement in political discrepancies is clearly shown in statistics of money paid by each country involved in the war throughout time. When the war broke out, substantial increases in the investments made for weaponry are shown, especially by the main countries involved in the war, such as Great Britain, France, and Germany (Document 1). Military advancement overall had a large part in World War I’s breakout, due to its effects on the mindset of countries to create more weaponry for defense, and the power it gave to a nation’s
To begin, World War I was the most devastating war yet at its time and had widespread repercussions for nations all over the world. The global impact of World War I can be analyzed by identifying what pushed so many nations to war, the immediate effects of the war, and the long term effects of the war.
World War 1 was one of the bloodiest wars that the world ever seen. World War 1 was a war fought in Europe, between Germany, Russia, France, Great Britain, the U.S. and many others. At first, Europeans wanted a balanced power, but then alliance started to form. An assassination happened and soon Europe was at war. However, there are numerous causes of World War that are not commonly known which include nationalism, militarism, and alliance.
(Fred Fierch)” “Among those alliances were the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.(Also Fred Fierch)” The Triple Alliance, also known as the Allied Powers, consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, and the Ottoman Empire (Doc 7), and the Triple Entente consisted of France, Russia, and Great Britain (Doc 7). The formation of the Triple Entente, also known as the Central Powers, unified the UK and the French and “marked the end of almost a thousand years of intermittent conflict between two states (Doc 5)”. As a token of pride in my Italian heritage, I am proud to state that Italy later on switches from the Triple Entente to the Triple Alliance, because it was the victorious group of alliances.
Britain and France had created, “an alliance which claimed it was defensive in nature” to counter the threat of Germany’s massive army (Document 7). Germany saw itself encircled and formed the Triple Alliance. The alliances formed increased tensions because when one country formed an alliance with another, surrounding nations felt threatened and therefore, formed their own alliances. Europe was divided into two major alliances: the Triple Alliance made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy and the Triple Entente established between Britain, France, Russia on the eve of World War I (Document 2). Russia also had close ties with Serbia because of their common Slavic heritage.
Even though it wasn’t their fault that the war started, the Big Four countries made them sign something that claimed it was their fault and they admitted it. In Document C, it says that Germany was forced to undertake the responsibility for all the damage that was done to the Allies. This made Germany very mad because they also had loses and they didn’t start the war in the first place. In Document D, it states that Germany had to take full blame and accept the consequences, also, that Germans saw the Treaty of Versailles as an evil thing and that it needed to be destroyed, this starting the Nazi party and for Hitler to rise in his power for all the countries to look at Germany as something else, more powerful, and for the countries to fear
World War II was partly caused by the Versailles Treaty. The Treaty infuriated Germany by taking their money, land and resources, and blaming them for World War l. All of this made Germany want to rise to power and start another World War. One of the reasons Germany was so mad about the Treaty of Versailles is it blamed Germany for the war. The Treaty stated, “...Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all loss and damage.” (Doc D) Germany did not agree that they were responsible for all the damage of the war; they thought this was extremely unfair.
World War I is estimated to have killed to an extent of 10 million people (background essay) and costing up to 186 billion dollars. WWI began in 1914 and lasted until 1918 and regarded the European Empires. The annihilation which took place in the European empires can be contributed to the unification and exclusion of countries, the desire for world dominance, and the tensions surrounding militarism.
World War I was one of the worst wars the world has ever seen, because it resulted in many casualties. The war, mostly occurred because allies attacked other countries which resulted in the countries allies to attack them. During this period of time people were miserable because most of their farmland was destroyed due to the war, but it was even worse for the soldiers because the war grounds were dangerous and the only safe places were the trenches. There more, WWI was one of the deadliest wars in the world, because it had many fatalities and was full of deadly weapons. The most deadliest parts of the war were fought in the Italian border and the alps which resulted in many casualties due to the dangerous terrain.
The first of these alliances that was formed was the Triple Alliance. It was formed in secrecy in may of 1882. This alliance was made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. (Kann) Although Germany and Austria-hungary were allies before the formation of the Triple Alliance, Italy was not added into the Alliance until they wanted assistance with France. France at this time beat out Italy in obtain some of North Africa. (Britanica) The terms of this alliance were that if Italy was ever attacked by France, Germany and Austria-Hungary would come to its assistance. It also stated that, if Germany was attacked by France then Italy would come in to help them. Finally they agreed that Italy would have to stay neutral if Austria-Hungary ever got into a war with Russia. The alliance was renewed again in the february of 1887. This time, in addition to the agreements that were already made, Germany told Italy that it would help them in North Africa ( even though they never had any intentions of doing so). Germany also convinced Austria-Hungary to continue their alliance with Italy even during the dispute over land they were