...Cause of WWI - European Alliances The main cause of WWI was the European alliances. To what extent do you agree with this statement Before 1914 the five Great Powers, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia controlled Europe. In 1914 World War One broke out in Europe. Historians have debated the causes ever since. As a historian it will be difficult to conclusively establish a single cause - a number of significant causes is a far more helpful outcome. Although the European Alliances were certainly a cause of WWI, there were many other causes as well. Along with the European Alliances there was Nationalism, Imperialism, Militarism, and of course the physical conflicts leading up to the war. All these issues blew up the balloon of tension, which just needed a tiny pinprick to burst into war. The European Alliances had a major part in beginning WWI. After the build up of tension from Nationalism, Imperialism and Militarism, the Powers were worried about being attacked by each other. To counter this alliances were formed. Germany made a secret alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879. Three years later Italy joined this Dual Alliance to form the Triple Alliance because it was annoyed with France for stopping its plans to colonise North Africa. The rest of the Great Powers became increasingly worried about the strength of the Triple Alliance. Believing they could be defeated by Germany, Austria and Italy acting together. France and Russia agreed to help each...
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...Assess critically three causes of the outbreak of the First World War 1914-1918. There were certain events leading up to the outbreak of the first World War , in late July of 1914. For decades different historians have researched and presented what they believe and suggest to be the causes of this war that drastically changed Europe. In this essay, i intend to discuss and assess three longterm causes and to what extent the system of alliances, militarism and imperial rivalry contributed to the development of the crisis of 1914 and consequently the war. Europe was split into two rival alliance groups, connected by a secondary set of treaties and agreements to countries spread out around the globe. A number of alliances had been signed between countries between the years of 1879 and 1914. The division of the principal nations of Europe into two camps, did not necessarily make for war. It only made it inevitable that any conflict involving two great powers would bring general war. This system has often been justified as being necessary to maintain the balance of power and thus initiate peace amongst nations. This unfortunately was not the case as the Alliance System was based on secret diplomacy, mutual suspicion and fear were created among the powers. In 1905, for example, William II provoked the First Moroccan Crisis in order to see whether or not the Entente Cordiale really existed. Secondly, the Alliance System promoted armament races, too. Anglo-French military cooperation...
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...World War 1 On Sunday, June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, an 18-year-old Serbian named GavriloPrincip, shot and killed Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Duchess Sophie whilethey were driving in an open car. Princip belonged to a sercet terror society, called theBlack Hand, that wanted to rid Bosnia of Austrian rule and unite it with Serbia. Theassassination led to the first World War. This terrible conflict latsed over 4 years, involvedover 30 nations, and claimed more than 20,000,000 lives, both miltary and civilian. Itcost billions of dollars, destroyed Europe, crumbled empires, and sowed seeds of WorldWar 2.There were also others causes that led up to World War 1. Over time, countries in Europemade mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. If one country wasattacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, the followingalliances existed: Russia and Serbia, Germany and Austria-Hungary (The Dual Alliance1879), France and Russia (Franco-Russian Alliance 1891), Britain and France andBelgium, and Japan and Britain. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia (July 28, 1914),Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia (August 1, 1914). France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary (August 3, 1914). Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britaininto war (August 4, 1914). This eventually split the continent into two hostile sides. TheCentral Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary...
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...The Underlying Causes of WW1 One after the other non-stop gunfire, bombs and artillery shaking the ground like a never ending earthquake. Militarism, Imperialism and Alliances the three underlying causes of World War I. World War I or The Great war was a war from 1914-1918 that engulfed all of Europe in the beginning of the nineteenth century, that included Russia, France and Great Britain (Triple Entente) and Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (The Triple Alliance). It took place mainly in France, Italy ,Russia and Turkey. Germany mainly attacked on two fronts, the eastern front and western front where the main battles that shaped the war took place. Therefore militarism being the main cause of World War I. Militarism or the belief of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability. This idea is what caused militarism to spread through Europe like an infectious disease, and was a major key factor in the start of World War I. According to “The London Times History of the World” the increase of armaments from 1890-1914 doubled in all of...
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...be the whole start of the war, which was caused through the nationalism and the militarism. Which only led up to the Assassination of the Archduke. Nationalism, was one of the biggest problems, due to the fact that every country was a nationalistic at that time. The whole nationalism started of in the early 1900, where all the european countries constituted a brutal rivalry and competition. There influences were cause by Germany,Russia, Austria-Hungary, Britain and France they all only wanted...
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...Between the years of 1914 - 1918, World War One had a damaging effect on the people of Europe, with over 17 million people killed and billions left without homes. The outbreak of World War One (WW1) was triggered by numerous causes that built up the tension in Europe among multiple countries. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was an extensively significant event that led to the outbreak of war after just one month. His assassination triggered the different factors that had escalated the tension in Europe, and caused this tension to transform into the beginning of a war. However, the alliances formed by the six countries initially involved in WW1 were considerably significant, as the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
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...The Royal Navy had blockaded Germany, and when RMS Lusitania left New York for Britain on May 1st, German submarine warfare was intensifying in the Atlantic Ocean. Germany than, officially declared the seas and oceans around the United Kingdom, to be a war zone. German embassy in the United States had placed a newspaper advertisement warning people of the dangers of sailing on Lusitania. Later in February, Germany boldly announced that all Allied ships would be sunk without warning.It read, “Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels...
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...Imperialism during the 1800s was the main cause that led to World War 1. European powers were rising and trying to expand their territories. The only way to expand was to come in and take over weaker territories. For protection, territories created alliances. There were different alliances between countries, which people thought would make peace. Imperialism was the main cause of World War 1 because European powers were trying to overrule smaller countries, they were competing for land and money, and they were forming fierce rivalries. During the age of imperialism European powers tried to overrule smaller countries. Imperialism is what really sparked the war. Austria-Hungary was rising to power and needed to extend their territory. Serbia was perfect. They were weaker and not able to defend themselves against such a powerful country. So when Austria-Hungary began taking over Serbia, their only defense mechanism was to...
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...a whole. A big cause of World War 1 was the idea and actions of imperialism. This was similar to an act of bullying from bigger and stronger countries to smaller and weaker ones. Usually this happened to places that were not industrialized yet and had little power. For example, places like Great Britain would take natural resources including coal and iron from Northern and Southern Africa. They would use militarism as a way to enforce power against a territory they were going to take over. Tension started to grow as countries strived to put together the best military force possible. However this was unfair to countries that were not as stable or as powerful as the rest of the nations. I think that both of these elements combined lead to a massive jump into war because it was a strategy tactic that worked most of the time. The alliance system contributed a lot of cause towards the war as well because nations joined together in order to keep the balance of power during these hard times. This made it difficult for countries that didn’t have a say in which side they were on, so they were force into a group. Two groups that emerged from this system were the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. Britain, Russia, and France, Triple Entente, were threatened by Germany’s growing power in nationalism. Although this may have seemed like attempt for peace, it just made matters worse and more stressing. In conclusion, the causes of World War 1 were the causes of many ups and downs...
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...What trench foot is, this disease was caused from cold and wet conditions. The men would stand in puddles of their waste and rain. This would cause the men’s feet to swell up two or three times its normal size. A statement from Harry Robert gives brutal details of having trench foot, “If you have never had trench foot described to you, I will explain. Your feet swell to two to three times their normal size and go completely dead. You can stick a bayonet into them and not feel a thing. If you are lucky enough not to lose your feet and the swelling starts to go down, it is then that the most indescribable agony begins." (Harry...
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...World War 1 (WW1), from 1914 and 1918, and World War 2 (WW2), which occurred between 1939 and 1945, were two significant battles known to almost all Americans today. These wars were caused by several factors, in which some are alike and some are different. Their causes differ in that one of World War 1’s reasons for war included the German U-boats sinking the Lusitania. On the other hand, one different cause of World War 2 was the Treaty of Versailles. Both wars are alike in that they both were caused due to militarism, imperialism, and nationalism. In analyzing the causes of both wars, it’s crucial to know that there were similarities and differences because of their time periods of occurrence (for different events happening) as well as the...
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...Americans wanted. However, through his employment of propaganda, Woodrow Wilson was able to convince the American people to join the ranks, he persuaded Americans into accepting rations for food, he involved women in the war effort, he was even able to sway them into buying government bonds (liberty bonds) to fund the war. In the end, through his use of propaganda, President Woodrow Wilson was ironically able to change the popular American opinion and convince Americans to support World War 1. Propaganda, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is the “spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” It is always biased towards a view or idea. Governments employ propaganda to sway public opinions towards supporting a cause. The use of propaganda became very popular in America during World War I. As a matter of fact, World War I proved America to be the largest producer of pro-war propaganda in the world. Originally elected as the pro-isolationism president, President Woodrow Wilson employed propaganda to fuel a war, which was not supported by Americans. While campaigning for presidency in Milwaukee, President Woodrow...
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...Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism played major roles in the conflict. All of these factors where established in many of Europe's 'Great Powers' which consisted of; Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. Many of the reasons as to why war broke out were built up over years and even decades thus, were long term causes. However, a handful of events occurred over a few months and years prior to the event, consequently were short term causes. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife, acted as a trigger that ultimately led to war breaking out. As a result of this T.F. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The assassination gave Austria-Hungary the ideal excuse to declare war against Serbia. An ultimatum was issued to Serbia stating that it must agree to all the terms described in the ultimatum in order to avoid war. Austria-Hungary gave Serbia 48 hours to reply and clearly stated that all the terms must be met and complied with. Serbia agreed to all terms except one. WW1 had many countries involved but not all of them entered at the same time. There were three sides to choose from at the beginning of WW1. One option was the Central Powers which included; Germany and Austria-Hungary, and were later joined by Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, who were neutral at first then joined at a later date. There were The Allies which were made up of; Great Britain, France, Belgium, Russia, Montenegro and Serbia. The Allies were later joined by...
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...The history of war is marked by ever increasingly powerful and odious weapons, but of all the weapons of war both ancient and modern none is more dastardly than chemical warfare. The very use of chemical warfare has been outlawed since WW1 and will get you charged with war crimes if you are found using it. Chemical warfare, is tactical warfare using incendiary mixtures, smokes, or irritant, burning, poisonous, or asphyxiating gases. This is the definition as listed in the Merriam Webster dictionary. Chemical warfare in WW1 was deplorable because it was used extensively on the Western front, the chemical gasses had many effects and properties, the soldiers were scarred mentally by the memory of the gas, and the bodies suffered horrible internal...
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...The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive German foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900 Source X, though suggesting a variety of reason, places most blame on the German encirclement for the birth of the First World War in August 1914. Source V too highlights a selection of factor the war can be blamed on. It suggests German domestic tensions and fear of “civil war” to concern of encirclement via the triple entente started the war. Source W proposes that the outbreak of war was due to German aggression. The Naval race between Germany and Britain as well as general Weltpolitik is to blame for the start of war. Ultimately German aggression was key but caused by encirclement. Source W suggests that aggressive German Weltpolitik was a major contributing factor leading up to the start of the First World War. After seeing the success that his cousin had in England, Kaiser Wilhelm decided that he too wanted an empire and desired the restoration of “Germany’s place in the sun”. This called for a more aggressive stance on foreign policy. Keen on expanding “German actions going back to the 1890s had done much to create international tension” source W states. Germany was more likely to enter conflict with neighbouring countries to gain land and territory increasing German status and strength, due to extreme desire to expand. This is clear in German interest in morocco. During the 1905-11 Moroccan crises, German-French relations reached new tensions...
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