...Defend the assertion: ‘Both World War I and World War II were essentially imperial wars.’ Introduction World War I, which is always referred as ‘the grand seminal catastrophe of twentieth century’ (Rauchensteiner et al, 2014) , seems play an important role in the changes of international situation and social development from 1914 to 1918. On the other hand, the following World War II also affected greatly that period to some degree. For these two great wars, people hold different opinions on whether they are imperial wars and debate with each other through analyzing historical evidences. Hence, this essay will argue for the argument that World War I and World War II are imperialistic, with giving insight into the direct causes to outbreaks,...
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...Thesis statement: Germany should not be alone blamed for the World War I, because the major cause of World War I is imperialism and nationalism. Also Austro-Hungary physically started the war, while other leaders of major power knew the war would break out, but nobody did anything to stop it. The World War I was one of the most horrific event in the world history. It led to the fallen of four great imperialist empires such as Germany, Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Turkey. In four years, “the war costed over 15 million people dead” (White 1). It also planted the seed of the World War II. Even though the World War I was ended about a century ago, but it is still a fascinating subject for modern historians to debate. Especially, the question that...
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...to dissect creation and find some sort of semblance of meaning that might justify our existence. The list of our accomplishments is immeasurably vast. However, man might have proved that he can reach for ideals, but he has not proved that he can maintain them. We may have climbed mountains, but we have not been able to live for long in such high places. Despite our accomplishments, humanity’s failings have been just as extensive. Our history is also scarred with a long list of wars, injustices, unnecessary deaths, prejudices, hatreds, and disappointments. The pinnacle of our shortcomings, the end-point to our intellectual development as a species, can best be understood in the context of our World Wars. Although humanity has always lived side-by-side with war, never before in our history has so much widespread violence destroyed so many idyllic hopes and dreams. Never before was there such an example of our ignorance as a species, and blatant disregard for our intellectual successes. Both World Wars demonstrate...
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...The Arab Revolt and the British Response Introduction At the emergence of World War I, the Ottoman Empire had shrunk in population and dominance as a result of formerly colonized territory being lost to European control. It was once an extensive empire consisting of multiple racial and ethnic groups, situated in what is now Istanbul. In spite of being only a fragment of what it once was, the Ottoman Empire still had power over Arab lands south of Turkey by 1914. The Arabs occupying areas in the Middle East had negatively feelings towards the Ottoman rule over what was meant to be Arab land and to reclaim the regions south of Turkey, a revolt against the Ottoman Empire was formulated and the British wished to assist the Arabs in succeeding in their intentions. The governor of Mecca, Sharif...
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...dominance before World War I was gathered by evaluating backgrounds of authors and the reliability of their information. From gathering a variety of evidence of different perspectives, the extent of data was able to confirm the validity of my research question: How did German nationalism lead to World War I? The levity of German dominance before World War I had influenced the continuous opinion of most authors. On the other hand, those who disagreed with the statement were unable to be fully convinced of a more drastic situation. The impact of extreme nationalist efforts, threatening neighboring territories, and Kaiser Wilhelm’s reign had sparked the beginning of World War I. Sources selected to support the thesis were analyzed to the reputation of the website and the author. Identifying the origin...
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...Why did World War One break out? There are many reasons as to why war broke out in 1914, which included many intertwined factors, such as the conflicts and hostility of the four decades leading up to the war. Moreover, Militarism, 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...
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...Hand and what role did it play in spreading the ideas of pan- Serbianism and terrorism just prior to the outbreak of war and what was the Austrian response to the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand? Why? The Black hand was the Serbian secret society that reigned chaos using terrorist methods to further their agenda of liberating the Serbs from Habsburg and Ottoman rule. It was instrumental in spreading the ideology of pan-Serbianism through training and implementing guerilla fighters, saboteurs, and relied heavily on the propaganda spread from the actions they committed. The Austrians responded by invading the Kingdom of Serbia, as they viewed the assassination as an act of war. In his popular novel, All Quiet...
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...Origins of War World I Many would like to contribute the assassination of Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, as the inevitable mark of the start of World War I. There had been many assassinations of leaders during this time, none starting a war of this magnitude. In reality, there were many underlying causes that ensured the start of World War I upon this particular assassination. There was an outbreak of nationalism because of newly formed nation-states that had everyone searching for their independence throughout Europe but with the disbursement of people, made it almost impossible to give everything they wanted. Disagreement within countries also manifested due to the needs of the people being untaken care of which eventually led to the growth of militaries and their role in War World I. Europe was divided into multiple nation-states in an attempt to unify them through a sense of international togetherness, instead of that happening; nation-states became very competitive with each other (Western Civilization, 877.) In a time of expansion, commercial interest became more important than those of nation-state. Rivalries eventually split Europe’s biggest powers into two separate alliances with Germany, Austria and Italy together and then France, Great Britain and Russia on the other side. This added a significant amount of tension between the territories. As a series of conflicts arose between the alliances, it became important that the nation-states save face...
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...Causes of the First World War This document was written by Stephen Tonge. I am most grateful to have his kind permission to include it on the web site. Europe Before 1914: the Main Powers Triple Entente | Name | Head of State | Allies | Disputes | Britain | King George V (1901-1936) Constitutional Monarchy | France, Russia | Naval arms race economic rivalry with Germany | France | President Raymond Poincaire Parliamentary Democracy | Britain, Russia | Wanted the return of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany | Russia | Tsar Nicholas II (1894-1917) Monarchy | Britain, France | Rivals with Austria for control of the Balkans Strained relations with Britain. | Triple Alliance | Germany | Kaiser William II (1888-1918) Constitutional Monarchy | Italy, Austria- Hungary. | Rivals with France over Alsace, Britain over her navy. | Austria- Hungary | Kaiser Franz Joseph (1848-1916) Constitutional Monarchy | Italy, Germany | Rivalry with Russia over the Balkans, Territorial disputes with her ally, Italy | Italy | King Victor Emmanuel III (1900-1946) Constitutional Monarchy | Austria, Germany | Disputes with France in North Africa large Italian communities lived in the Austrian Empire. | The direct cause of WWI was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. However historians feel that a number of factors contributed to the rivalry between the Great powers that allowed war on such a wide-scale to break out. A major...
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...Germany’s Role in the Causes of World War I World War I (1914 – 1918) was a major war centered on Europe but rippled all around world. This conflict involved all of the world’s great powers at the time and many other countries. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized. More than 9 million combatants were killed. It was said to be the most damaging war in the European history (World War I Records). Whether Germany should be blamed for the outbreak of World War I is contestable. In my opinion, World War I is actually much more complicated than just the expansion of industry, colony, and military of Germany. Germany did not bear the sole and total responsibility for it because other Western powers actively took part in this predatory war. More likely, WWI is not only a result of competition among few great powers, but also one of the inevitable outcomes of the development of capitalism in the world. After Frankfurt Assembly made the decision for the “Lesser Germany” which was led by Prussia, Germany began to enter an industrial era and eventually developed to the widespread industrial expansion. The victories of three wars over Denmark, Austria, and France finally led to a unified Germany and created a large domestic market which provided a solid ground for development of industrial capitalism. Under the leadership of Bismarck, Germany experienced strong economic growth and rapid industrialization. Resources were spent on scientific...
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...World War I was caused by competitions for power and resources by the empires, and the conclusion of the war resulted in the destruction of the empires, particularly the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary Empire. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire allowed many Middle East countries to be self-governed, while the West such as Great Britain and France had more interest in Europe than in the Middle East enabled the former to play a dominant role of colonization in the region. This seeded confrontation between two different civilizations, resulting in chaos later and to a large extent helping shape the Middle East in today's world. This paper attempts to examine this history arguing how the Ottoman Empire declined and eventually dissolved at the end of WWI. It shows that the internal problems of the Empire, such as its backward political and economic system, failed to compete with the increasing influence of the Western European countries, whose government was more efficient and more industrialized than the former, in the Middle East. The paper starts with a discussion of the contemporary situation in the Empire, and then deals with the problems that led to the conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the European powers over the Middle East during WWI. It finally analyzes how the defeat of the Ottomans and the increasing British and French dominance in the Middle East laid the ground for today's conflicts in the region between the Arabic states and the Jewish nation, which...
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...‘Made in St Petersburg’. Discuss this assessment of the outbreak of general European war in 1914. The spark that led directly to the outbreak of war was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. The events that took place in Europe prior to 1914 have to be focused upon as being pivotal motives in the outbreak of war. Russia deeply influenced and played a key role in the outbreak of World War One, but it is difficult to say she was the sole cause. The different alliance groups, Nationalism, economic stability, domestic tensions and the divergent Foreign Policies in the Central European countries were collectively the reasons that brought about a general European war. Russia’s history preceding 1914 constituted to the decision making of the July Crisis. The Russo-Japanese war of 1904 left Russia defeated and powerless both economically and militarily. [1]‘Russia suffered 400,000 casualties, lost two of its three fleets and denuded its western frontier fortifications of troops and armaments.’ The defeat to Japan caused Russia a major embarrassment and Russia was intent on building up her military strength for the countries social security. By 1910 the ‘Small Program’ followed by the 1913 launch of the ‘Great Program’ enabled Russia to add additional spending to the army and military but Russia’s military strength still lacked its initial power. World War One may have been a way in for Russia to regain her losses...
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...decline of the Ottoman Empire. What factors explain this process? What attempts at reform did the Ottomans undertake? (Bentley & Ziegler, chap.31) 5. Learn how and why Japan became industrialized (make sure you review your notes on the movie; Meiji Transformation). Learn also about hollow modernization of the Latin American countries. (Also Bentley & Ziegler pp. 724-728, 634-636 & chapter 30) 6. Definition, causes, and geopolitical scope and the result of the New Imperialism. (Class notes and read also, Bentley & Ziegler, Chapter 32) 7. African and Asian responses to Western Imperialism: Armed resistance and modernizing efforts. (Class notes) 8. Learn about the causes of World War I. How was it a global and modern war? Major consequences of the war for both Europe and the wider world. (Class notes and also, Bentley & Ziegler, Chapter33) 9. Learn about the rise of Fascism in Europe. (Review your class notes and read also, Bentley & Ziegler, chap.34) 10. Examine the causes and implications of the Great/Global Depression. Why was the Depression so widespread and so devastating? How did different countries respond to the Depression? What would be the long-term consequences of the...
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...It’s debatable whether Germany was primarily responsible for the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914. The argument most commonly raised by historians is that Germany hold the most responsibility for the outbreak as they alone had the power to withdraw its “blank cheque” which offered unconditional support to Austria should they choose to invade Serbia. As Fritz Fischer and many other historians believe that Germany favoured a war as they were keen to showcase their strength as a nation and become the number one world power, evidence of this is shown by their aggressive foreign policy Kaiser Wilhelm II enforced in the years leading up to the war. The Fischer thesis also supports this view. However there were also other events in the build up to the war that were out of Germany’s hands...
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...Christians 2. Croats- The Croatian people are Catholic Christians 3. Bosniaks- The Bosniaks are Muslim The two main actors in this conflict originally came from Croatia and Serbia which were all part of Yugoslavia and Russian controlled at one point in time. There is some primordialism overtones in this conflict however, “it is almost impossible for people in the region to trace the ethnic line of most inhabitants”(Jesse &Williams, 2011, p.146), and due to intermarriage between the Croats and Serbians in the region, there are no “physical differences among people of different ethnic origins”(Harvey, 2000, pp.42-43). It seems that everything that I read tells me that the Croats and Serbs were very similar in culture. Social constructionist sees that are three major contributors to the outbreak of the war in Bosnia: * Economic, political and military threats to the identity and/or existence of ethnic group attachments. * Elites with political skills and resources to play on those fears. * Third...
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