The causes of world war one
This is a map of Europe before 1914, as you can see the Austro-Hungarian Empire dominates what is now much of southern Germany and the Balkans. Germany is what we know presently as northern Germany and Poland. You may also have noticed that England, Scotland, Wales, and Eire made up the United Kingdom. Russia has a vast empire, a massive army (even though it is extremely poorly equipped, and trained). This was all changed by the First World War. The causes of world war one There are many reasons as to why the First World War actually took place, hardly any of them seem of great consequence when examined individually, however when examined together they do seem fairly major, but in my opinion don't merit a world war. Germany and France had a great rivalry after the wars of 1871 in which France lost the colonies of Alsange and Coraing to Prussia. France and it's people bitterly wand to have their revenge over Germany. Great Britain and Germany were also engaged in a hostile race to have the larger navy. This was heightened when Britain released a fleet of dreadnaughts which were the most lethal ships of warfare that the world had ever seen. The five major powers Great Britain At the start of the twentieth century Great Britain had the richest and largest empire in the world. Britain had the most trade and the largest navy on the planet. This had all happened under the
Historiographical analysis of World War One
World War One, the first worldwide destructive conflict manifested by Western civilization, has been a subject of countless analysis and interpretations dedicated to the cause of the conflict. Initially the blame was laid on Germany and its allies. Over time historians have adapted broader guilt perspectives which include various interacting factors. Using three historians: Fritz Fischer, Gehrard Ritter and Konrad Jarausch, the transition from total German guilt to a broader blame scenario can be analyzed. The German historian, Fritz Fischer provides what many consider the most skeptical analysis of the causes of World War One. Through examples that include: German actions in the Moroccan crisis and the attempts to secure an alliance with Britain, Fischer stated that Germany wanted a war and had been planning for war since the early twentieth century. He states that in causing a war Germany had hoped to become a world power. Fischer puts emphases on Germany's "blank cheque" to Austria. "...could 'count on Germany's full support' even in the case of 'grave European complications'; Germany, 'loyal as ever to her ally', would stand by Austria even should the Serbian conflict lead to war between Austria and Russia." (Fischer p.53)1 Fischer believes this "blank cheque" was strategically given in order to give the Austrians the confidence needed to attack the Serbians after
The Beginning of World War One
The Beginning of World War One On the 28th June 1914, a Serbian, Gavrilo Princip shot the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. That shot sparked off a War that claimed the lives of around 10 million people. That war was called World War One. 28th June 1914 Sarajevo, Bosnia Sarajevo, a city in Bosnia was the centre of world attention during June 1914. Bosnia was part of Austro-Hungary but many of the people there were Serbs who wanted to be ruled by the neighbouring state Serbia. Serbia wanted to expand its country and wanted to control Bosnia. Most Serbs would do anything to attack Austro-Hungary, who also wanted an excuse to attack Serbia. This chance came when a Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, who was 18 at the time, shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Gavrilo was a member of the Black Hand Gang and had previously failed in two attempts that same day to kill the Archduke. He took his opportunity though, just as he was about to give up, when the driver took a wrong turning and he soon shot the Archduke and his wife. Austro-Hungary blamed Serbia for the murder and prepared its forces for attack. The next month they declared war on Serbia. July 5th 1914 Germany's position The Austrian government wanted to know whether Germany would support a war against Serbia if the Russians joined in. They needed this help because they
The Poetry of World War One
The Poetry of WWI My study aims to cover the key points of the poetry written during and about the first world war and the various factors which may have influenced it. We will start with 'Drummer Hodge' which was written during the Boer war by a writer named Thomas Hardy. The poem offers an unusual view of war which isn't often seen elsewhere. Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy The poem is an existentialist paradox - Hodge was an unimportant figure in a major war and is representative of the thousands of casualties of the battle. The poem begins ambiguously. "They" could refer to either friend or foe. Their identity is not as important as their attitude towards Hodge. Hodge is "thrown" into a pit "just as found", without a coffin and presumably without a service. His "homely Northern breast and brain" suggests Hodge was a simple, modest sort, but a valuable human nonetheless. Unlike the other poems, Drummer Hodge is very structured and never changes it's six-line "1-2-1-2-1-2" form as opposed to Brooke's and Owens use of octaves and sestets. Hardy uses Roman numerals to separate each stanza and to provide a classical feel to the poem. The mood of the piece is somewhat sympathetic towards the subject. Hodge could be anybody but is used as an example of the unfairness of war. In the second part of the poem, Hodge is referred to as being "fresh" -- like a child to
Which of the Five Reasons were the most Influential in the Bringing about Germany's Defeat in World War One?
Which of the Five Reasons were the most Influential in the Bringing about Germany's Defeat in World War One? In my opinion it was due to the poor leadership and planning that caused Germany to loose the First World War. The breakdown of the Schlieffen plan that was supposed to be foolproof and Kaiser Weilhelms reluctantly to involve his rich friends in industry that caused them to loose the war. The failure of alternative strategies, the submarine warfare, and the final collapse of Germany's final offence were only results of previous failures. It was hardly any surprise that the Schlieffen plan failed. The plan was to surround Paris by going through Belgium in the hope that Russia would take a while to mobilise. However, this plan was decided considerable time before the tart of the war. Things had changed and Russia was quicker to mobilise than originally thought. What Germany also didn't realise was the England had an agreement with Belgium from the beginning of the nineteen hundreds that if Belgium was under attack England would intervene and assist. Germanys failure to realise this and not have a back up plan just in case, left them doomed from then on. If the Schlieffen plan had not failed then there would have been no reason to need back up plans. However it did fail and the alternative strategies also failed. It is possible that if Germany had an effective
Did Germany cause World War One?
Did Germany cause World War One? The polarities of the question on War origins can be summed up in two phrases: Germany planned and caused the War and The nations of Europe stumbled into War. Between these two extremes is a broad central position which, historians have been debating for years. While no one nation can entirely hold responsibility for the War, some nations hold more responsibility than others. For centuries, historians have had swinging opinions on the matter. In the 1920s and 30s, German historians managed to turn the page and succeeded in proving the 'War guilt', announced in 1919, at the treaty of Versailles, as being unfair. Naturally, later in the 1940s British historians found ways to prove the German historians of the 20s and 30s wrong. More recently, in the 1960s a German historian, Fritz Fischer, renewed accusations for German responsibilities for War, basing them on German expansionist aims from early in the century. At no point is Germany the sole carrier of responsibility for the War, but from all perspectives, Germany is by far the most contributing. The German responsibility out balances all other nations. Many historians, reflecting on the War, have taken a traditional viewpoint that, 'All the governments were responsible for tension, which exploded at the July crisis of 1914.' But not all governments were equally responsible. The German
The Causes of World War One
The Causes of World War One Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 at the hands of a Serbian nationalist secret society set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world's first global war. Since then Balkan crisis is seen as one of the several reasons of the outbreak of world war one. To determine whether this factor over whelmed other reasons we have to examine both the long-standing rivalries between the powers and also the situations in Balkan during the time. At first going through the long-standing rivalries between the great powers it will be seen texpansions in Asia and Africa. In the late 19th century European nations started to realize the necessity to put formal political control on their semi-autonomous, and independent colonies. The motive for such action was partly the rise of nationalist feelings amongst the native population and partly the growths of industrialization in Europe, which required new markets for manufactured goods. In Africa su t examples of Imperial tensions. According to historian A.J.P Taylor Germany during this time tended to intimidate Britain in Asia and in Africa to compel Britain to accept greater German dominance in Europe, thus suggesting a link between imperial conflicts and rise of tension in Europe. However such increase in tensions resulted into formation of
World War One History Coursework Q1
World War One History Coursework Question One The British Army at the beginning of the war was small in comparison to other countries involved. In 1914, Britain had 975,000 soldiers including reservists. France had over four million and Germany four and a half. To solve this shortage in numbers, Lord Kitchener, the war minister, began a recruitment campaign to boost numbers in the army. The first and most obvious reason for British men enlisting was the use of propaganda by the British government. The series of adverts that were published played on the emotions of men and this may have caused them to enlist. The advert to the left is a typical example of the adverts published by the British government during the war period. This advert suggests that brave British men who are "friends" should join the army and fight. Many of the men who enlisted at the time were not educated to a great extent so playing on their emotions was a definite way to manipulate and get men to enlist e.g. the case of William Dove: "They showed the Fleet sailing the high seas and played 'Britons Never Shall Be Slaves' and 'Hearts Of Oak'. And you know one feels that little shiver run up the back and you know you have got to do something." Pressure from women also persuaded men to enlist. Suffragists and ordinary women convinced men to go to the front against their better judgement. It was women who
The Poetry of World War One
The first world war may have been a time of great suffering and pain for thousands but it was also a time that gave inspiration to some of the greatest poets and helped them write some of the greatest war poetry ever written. In this essay I will look at how the style of poetry and the attitude of the poets changed over the course of the war. The first poem that I'm going to look at is Jessie Pope's who's for the game. Jessie wrote poems for the daily mail she was hated by poet Wilfred Owen for her lack of feeling for soldiers on the western front and the way she supported the war from the safety of the home front. The poem who's for the game is a poem that was written to encourage young men to sign up for the army and help their country in the war. The poem treats war as a game like football or rugby, it starts who's for the game the biggest that's played, this is a total lack of understanding for what war is really like. She calls war a picnic and makes men feel like cowards if they didn't sign up. The volunteer was another poem written to make men sign up for the war. It was written by Herbert Asquith, about a man who all his life had a boring job until he went away to fight for his country. Although he died all his dreams are now complete as he has died with honour and he will go to join the great soldiers of the past. As the course of the war went on the attitude of
The Causes of World War One
The Causes of World War One David Reynolds, 3H The most important reason World War One broke out is the Alliance System. The Alliance system caused other countries such as Germany (The Central Powers) to be intimidated. These Alliances caused other things to happen like the arms races and colonial rivalry. These were minor causes. The Alliances, The Triple Entente: France, Russia and Britain and the Central Powers: Germany, Italy and Austro-Hungary, were competing against each other for power. The Alliances were only meant to be an agreement to protect a country, in that agreement, from attack, not to gang up, provoke and attack other countries. That was what it was looking like as all the different countries made plans for invasion. Germany was planning to attack France and when they crushed the French they would turn and crush Russia before it was able to mobilise. This was called the Schlieffen Plan. It failed because The Russian army had mobilised as it was helping Serbia defend itself against Astro-Hungary. Britain had not wanted any part in the war, but were dragged in by the fact that Germany had ignored Britain's order to withdraw from Belgium. This leads to the fact that if the Alliances had not of been signed all the countries would not have been intimidated they wouldn't have drawn up war plans, the arms race wouldn't have happened. Even if the plans had been
