Examine the Main Causes of the First World War
Causes of the First World War The First World War was a global armed conflict that occurred in 1914, triggered by a series of long term and short term events it became known as one of the most important wars in history as empires were broken, new countries arose victories and the first attempts were made to establish world peace. Unfortunately, whilst the affects of the First World War are rarely debated, its causes range in number and importance. [a]This essay will illustrate some of the main causes for the outbreak of what became known as ‘The Great War’ by [b]using the acronym MANIAC (Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, Assassination, Crises).[c] Militarism is a belief that a country should upkeep its militant integrity and assert aggressive power if needed. This belief applied strongly to the new rising power in Europe in 1900s. With a few marginal changes, the ‘Great Powers’ of Europe were much the same as they had been for the previous two centuries, but the balance between them had changed radically. The most powerful of all was now the German Empire, created under the authoritarian structure of Bismarck who unified the German Empire under the Kingdom of Prussia as a result of its victorious wars of 1866 against the Austrian Empire and 1870 against France. France had been reduced by her defeat to second-rank status and resented it whilst Austria -
The French Revolution
The French Revolution: Napoleon Bonaparte Revolutionary Anarchist or True Emperor of France? Sarah Zaidi Mr. Winegarden CHY4U 8/05/2010 During the Hundred Days Napoleon defended his past illiberal actions on political necessity. "I am not an enemy of liberty," he said, "but I set it aside when it obstructed my way." Indeed he did set it aside, altering thoughts and beliefs, and imposing absolute political authority. His selection of individuals for government titles and attempt at recreating a heritable dynasty, were policies much closer to the practice of the Ancien Regime than those of the Revolution. The use of censorship and propaganda and the activities of the police all played a part in the establishment and maintenance of the Napoleonic state. However, it quickly became evident that his actions were undeniably at the expense of liberty and equality. Napoleon was not able to maintain the ideals of the Revolution, as he re-established the aristocracy and his dictatorship mirrored policies that were present during the Ancien Regime. During Napoleon's period in rule, the press was expected to act as the unquestioning voice of the government and the outlet for their official propaganda. Napoleon wrote, "The newspapers are always ready to seize on anything which might undermine public tranquility...Newspapers...announce and prepare revolutions and in the end make them
The Great Depression
The Great Depression began in October 1929, when the stock market in the United States dropped rapidly. Thousands of investors lost large sums of money and many lost everything. The crash led us into the Great Depression. The period of the great depression ranked as the longest and worst period of high unemployment and low business activity in modern times. Banks, stores, and factories were closed and left millions of Americans jobless, homeless, and broke. Many people came to depend on the government or charity to provide them with food. There were several causes of the great depression including bank failures, the stock market crash, and unequal distribution of wealth, economic policies, overproduction, and drought conditions. The 3 major cause of the depression was the stock market crash, bank failures, and distribution of wealth The stock market crash of 1929 helped trigger weaknesses of the American economy. On Black Tuesday, investors panicked and dumped an unprecedented 16 million shares. The increased buying of stocks damaged Americans' credit, made the effects of the stock market crash worse. As a result, within one month, American investors had lost tens of billions of dollars. If stockholders couldn't pay up, their stocks were sold, wiping out many an investor's ife savings in an instant. In total, $25 billion was lost in the 1929 crash. Stocks continued to fall
The Great Depression
Chris Jay Jay 1 IB History Of The Americas Ms. Foster (B) 23 March 2007 The Great Depression Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and the depression relief scheme of Brazil's Getulio Vargas were in some ways similar, but also in some ways different. Vargas's and Roosevelt's measures imparted to ordinary citizens, in most cases for the first time, the premise that government cared about them and would defend their interests. They were both created to try to get their country out of the depression and satisfy the needs of the ordinary citizen. However, these two leaders had some different ideas on how to do this. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal consisted of essentially two types of reforms; social and economic. One of the most important of his economic reforms was the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. The purpose of this act was to get people back permanently so they would be able to buy more goods which would simulate industry and help the economy to function normally again. Included in this act was the introduction of the Public Works Administration which provided money for the building of useful public works including dams, bridges, hospitals, roads, schools, and government buildings. The most important part of building all these things was it created several million extra jobs. Another important part of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933
The End of the Cold War.
Kunal Shah Mr. Muratore; MYP World History; Period 5 9 May 2010 Word Count: 1367 The Cold War's Conclusion On Christmas Day 1991, at 7:35 p.m., the Soviet flag flying over the Kremlin was lowered and replaced by the new Russian Federation flag. The USSR officially ceased to exist on December 31, 1991. The fall of the Soviet Union signified the end of the Cold War (Nye 2). Obviously, this was a huge moment in our world's history; a 44-year-old tension between two of the most powerful countries in the world, which almost brought us to a combative war, was destroyed. But how did something that seemed so improbable one decade previously occur so peacefully? The reform by Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan's coercion as well as reform, and the failures in the Soviet Union and its fall were factors that led to the end of the Cold War. First, we must analyze the decisions of Mikhail Gorbachev, who dissolved the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War. Gorbachev as a leader contributed by bringing Western ideals to Soviet Russia, ultimately thawing the conflict between the USSR and the United States and ending communism in Russia (Hogan 12). When he came to power, Gorbachev did not want to bring down the Soviet Union; he wanted to reform it while maintaining Communism (Gaddis 67). However his reforms not only made his relationship with the United States better, but his decisions
League of Nations
History assignment for week 37 Questions, page 53, chapter 3: The League of Nations. (a) Using the information in this chapter, make two lists: (i) ways in which the League of Nations can be said to have helped progress in international relations; (ii) ways in which the League of Nations did not help progress in international relations; * By establishing the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which had the purpose to improve conditions of labour and it succeeded. * By establishing the Health Organisation which investigated the causes of epidemics, and successfully combating a typhus epidemic in Russia, which was threatening Europe. * By establishing the Mandates Commission whom supervised the government of territories taken from Germany and Turkey. * (By establishing the Refugee Organisation which took care of the former prisoners of war stranded in Russia at the end of the war and after 1933 they gave help to the people fleeing from the Nazi persecution in Germany.) * The League of Nations decision-making concerning the quarrel between Finland and Sweden, the rival claims of Germany and Poland, when the Greeks invaded Bulgaria, when the Turkey claimed the province of Mosul and the squabbles that were settled between Peru and Columbia, and between Bolivia and Paraguay. * All the organisations provided an increase inside welfare, but not as much inside
League of Nations
Examine critically the structure and organisation of the League of Nations The League of Nations was an international organization created in 1919, in response to the devastation of WW1. The League arose from the Paris Peace Conference, forty two countries joined the League at the start and sixty three nations were members. The League managed to reduce diplomacy and alliances to an extent, it opened up new international relationships between states and the international organization. It encouraged peace and international cooperation between states. Living conditions like health and education were also improved. The League's aims were international peace and cooperation, to improve people's lives, to disarm countries, prevent war and enforce the Treaty of Versailles. However the League failed in most of their goals such as world peace, enforcing the treaty and disarming countries. There were major weaknesses in the League that caused its downfall. They can be classified into two categories: structure and organisation. Structure- "what a system is made of. It is a configuration of items. It is a collection of inter-related components or services." Organisation- "a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment." The leagues structure was made up of four different elements: the
The American Revolution
Monica Li Period 6 Essay 3 The American Revolution played an important part in American history. New ideas about equality and Enlightenment ideas regarding self-government motivated Americans to get rid of the control by Great Britain, seeking their independence and human rights. The factors which encourage Americans to gain their independence from Great Britain have many aspects. Psychologically, the Enlightenment, a cultural and thought movement took place in Europe in a very large scale in 18th century, overthrow the domination of feudality and establish their own "Republic of Reason". The Enlightenment inspired Americans to hanker for democracy and human rights; it prepared the psychological precursor for the American Revolution. The westward expansion took place in mid-1700s, the colonial population increased rapidly. The colonists realized they cannot continue to flourish if confined to eastern seaboard, so they began to push westward. European settlers moved into the interior of North America. The colonists' desire for more land raised tensions between the settlers and the Native American. The westward expansion prepared the economic precursor for the American Revolution. As for political aspect, the Great Awakening, which took place from 1720s to 1740s, not only revived people's religious convictions, but also energized them to speak for themselves and to rely less
The Causes of World War 1
History - Causes, Practices and Effects of World War 1 World War 1 (WW1) was a defining war in history because of its outcomes. However, it is one of the most unique wars because of the number of events that happened previously and that they were the cause of such a horrific conflict. There were many factors that contributed to the outbreak of the First World War, and many historians still dispute over the exact causes. Imperialism and the competition over colonies and territories was the major factor but was not fully responsible in causing 'The Great War'. 1 The other reasons that World War 1 started are varied and included many countries, some of these causes include, alliances, previous wars, nationalism and industrialism. A lot of the other causes developed because of a previous dispute over land and that is why this factor is so important in the start of World War 1. One of the main territorial disputes, and indeed one of the main causes WW1 started, was the many battles over Alsace-Lorraine. This bit of land is a territory that is situated right on the border of Germany and France, which the two nations had been fighting over for centuries and over many battles. The most recent conflict before the First World War was the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. This war 'created a new power at the heart of Europe'2 and was a major factor in the
Stalin's Rise to Power
Stalin, the "Man of Steel" is known for his use of terror during his legendary rule, the kind of leader that would stop at almost nothing to accomplish his goals. Ruthless, ambitious and cunning are among words commonly used to describe him. However, despite the fear he invoked among the people of Russia he did indeed start jump the economy and force the backward economy of Russia into the modern world of technology. With the two underlying themes of collectivization and industrialization he was able to give Russia the push which it lacked for so many years. The question of Stalin's adequacy as a state leader still remains. Even though there were drastic improvements in terms of the economy, the population of Russia was still quite distraught. During his rule there was famine, propaganda, poor living conditions and massive terror. This was due to the "iron fist" method of rule Stalin incorporated in his system of government. But why was it Stalin who took over control in Russia in the first place, at the time where Russia's policy and economy struggled the most? The Bolsheviks were not quite yet familiar with the aspects of controlling a government in 1917, when they found Russia in their hands. Lacking a firm structure Lenin needed organization within the party. He needed followers who would carry out orders to the very last details and who would not question his decisions.
