The Main Strengths and Weaknesses of the Major Powers of 20th Century At the beginning of the 20th century the five main powers in Europe
were Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and Austria-Hungary. On 28th
June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of
Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Within six
weeks most of Europe was at war. Leading up to this war the five main
powers were all at different levels. In this essay I will discuss the
strengths and weaknesses of these five powers leading up to this war
taking into consideration the different factors such as economy,
military and political.
Germany had improved vastly from the 1850s and was, by the early 20th
century, the second most powerful country in Europe behind Britain, if
not the most powerful. One factor that influenced this dramatic change
was their improvement in industry. They had the second largest coal
production to that of Great Britain but their annual steel production
exceeded that of Britain by more than 10 million tonnes so this was a
great strength. This was also a strength for Great Britain, she too
had a strong industry, with the second largest annual steel production
and the largest coal production. By 1914 Russia had industrialised and
the production of coal, oil, textiles and steel grew rapidly.
After World War II, Europe emerged as a continent torn between two very different political ideologies, Communism and Democracy. As the two major superpowers, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States, struggled to defend their respective governmental policies, the European Continent was caught in an intrinsic struggle to preserve the autonomy which had taken so long to achieve. During the Cold War, Eastern European nations struggled to achieve autonomy with the help of the West's dedication to break the Soviet sphere of influence. After the disintegration of the USSR, the struggle for autonomy among nations shifted from an intense, inward, nationalistic struggle to break away from a superpower to a commitment of international unity and cooperation as nations began to take moral and political responsibility for their actions.
This was definitely a tough predicament for Europe to be in. In the aftermath of World War I, literally tens of millions were mortally wounded and missing, there were devastating effects on morale and view towards war, which would make most any weakened society ...
details the causes of the first World war and describes the first month of the war. The book clearly illustrates how a local war became an entire European struggle by a call to war against Russia. Soon after the war became a world issue.
world war, where it plunged into the war as soon as the United Kingdom got involved, in the
In the mid 18th century many different powers in Europe were trying to spread their influence and gain global power. However, this was not without difficulty. There were many regional issues that these powers needed to overcome such as economic complications, struggles with native and conquered peoples, and competing with other European powers.
2 Charles S. Maier, ed., The Cold War in Europe: Era of a divided Continent (New York: Markus Wiener Publishing, Inc., 1991) 27.
World War One was the first major war that was fought in mainly in Europe, and parts of Asia. The war lasted from July 28th, 1914 to November 11th, 1928. There were over a hundred nations involved not only from Europe, but from Asia, Africa, Central America, North America and many Island nations. There were millions of casualties fighting in slow moving trench warfare , and many battles were also fought at sea.
World War 1 was the First World War and it happened in Europe it lasted from July 28, 1914, to November 11, 1918.Many people died and many people were let traumatized, over fifteen million people killed and twenty million wounded.The assassinations made Europe mad because they didn't know who did it and began to fight.Europeans wanted a balanced power, Alliances started to form.Some causes of the World War one include Militarism, Imperialism, Alliance system.
Over the course of the history of the United States, specific foreign policies have affected the methods in which the U.S. involves itself around the globe. Specifically, certain policies have affected U.S. involvement in Latin America.
After the Second World War, America came out of the war with the responsibility of being the “superpower” of the world. In the past America would never get involved in foreign affairs however after World War Two things had changed. Since America was considered the most powerful natio...
In 1914, Europe was diving into two separate powers. One was Triple Entente composed of France, Russia and Britain. Other one was Triple Alliance, consists of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. (Pope 2) Each of the countries was connected with different treaties. The caused of European countries’ unstable political situation and threat of war was present. By arranging alliances with other governments, most countries found ways to protect themselves from assault. While Germany was becoming the center of the struggle, Europe made a spider web of tangled alliance that led most countries into two opposing powers. (Hamilton 16) In the late nineteenth century, the most surprising event in Europe was the birth of united state of Germany. Under the leadership of the Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, system of alliances was established to achieve peace in Europe. By 1890, Bismarck succeeded in having every major power into his alliance system...
The Brink of War In 1914, there were many things that placed Europe at the brink of war. Nationalism, militarism, imperialism, social Darwinism, and Jingoes are five of the main forces that were pushing Europe to the brink of war. Another main force was the development of Alliance systems. These ideas and systems threatened the balance of power, which could then cause a major war to break out. In Europe at the time, there were many ideas which were causing friction.
The society could not support a long war. The First World War left no aspect of European civilization untouched as pre-war governments were transformed to fight total war. The war metamorphed Europe socially, politically, economically, and intellectually. European countries channeled all of their resources into total war, which resulted in enormous social change. The result of working together for a common goal seemed to be unifying European societies.
After World War II devastated and shocked the world with its horrors and death toll, the need for power consumed the minds of several people. During World War II, countries were fighting to have control and wanted to be considered superior to others or be known as superpowers. After World War II, only two superpowers remained; the United States and the Soviet Union. In the Cold War, they will continue to fight for this superiority over one another, but the cause changed everything. The Cold War was caused by Germany’s and Europe’s division between democracy and communism and the want for superiority by several nations, which affected several nations politically, socially, and economically throughout the world by affecting the government and the people as a result of the war.
Within Europe, imperialism occurred at the height of industrialization. As European countries were discovering more about the sciences and mass production benefits via industrialization, a demand and competition for more land and produce was developing, and this would create the tension needed to begin the First World War. Germany and Great Britain were two powerful European countries that had been trying to establish control in Africa and Asia, two countries that were not as strong as them, and relatively vulnerable. Due to rebellions of the native people and interferences by each other and other countries, they were not entirely successful. This lack of cooperation between European countries in the attempt to govern and control weaker states so as to use their products for trade caused tension, and finally after it built up to a certain point, war was the only option left.