Many developments in the beginning of the twentieth century set the stage for the outbreak of war. The primary cause of WWI is a highly debated topic, as many intertwining factors together produced the most devastating war the world had seen thus far. A few of these factors include the intensification of a new system of alliances, militarism, western modernity, imperialism, nationalism, competition over the Balkans, and, the immediate cause, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Expansion of political participation to new group voters, party members and activists due to internal conflicts was an essential factor to the initiation of the first “European civil war”, a term introduced by economist John Maynard Keynes (Smith, 161). …show more content…
French workers shut down the railway system in 1911 (Smith, 93). In Russia, strikes crippled the gold mines, oil fields, textile factories, electric works, and rubber companies (Smith, 93). In Ireland, protests erupted over two centuries under British rule (Smith, 94). Demand for reform by socialist parties and labor unions persuaded European governments to begin enacting legislations to help out the lower classes. This was, in part, due to the rise in popularity of Marxist thought, which argued that the working poor were being exploited, employed with poor wages and work conditions. “Modernity entailed the waning power of the aristocracy because of the spread of suffrage to men of all classes” (Smith, 78). The rise of the masses has been denoted as a “crisis of liberalism”, turning much of the working class towards socialism. Modern historians have drawn attention to the influence of the internal politics on the action of the great powers. At the time, in Germany, Austria, Russia, Italy, and France, socialism began to take hold. The ruling classes in these countries hoped for a short victorious war that would end class differences, little did they know the extensive, bloody battle that would …show more content…
The years previous to the slaughter of World War I permanently altered the European landscape, demanding new state borders and “ethnically homogenous territories in southeastern Europe undermined the the stability of the old European order (Naimark, 17).” Insisting on identifying ethnic groups and concretizing difference and otherness with hopes of banishment, “the modern state” or “high modernism” created new state ideologies. Scientific and technological achievement allowed for “ethnic-cleansing” in many nations. One of Naimark’s arguments is that “ethnic-cleansing” is both viable and useful for the understanding of the violent events in the course of the twentieth century (Naimark, 3). With this advance in technology, minorities can now be tracked down using passport lists, village censuses, and tax rolls, where you find ethnicity and religion was collected by state employees (Smith, 9). The justification for deportation was imbedded in modern mass media, as propaganda was used to both bolster nationalism among civilians and support deportation of internal enemies (Smith, 9). Modernity “created a demand for racism; an era that declared achievement to be the only measure of human worth needed a theory of ascription to redeem boundary-drawing and boundary-guarding concerns under new conditions which made boundary-crossing easier than ever before. Racism, in short, is a
In fact, sometimes it is actively encouraged as part of preserving the culture and the traditional aspects of the nation in question; for example, routine celebrations of national holiday and the wearing of cultural clothing demonstrate moderate forms of nationalism. However, it is when extreme pride in one’s nation leads to acts that contravene common decency that the forces of nationalism become dangerous. A historical example of such an event was the Bosnian war and the resulting Bosnian genocide that occurred shortly after the partition of Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s. In this event, extreme Serbian nationalism called for the unity of the Serbian peoples in Bosnia-Herzegovina - an event that echoes the words of the source. Serbian leaders and followers believed that their culture and people were superior to that of the neighbouring ethnic groups - the Bosniaks and the Croatians - and thought that they needed to be eliminated because of the potential threat they posed to the establishment of an autonomous Serbian Republic, or “Greater Serbia”. In the course of the war, and the ethnic cleansing that followed, more than 100,000 Bosniaks and Croatians were to be killed in a mass act of genocide. This appalling and gruesome figure shows the extent to which extreme nationalism is unacceptable and how unification of a people by force is both detrimental and wrong on all
The time period from 1860 to 1914 is defined by the surfacing of the "mass societies." The social order practically ignored the industrial proletariat and the foundation for a reform was laid. The industrial proletariat refers to all the workers who desperately depended on their wages. These people had absolutely no role in politics or in society in general. Even as late as 1860, the workers had to depend on themselves only to improve their social conditions. During the Industrial Revolution, as the number of machines mu...
The American people thought they had captured the idea of “the shot heard around the world” when the first shot was fired in the American Revolution. The idea was then redefined when Gavrilo Princip shot and killed the Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife. This one shot of violence began a “war to end all wars.” However, what were the hidden reasons that started World War I. How could two small countries petty affairs start a war so large that in the end countries from every civilized continent would take part? Through the different alliances, acts of imperialism, -- the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies (Dictionary.com), militarism, -- the principle or policy of maintaining a large military establishment (Dictionary.com), and nationalism, -- the policy or doctrine of asserting the interests of one's own nation, viewed as separate from the interests of other nations or the common interests of all nations (Dictionary.com), these many countries had set a stage for a cataclysmic end.
The changes which arose by way of the Industrial Revolution had a significant and long-term impact on the economy, the political arena, and society. Because of all the negative changes caused by industrialization and urbanization the Europeans wanted and needed answers on how to deal with these changes. Society was now divided into different classes the upper-middle class (wealthy) and the lower class (working), “Although reform organizations grew rapidly in the 1830s and 1840s, many Europeans found them insufficient to answer the questions raised by industrialization and urbanization” (Hunt 703). The rich was getting richer at the expense of the workers and with the issues and concerns building “New ideologies such as liberalism and socialism offered competing answers to these questions and provided the platform for new political movements” (Hunt 703). The communist wanted the working class to rise, the division of different classes to go away as well as private property, so they wrote a manifesto, The Communist Manifesto (1848) a collaboration between Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels “laid out many of the central principles that would guide Marxist revolution in the future: they insisted that all history is shaped by class struggle” (Hunt 708).
Thus began the emergence of Socialist and Communist activism within Ireland. For example, the Socialist Republican Party of Ireland formed in 1889 (Connolly 13). However, this growing need for socialism in Ireland was in stark contrast to the capitalist economy employed by England at the time (Colum 54). As a result of the Industrial Revolution in the 1850’s, capitalism spread quickly throughout much of Europe. At the center of the capitalist boom was England. Many cities in England at the time were very industrialized and still are to this day. Manchester and Liverpool were the centers of English industry. In fact, Leon Trotsky, a very powerful leader in the Russian Revolution, wrote a book entitled, Where is Britain Going? The book documented the troubles with British capitalism (Crawford). Moreover, the English prevented the Irish from keeping a fair amount of what they did produce (Connolly 153). Ireland is not nearly as rich with resources as the British, so that furthered the need for government support.
While the Congress of Vienna largely achieved its goal of military peace among European states in the nineteenth century, ideological and social conflicts took shape within and among these states. Responding to the Industrial Revolution, writers of the time encouraged workers to unite against oppression and demand the rights they deserved. Though this call to action was widespread, not everyone shared the same vision of how these goals ought to be achieved. Specifically, while many sought to evade or destroy the influence of mainstream capitalist society in order to improve workers’ standards of living, in The Workers’ Union, Flora Tristan seems to imagine a workers’ revolution that would work within the current laws and use the existing political structure to its advantage.
In today’s society, it is acknowledgeable to assert that the concepts of race and ethnicity have changed enormously across different countries, cultures, eras, and customs. Even more, they have become less connected and tied with ancestral and familial ties but rather more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. Moreover, a great deal can be discussed the relationship between ethnicity and race. Both race and ethnicity are useful and counterproductive in their ways. To begin, the concept of race is, and its ideas are vital to society because it allows those contemporary nationalist movements which include, racist actions; to become more familiar to members of society. Secondly, it has helped to shape and redefine the meaning of
The rise of European nationalism in the 19th Century brought with it an overabundance amount of change that would definitively modify the course of history. The rise of nationalism in one country would rouse greater nationalism in another, which would in turn, motivate even greater nationalism in the first, progressively intensifying the cycle that eventually concluded in a World War. Nationalism as an ideology produced international competition which inspired absolute allegiance to an individual’s nation state. The ideology was fueled by industrial commerce and imperialistic developments which led to nation-states pursuits of outcompeting rival nations.
It may seem like wars start abruptly, with little cause, but usually there is a bigger story. New policies, lack of equality, military influence, and too much government involvement usually stir up the peace initially. These turn the country or area into a ‘powder keg’, ready to explode into war at the smallest spark. Although the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand was the spark of World War I, policies at the time like nationalism and militarism were the underlying causes of the war.
Nationalism has played a crucial role in world history over the past centuries. It continues to do so today. For many, nationalism is indelibly associated with some of the worst aspects of modern history, such as the destructive confidence of the Napoleon’s army and the murderous pride of Nazi Germany. Large numbers of people, descent in their hearts, have carried out unbelievable atrocities for no better reason than their nation required them to. Authoritarian and totalitarian regime have crushed dissent, eliminated opposition, and trampled on civil liberties in the name of the nation.
Muhammad Ali, a famous boxer, once said, “Hating People because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. I’s just plain wrong” (Goodreads, 2015). For many centuries, ethnic conflict between the humans have existed immortally due the never changing differences of culture and values, spinning the cycle of war. Fortunately, some have ended however some still remain immortal in the eyes of those who have experience struggle to this date. The lack of awareness of problems in a cultural crisis concerning those who fall victim to a system and society that discriminates and alienates. With assistance of Critical Race Theory, this essay will examine how the role of race with has affected has caused consequences within the lives of marginalized groups within society through the lives and their relationship with those in their communities.
Europe has seen many wars over its vast and broad history, some of which being quite immense and destructive. One such war would undoubtedly be World War One. A war powered by the brainwashing ways of militarism and the stubborn pride of nationalism. Once engaged in a war a country’s militarism will produce fine soldier ready to drop like dominos on the battlefield, while the nationalism works as fuel providing the naive determination to fight the war. This naïve determination and soldier production is why World War One, like every other war, continued with such persistency. But what started World War One? Was it militarism that trained young men since they were kids to become soldiers, nationalism propelling a nations pride forward or was it neither? While both of those aspects could be potential reasons their still not the main pillars of cause. The true reason’s that made World War One inevitable were the intimidating alliances, avaricious imperialism, and tedious tensions.
There were several long-term events that led to the outbreak of World War One. The most prominent factors include: nationalism, militarism, imperialism, the Balkan and Morocco crises, and the alliance system. Ironically, these things were either started in response to, or upheld because of, one of the other factors. The alliance system was one of the last factors to emerge before the war. Consequentially, the contributions of this system to the beginning of the Great War have to be considered. Although the alliance system was a main cause of the First World War, it arose because of several other factors, and did not cause the war single handedly.
According to Fromkin, the origins of the First World War may be attributed mainly to the balance of power that was taking place in Europe at the time the war began (215). He argues that there was no other major reason or provocation
If we define “Total War” as a type of warfare that affects and involves every part of a society, then World War I can be argued to be the first attempt by military and political leaders to engage in such a conflict. Modernity was at Europe’s door thus leading to the inventions and innovations that would allow for war on a scale, and of a scope, that had never before been considered. Yet, it was not the fact that these innovations and technologies existed, or that specific conflicts necessitated war, but rather that the political and military elite, coming out of an age of pompous militarism, made decisions based on previous experiences and not on future possibilities. These decisions had an adverse affect not only on the outcome of the war politically (as far as treaties and borders were concerned), but it affected individuals at a grassroots level creating a subsequent era of distrust, listlessness, and eventual aggressive feelings creating the perfect storm out of which Nazism could rise.