Often times the Second World War over shadows the First World War when it comes to discussing a total war because the First World War may be considered a limited war. A limited war has specific goals while a total war involves the entire nation and its destruction. An examination of pre-1914 events and events that occurred from 1914 to1918 reveal the ways in which the First World War was a total war.
Prior to the start of the war the dominant nations of Europe were preoccupied with their own dramatic, internal circumstances. France was attending to a major murder trial. Britain had issues with Ireland. Russia was trying to rebuild itself from the destruction of previous wars. German society was worried about the socialists. In Austria it was the Czechs versus Germans and in Hungary it was the Magyars versus Romanians. Serbia’s civilian government was not getting along with its military. Each of these internal conflicts caused the countries they took place in to become weaker because citizens were divided among themselves and taking sides. This allowed for a less unified nation. Time, resources, and money were being spent on internal conflicts. Most of all everyone’s attention was diverted to national issues rather than international issues. World War I was somewhat unexpected since everyone was focused on the affairs of their own country and assumed the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia would remain localized. Had the surrounding countries been more interested in the dealings of Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Germany they would have been able to stage an intervention, serving as mediators and dissuaded a hostile, Serbia from attacking the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy; and kept the monarchy from retaliating and the war fro...
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Germany and its citizens continued to be punished when the peace negotiations took place. The peace negotiations forced Germany to accept full responsibility for the war and required it to pay a large amount of money in reparations. These negotiations are important because the allied powers knew the requirements would be difficult for Germany to adhere to. It shows how even off the battle field the allied powers were determined to destroy Germany.
Analyzing the events prior to 1914 and the events that occurred from 1914 to 1918 is important because it explains the ways in which World War I was a total war. Beginning as a regional war and transforming into a world war, effecting nations who were both directly and indirectly involved in combat, and resulting in the devastation of Germany are all ways in which the First World War was a total war.
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Show MoreIn conclusion, Militarism, Imperialism, Nationalism, Alliances, and Assassinations all contributed to cause the World War 1 in 1914. World War 1 was four long and terrible years, which took millions of people lives. In addition, many soldiers died while fighting along the Western and Eastern Fronts. One month after Archduke Franz was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in 1914. The World War 1 wouldn’t had happened with the three main and most important cause which are, militarism, imperialism, and
Sister Claire Evelyn Trestrail was the eldest of five being born on the 10th of December, 1877 in Clare, South Australia. Trestrail served in the First World War as a nurse following in her mother’s footsteps who was a trained nurse, Acting Matron of King Edward Hospital in Perth and also had involvement within the Red Cross and the Saint John’s Ambulance Services. Trestrail’s younger siblings also had involvement within the First World War with her two younger brothers; John Henry and Amarald Glen, serving in the royal Flying Corps and respectively, 1 Machine Battalion. Amarald was also presented with a Military Medal for Gallantry at Villaret. Sister Ella also served as a nurse, got married, but tragically returned as an amputee. It was only her youngest sister Amy who did not serve during the war.
Wars have been around for centuries. A typical battle was fought on land. The infantry would line up and fire at the advancing enemy. World War I was first called "the Great War" because of the number of lives lost (Coetzee 11). There were approximately nine million deaths over the course of the four years the war lasted (11). World War I began because of the assassination of "Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne" (17). Tensions were high and war seemed the only solution (17). The alliances in Europe were well formed by the time 1914 arrived (17). "The Central Powers" were "Germany and Austria-Hungary" (Westwell 8). "The Triple Entente" were "Britain, France, and Russia" (8). All of the countries and citizens believed in the cause of the war from the very beginning (9). That enthusiasm would quickly change once the introduction of new weapons and strategies were revealed (9). Every country involved was seeking ways to improve on the resources they needed to fight, and hopefully win the war. None of the countries involved wanted the other side to have a military advantage over the other (7). World War I had technological inventions such as machine guns, poison gas, tanks and submarines, which changed the strategy of war. The outcome of these inventions resulted in more death and destruction than previous wars.
Not only this, but militar tension was also very evident between the European countries and each country thought that their own military was better than the rest. This was a nationalist thought that definitely played a factor in leading to the start of the war. The big event that ignited the fighting between the countries was the assassination of the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand. The assassination happened when a Serbian Black Hand member killed Ferdinand and his wife while they were in their car visiting Sarajevo, a city that was then occupied by Austria. The Black Hand of Serbia resisted the occupation of Sarajevo by Austria, which lead to the Archduke’s assassination. In retaliation to the murder of their Archduke, Austria declared war on Serbia, who at the time had an alliance with Russia. Russia decided to honor the treaty with Serbia and declared war on Austria who had an alliance with Germany who declared war on Russia. The confusion does notend there though, Russia also had an alliance with Great Britain and France, who then declared war on Germany. These webs of alliances is also a big factor in the initiation of the
Historians generally refer to WWI as the first 'total war'. It was the first conflict in which modern industrialized societies mobilized their complete economic, technological and psychological resources in order to wage war. Unlike earlier wars, which involved relatively small numbers of soldiers on the battlefield, it affected many aspects of the lives of civilian populations and demanded enormous sacrifices and support from them. Mobilization of the home front was crucial to achieving military victory. Some of the main aspects of Total War include conscription of men into the armed services, increased government control of the economy and daily lives of citizens and subsequent loss of personal liberty. Control of the labor force, physical safety and security of civilian populations threatene...
The First World War A stalemate developed on the Western Front for four main reasons, one being that the Schlieffen plan failed, another reason was that the French were unable to defeat the Germans completely at the Battle of the Marne, another reasons was the "race to the Channel" and the last reason was that defending positions was far easier than attacking. The Schlieffen Plan failed for a number of reasons, one being that Moltke, the German commander, had altered the balance of the forces so that the right wing had only three times as many troops as the left wing and since the right wing was smaller it advanced more slowly than had been planned. Another reason was that there was more resistance from the Belgian army and then from British and French forces than had been expected and this slowed down the right wing and allowed the British and French forces to retreat and then counter-attack.
The U.S. in 1910 was a society where racial segregation was the norm. The Jim Crow laws of segregation were enacted between 1876 and 1965 in America segregating many if not all, public places for whites and blacks. African Americans were treated inferiorly and with no respect. World War I erupted in 1914, sending millions of soldiers from America to Europe. African Americans were sent along side Caucasians to fight in World War I due to there not being enough white soldiers in the military. Many African Americans felt as if they needed to prove their loyalty, respect and earn equality in America by battling in this war. African American soldiers being sent to the war wanted to prove their worthy of citizenship to America. WWI allowed a unique and significant opportunity for African Americans.
America’s involvement in World War II has often been equated to the Japanese waking the “sleeping giant”, and is often thought of as an invincible superpower. The reality is that the United States’ invincibility has never been really tested. The United States’ is separated from the rest of the Western world by an ocean on either side of its borders and has therefore only had two attacks on native soil. While America’s invincibility is not easily tested, and therefore not easily discredited, whether or not the Japanese awoke the “sleeping giant” by bombing Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is, however, debatable. The American public before the attack on Pearl Harbor were isolationists, they may have felt sympathy for the victims of Hitler, Franco, and Mussolini, but did not in fact care enough to get involved in another war. The congressmen they elected into office from the late 1930’s to the early 1940’s respected the wishes of their constituents and therefore did everything in their power to prevent U.S involvement in World War II even after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In fact one of the only Americans to appear at all concerned with the horrific events occurring across the ocean was President Franklin Roosevelt, however, despite pleas from the heads of the allied forces, even President Roosevelt could not entirely commit to the need for U.S involvement and remained a wishy-washy figure up until the late 1930’s. It was not until 1940, that President Roosevelt was able to take a stand and begin the attempts to talk the American people into actively supporting the allied forces against Nazi forces. The Japanese may get the credit for waking the “sleeping giant”, however, it is in fact President Roosevelt and a small portion of t...
After World War I, economy shot up causing historians to call the 1920s the second industrial revolution.' The economy of the 1920's was a key change as it brought about new mass production, mass consumption, and set the stage for the ever-looming Great Depression. The 1920's saw a great boom in mass production which allowed for cheaper prices of technology products. This decade was marked by an enormous expansion of consumer credit, where Americans were used to finance purchases of new products such as the growing popularity of cars and radios, which were created by the mass production. The automobile, movie, radio, and chemical industries skyrocketed during this decade-one of the most important was the automobile industry. As mass-produced automobiles were churned in by Henry Ford, about 1.9 million cars had been sold by the end of 1929. The economy of the automobile society had a great impact on not only business, but also society. Henry Ford, who had revolutionized the new workers day and the concept of mass-production, had indirectly affected how Americans lived and behaved. Cars promoted other markets to grow, such as steel, rubber, glass, and petroleum. It also promoted urban and suburban growth, where a new class of Americans was rising. Now, citizens could drive to new places, meet new people, act differently etc The speed with which the products of mass production diffused through America was astonishing: not just automobiles but also washing machines, refrigerators, electric irons, electric and gas stoves--a whole host of inventions and technologies that greatly transformed that part of economic life that takes place within the household. However, this changing and rising American economy cause called one major consequence. For one of the major consequences of mass production was the building-up of the stock of capital goods for within-the-home production. And this of course, was the biggest key change because it seemed like the rising stock market and industry of the 1920s would stay forever. This rising stock market led to the Great Depression a downward spiral of economic depression.
War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it
December 7, 1941, Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a day that will live in infamy. Mrs. Augspurger remembers feeling shocked. There had been reports of the Japanese becoming stronger, but she had no idea they were strong enough to attack us and hurt us like they did. At first, people did not believe we were attacked; they thought it was a drill. We were a strong nation and weaker nations would not dare attack us on our own soil. Because of the events at Pearl Harbor, the United States joined WWII.
World War One took a toll on everyone between 1914 and 1918. What were some of the main causes and effects of World War One?
Imagine, it's 1939 and you're sitting at home with your family when you hear screaming outside, you open the door to see what is going on and, BANG! your dead. On September 1, 1939 less than one year after the Munich Agreement, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. His goal was to eliminate all of the Jews. Britain and France promised to help Poland but Britain was too far away for their Air Force to help and France was too afraid to help because they were afraid of the Germans. Poland had very little Navy and Air Force to fight the Germans. Poland was also invaded by the Soviet Union at the same time so their military was too small to fight the Germans and the Soviet Union. The Warsaw was taken over on September 27, and organized resistance was over by October 5(O'Neill 268). This invasion started World War II. France, Russia, England, and the United States formed what was called the Allied forces to fight against the Nazis. Germany joined with Italy and Japan and they were the Axis alliance to fight against the Allied forces (Strahinich 16-17).
To conclude the Great War encompassed all factors of a total war; economic, social and political. The whole population was mobilized towards the war effort and everyone’s attention concentrated on winning the war. Being one of the first total wars in history, it showed that wars are not always conflicts of armies against armies, but rather conflicts of societies fighting societies. Britain had to create harsh laws, mobilize the entire population and use all accessible resources to defeat the triple alliance. Therefore, there is no doubt that World War I fulfilled all characteristics of a total war
World War 1 was called “The Great War”, “The war to end all wars”, and “The first modern war”. It had many causes and a few repercussions and I will describe them in detail.