World War I

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World War I:Total War

Europe since pre-Roman times has been marked by conflict. Warring tribes often did battle in small skirmishes and hand-to-hand combat. But as the civilizations grew and technology improved the battles became larger and much more intense. With the Industrial revolution, warfare would change forever. This can be best seen in World War One. The “war to end all wars” gradually escalated to a global conflict, dragging the super powers into a four year struggle. World War One brought many new and horrible inventions to the participants both at the front, as well as at home.

There are many reasons why World War I was so much different than all the past conflicts. For one thing, it was the first time in almost one hundred years that all the major super powers were fighting. Not since Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, had England, France, Germany (Prussia at the time of Napoleon), and Russia been fighting at the same time. This in turn made it a global conflict. With all the over sea possessions of these countries, fighting was inevitable in their colonies. This was another first for World War I. Another huge aspect that made this war the first truly “modern” war, has to do with the Industrial Revolution. This revolution did change the nature of battle. No longer was war considered to be one-on-one. With the improvement of the gun and invention of the machine gun, almost anybody could become capable of killing many enemy soldiers. Industrialization of the warring countries meant a better railroad system. In turn, this meant that moving the supplies of war to the front line could be done relatively easily. For the first time also, countries were able use the entire industrial resources to help insure victory with industrial might. A final difference from this war from any other was the use of science and war. It was during this time when science was looked upon to help break the stalemate of the war. This can be seen in the use of poisonous gas. The Germans looked for ways to gain the advantage, and their scientists developed a way to spread Chlorine gas over the unprepared allies.

When war did break out in July, 1914, the belligerents had a high enthusiasm toward the war. The past couple of wars had only lasted a few months at the most. With war between Prussia and France only lasting about eighteen weeks, it was ...

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... insure that Germany remained so weak that conflicts on the mainland would not resort to this intensity again. The allies made Germany pay whole the cost of the war immediately. This in turn left Germany’s economy in utter ruin. This would later play into the hands of the radical Nazi Party, and the acquisition of power by Adolph Hitler. The European map also changed dramatically. The powers in Europe, realizing that Nationalism was one of the main causes the war, changed political boundaries to try to create separate states for separate nationalisms. For the most part countries accepted their new independence, but it is impossible to form a boundary around a specific type of nationalism. A third and final change in European thought was that of the League of Nations. Countries in Europe, as well as around the world, tried stop an aggressive nation not by an armed conflict but by resolution. The League of Nations consisting representatives from participating nations will meet to try and discuss a non-violent solution to the conflict. In all of these steps set-up at the peace accords in Versailles, the powers in Europe did not want to see another war like this happen again.

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