World War 1 vs World War 2
Despite the fact that the ‘trigger’ to World War 1 was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the war to end all wars or World War 1 was not preventable. Imperialism, alliances and militarism were the prime causes for WW1. Imperialism was the fierce competition between industrialized nations for resources. The competition from nations created tension and rivalries to gain colonies. The Alliances were needed to ‘keep’ the peace between all nations and ensure protection from each other. Instead of keeping the peace the Alliances were the source for the war, it caused confusion because of the secret Alliances.
The final cause leading up to the war was militarism, which was a result of imperialism and alliances combined. Militarism was the competition of military and artillery it supported and protected the colonies, while also securing national safety when Alliances were created. Imperialism forced European nations to compete against each other for economic resources. Karl Marx theorized that conflict is caused by competition, and the competition between nations would lead to war. A clear example of this was the Boer war in South Africa.
Great Britain was competing with the Dutch and the Zulu’s for land in Africa. In South Africa there were massive gold mines and plentiful diamonds. The Zulu’s, Dutch and the British had fought over who should rightfully own the land. In the end of the bloodshed, the British had conquered the area. Britain had the money, the men and the industrialization which to them made it an ‘easy’ victory. Imperialism called for militarism for the protection of the many newfound colonies. Bigger, more powerful militaries ensured protection against other nations who could over take ones colonies.
Industrialization encouraged national pride. The citizens supported their country’s actions, and the people just as their country competed against each other. This pride was shown all across nations. In Great Britain the had a well know saying ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’. [1] In Germany they had the ‘hymn of hate’, which in the lyrics state their hate for the British. [2] Propaganda’s nationally and globally displayed hatred and pride all in the same poster. [3] Great Britain had taken over nearly half the land of Africa during colonization.
Frustrating to Britain, Germany had a piece of land called German east Africa in between Kenya and Nyasaland constricting the British from creating a railroad all the from the tip of Africa to the bottom. [4] Great Britain had such a great amount of national pride, to where they felt they could conquer Germany’s land. From early on Great Britain and Germany had tension and rivalries, along with the many other European nations, and the war released the tension and would ‘settle’ disputes. This competitive attitude was natural and by this Imperialism was inevitable.
Alliances were needed for the mutual protection. Alliances lead to conflicts, jealousies and differences that were not easily reconcilable. Alliances are able to scare countries into peace. For example in the 1860’s to 1870’s Germany was picking apart France. France needed protection from Germany, because France was to weak. When France and Britain paired up and became allies Germany was no longer a large threat. Meanwhile, as the other major European nations sought to expand their wealth and territories, they also looked for partners they could turn to in case of war for protection.
The countries felt threated by the competitions and small wars that were happening in Africa. These threats lead countries to form alliances to assure mutual protection among all nations. True to the military alliances, Europe’s powers formed sides officially after the assassination. The allies — chiefly Russia, France and Britain — were pitted against the Central Powers — primarily Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey. The only countries that were not in the alliances was Serbia, and Austria and in the end they started the war through the confusion. The confusion came from the secret alliances.
No country knew that such a minuscule country would have a strong alliance with one of the most powerful nations, Great Britain and Russia. Russia was Serbia’s alliance because Russia had ethnic and nationalistic ties to Serbia. Russia felt because Serbia had Slavic culture inside, and it was their duty to protect their own people. Alliances were needed for not only mutual protection, but also to secure peace. Militarism was a cause to WW1 but it also had been a result of nationalism, alliances and imperialism. Through nationalism people started to celebrate their states army and military by enlisting.
The more national pride a country had the larger the size of an army and navy would be. This nationalistic pride large armies and in the end nearly eight and a half million people died, while forty million were wounded in the course of a four year war. [5] With the alliances countries started producing technological advances to not only protect themselves but also show power. Methods increased and the war quickly advanced in technology. Countries felt the raising tensions and saw the alliances forming, so again countries would compete for the biggest and the most powerful weapons ever.
Soldiers would be highly skilled and trained for combat but it was almost futile to try to defeat a rail gun that could shoot 300 pound vessels. Militarism was not preventable because as industries advanced so did the military. The Industry had increased their weapon production for national security. Many countries were feared when they formed together and had new productions of weapons prepared for combat. Those preparations had prepared them for a war. Overall the war was not preventable. Imperialism forced competition among European nations and once the competition raised it was unstoppable.
They not only competed against each other for land but also the size of military to protect that land. Once the protection of the land was no longer the central focus they competed on the size of the weapon that they carried. The European nations had felt that their national security was at risk and created alliances for safety and protection. By the time of the assassination allied countries ensured each other safety. This all almost happened instantaneously and made it unpredictable and confusing.
