World War I
Despite the fact that the world has seen many conflicts, World War I is still the one that people remember the most. The war was fantastic because it encompassed so many European nations. The killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 marked the beginning of the conflict. During the conflict, various alliances between favorable nations were formed in order to combat other hostile nations. To win the war, different weapon systems and tactics were introduced during the battle was fought on the European soil and in most cases, other parts of the world witnessed tension but provided different support that was required by the warring nations. Other countries in the European continent remained neutral during the war and did not support either of the coalitions. During the period of the war, there was the formation two alliance. Although the United States fought on the side of Britain and her allies it joined the war at a later stage after the violation of different treaty by one of the sides. The paper discusses in the details the causes of the World War 1 among other various aspects (Alpha History, 2017).
Causes of World War 1
There are different causes that are attributed the World War 1 ; which comprise of nationalism, militarism, imperialism, defence alliances. The immediate cause of the war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand spearheaded the above mention factors to come into play. In the year 1914, a Serbian citizen of the terrorist group known as Black Hand planed the assassination of the Archduke, but it was not successful in which he was killed later while in Sarajevo Bosnia together with his wife. The assassination was triggered by the Austria Hungary control of the region. The assassination made the Austria Hungary to declaring war against Serbia. Another important cause of the war was the imperialism. Imperialism can be defined as the grab for colonies. In the 19 century, the rise of the industrial revolution had affected all the key European states. The people demand that their government should get more colonies to act as sources of raw materials, the market for the processed goods, settle the surplus population and for the strategic reasons. The rush for colonies in different countries such as china and Africa caused different tension among the hostile nations. Germany was particularly aggressive in the process of looking for new colonies. Another cause of the World War 1 was the rise in militarism which can also be defined as the arms race. The formation of the alliance went hand in hand with the arms race between the two blocks each of the coalitions was determined in building their weapons to be stronger than the opposite side. The arm construction brought about suspicion and fear between the blocks the assumption that if one side stop building its weapons, the other side will be stronger than them. During the time Germany army was one of the most powerful ever well loaded and well trained. Other nation such as French, Russian, and Austria Hungarian used the similar methods of Germany to increase their army. Britain was the only lacking nation without a conscript army and depend mostly on her navy which was the most outstanding in the all of Europe. There was the formulation of the war plans by both Germany and France as the war approached. Germany was equipped with the Schlieffen while France depended on the notorious plan 17. Another key and the most important cause of the war was nationalism. Nationalism is more than patriotism and loyalty; it can be expressed as strong identification of the citizen with those of a state. Nationalism came about because of the struggle between powers to dominate one another. Nationalism can be illustrated in the following way in the 19th century Britain was the dominating nation in economic and colonies areas which brought a lot of jealousy from other nations among other different factors. Nationalism in the Balkan states contributed to the war as they were fighting for their independence. The Ottoman Empire that comprised of the Australia Hungary and turkey were two great empires during the 20th century. The people who lived in these state such the Greeks, Serbians, and Albanians among other tribes wanted to achieve their independence which contributes to a quite good number of wars between the turkey and Balkan states (History, 2017).
Alliance System and USA Entry
The alliance system contributed to the war in the following way. In the year 1907, the Europe was divided two opposing camps comprising of all the main powers. Initially, the alliance was designed to increase security among each state instead the camps ensured that a war that involved any of its allies could track them all. These alliance were the triple alliance that comprised of Germany, Italy, and Austria Hungary on the other side triple entente that comprised of Britain France and Russia (History on the Net, 2017).
The United States remained neutral during the World War 1 between the periods of 1914-1917 because of the following reason. The war was regarded as the European affair, and it did not want to interfere with it. Next reason why USA was neutral there were different people of Germany decent in the USA, and they fearful that if it declares war on Germany, it may lead to war on its soil. Lastly, the United States was gaining economically from the both of alliances. Ethnicity help the United States to maintain its neutrality for a long time as it did not to face a revolt from the people who of Germany originality. There are different factors that made the United States to enter the First World War 1. The first factor was the German atrocities in Belgium, in the first place Belgium was a neutral country and was not supporting any side but it was invade by the Germanys. The second reason why American join the war was the sinking of the Lusitania which was a British passenger ship on the cost of Ireland, which killed over 1000 passengers including 128 Americans. Next reason for joining the war was the unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany was determined to block different supplies from reaching Britain. Also, USA joined the war based on the Zimmermann telegram to Mexico. The German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann sent a text to Mexico requesting them to attack the United States should it declare war on Germany. The United States made major contributions toward the war with the production of raw materials, supplies of weapons, and money to the triple entente. American entry into the war contributed to it end as it brought in new manpower\u2019s and skilled that outnumbered the triple alliance that is Germany and it members (ThoughtCo, 2017).
Treaty of Versailles
After the end of the First World War, different treaty were signed to sustain peace in the world. The settlement of Versailles was among the other many agreements that were signed by both the powers. The treaty of Versailles aimed at the formation of the league of the nation. The treaty of Versailles did not work because of the following reasons; significant powers like the USA did not join making it weak, other reasons for the failure include, lack of commitment from other members making it vulnerable. President Woodrow Wilson played an important role between 1920 and 1930 as he was able to formulate and spearhead the formation of the League of Nations. He was a crucial figure in the Versailles peace treaty where he was able to champion the structure of the association of the nation.
Reference
History, (2017). 5 Reasons for the US Entry into World War I, Accessed, 29, Nov, 2017 http://historylists.org/events/5-reasons-for-the-us-entry-into-world-war-i.html
History on the Net. (2017). World War One – Causes, Accessed, 29, Nov, 2017.https://www.historyonthenet.com/world-war-one-causes-2/
ThoughtCo, (2017). 5 Key Causes of World War I, Accessed 29, Nov, 2017 https://www.thoughtco.com/causes-that-led-to-world-war-i-105515
Alpha History. (2017).WORLD WAR I, Accessed 29, Nov 2017.http://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/
