reasons why ww1 was pointless

That official policy was temporized by the political necessity of simultaneously and clandestinely supporting dreams of a Greater Serbian state in the long term. Trench warfare is a form of static, defensive warfare. Historians have debated the role of the German naval buildup as the principal cause of deteriorating Anglo-German relations. Marxism attributes war to economic interests and rivalries, in this case, imperialism. Their lack of prewar planning for the partial mobilization made the Russians realize by 29 July that it would be impossible to interfere with a general mobilization. Poisonous gas filled a quarter of all the artillery shells fired on the western front in 1918. French sentiment was based on a desire to avenge military and territorial losses and the displacement of France as the pre-eminent continental military power. George V and his generals at Buckingham Palace in 1918, Australians and New Zealanders mark Anzac Day in Gallipoli, 2011, Two German soldiers with two Polish women, 1. Throughout the 1890s and the 1900s, the French and the Russians made clear the limits of the alliance did not extend to provocations caused by each other's adventurous foreign policy. Poisonous gas filled a quarter of all the artillery shells fired on the western front in 1918. Imperial rivalries between France, Britain, Russia and Germany played an important part in the creation of the Triple Entente and the relative isolation of Germany. Versailles was not harsh but was portrayed as such by Hitler, who sought to create a tidal wave of anti-Versailles sentiment on which he could then ride into power. Ronald Reagan won. However, Schroeder endorses Fisher's basic conclusion: From 1890 on, Germany did pursue world power. Christopher Clark reminds us that the Great War for Civilization was an unwitting suicide pact. [13] When Germany asked Russia the same thing later, Russia refused, which finally helped precipitate the war. Christopher Clark states: "Prosperous and relatively well administered, the empire, like its elderly sovereign, exhibited a curious stability amid turmoil. Accepting the need for a delay as described in previous answers, there may have been a particular reason for choosing 11 am (on the 11th day of the 11th month) rather than another time. All that blood spilled achieved nothing positive. The mobilization plans limited the scope of diplomacy, as military planners wanted to begin mobilisation as quickly as possible to avoid being caught on the defensive. Thus did the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone (in Churchills resonant phrase) help make a local quarrel a global catastrophe. The frock-coated statesmen, bred to service in a world of Victorian certainties, lacked the flexibility and foresight to avoid disaster. In trenches that stretched an unbroken 475 miles from the North Sea to the Swiss border, the Germans constructed walls using corpses, so that French troops who captured a trench hung canteens from protruding ankles. Did the Germans commit industrial scale war crimes? Although it was inevitable, the horrific loss of life was pointless. The return to seventh-century standards of thought and behavior incited by the Iranian revolution of 1979 and practiced by jihadists across the Middle East. Yes, the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, triggered a series of declarations of war. Thus, the alliance changed in character and Serbia now became a security salient for Russia and France. I: Imperialism . Russian Growth. On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz . Thus are the historiographical trenches dug for the centenary. The Causes of the First World War Carmen There were quite a few causes of the first world war (WW1). But that is not true. Nearly every professional around the globe spoke German. Key markers were the 1894 Franco-Russian Alliance, the 1904 Entente Cordiale with Britain, and the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention, which led to the Triple Entente. Both sets became, by August 1914, Germany and Austria-Hungary on one side and Russia, France, and Britain on the other side. Satisfactory Essays. Each country stockpiled arms and supplies for an army that ran into the millions. Vast Resources explicitly warns yet another placing needed: only 1? This might call for a tight focus on the summer of 1914, but Clarks narrative ranges back over decades. Sidney B. Fay, "The Origins of the World War" (2nd ed. During his later years, he tried to placate the French by encouraging their overseas expansion. Austria-Hungary, although not a combatant, was weakened, as a much-enlarged Kingdom of Serbia pushed for union of all South Slavs. While Russia eagerly pursued colonisation in East Asia by seizing control of Manchuria, it had little gain in wealth; the Manchurian population was never sufficiently integrated into the Russian economy, and efforts to make Manchuria a captive trade market did not end Russia's trade deficit with China. Jane Yanagi Diamond taught American History at a California high school, "but I couldn't talk about the internment," she says. Du Bois, the black writer and activist, said it was the competition over resource-rich colonies in Africa. The result was tremendous damage to relations between both empires. Of course Germany had been building up its military for decades. David Herrmann goes further by arguing that the fear that "windows of opportunity for victorious wars" were closing, "the arms race did precipitate the First World War." Hamilton argued that the "imperialism argument" depended upon the view of national elites being informed, rational, and calculating, but it is equally possible to consider that decision-makers were uninformed or ignorant. Equally, the French insisted that the Russians should not use the alliance to provoke Austria-Hungary or Germany in the Balkans and that France did not recognize in the Balkans a vital strategic interest for France or Russia. The Agadir Crisis resulted from the deployment of a substantial force of French troops into the interior of Morocco in April 1911. The collapse of the empire amid war and defeat in 1918 impressed itself upon the retrospective view of the Habsburg lands, overshadowing the scene with auguries of imminent and ineluctable decline. In fact the incident was made up by historian Alan Clark. Not for a second do I deny the sacrifice made by the young men on all sides in that ghastly war. German realignment to Austria-Hungary and Russian realignment to France, 18871892, British alignment towards France and Russia, 18981907: The Triple Entente, First Moroccan Crisis, 190506: Strengthening the Entente, Bosnian Crisis, 1908: Worsening relations of Russia and Serbia with Austria-Hungary, Italo-Turkish War: Isolation of the Ottomans, 19111912, Balkan Wars, 191213: Growth of Serbian and Russian power, Franco-Russian Alliance changes to Balkan inception scenario, 19111913, Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian irredentists, 28 June 1914, Impact of colonial rivalry and aggression on Europe in 1914. In fact, in the decade before the war, the Habsburg lands passed through a phase of strong widely shared economic growth. [12] That began the expansion of Russian and French financial ties, which eventually helped elevate the Franco-Russian entente to the diplomatic and military arenas. The Radical isolationists obtained an agreement for official cabinet approval of all initiatives that might lead to war. "[83] In German ruling circles, war was viewed as the only way to rejuvenate Germany. The identification of the causes of World War I remains controversial.World War I began in the Balkans on July 28, 1914, and hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 25 million wounded.Moreover, the Russian Civil War can in many ways be considered a continuation of World War I, as can various other conflicts in the direct aftermath of 1918. Immediately after the end of hostilities, Anglo-American historians argued that Germany was solely responsible for the start of the war. Governments would mobilise bankers and financiers to serve their interests, rather than the reverse. An estimated nine million soldiers were killed and countless more civilians. Christopher Clark states: "German efforts at mediation which suggested that Austria should 'Halt in Belgrade' and use the occupation of the Serbian capital to ensure its terms were met were rendered futile by the speed of Russian preparations, which threatened to force the Germans to take counter-measures before mediation could begin to take effect. Remarkably, absentee rates due to sickness, an important barometer of a unit's morale, were hardly above those of peacetime. The weakened Russia was forced to submit to its humiliation, but its foreign office still viewed Austria-Hungary's actions as overly aggressive and threatening. The UK lost four or five times as many men in the brutal campaign as its imperial Anzac contingents. For instance there is ample evidence that on offensives we would take no prisoners, we sot Germans who surrendered. In 1969, A. J. P. Taylor wrote that mobilization schedules were so rigid that once they were begun, they could not be canceled without massive disruption of the country and military disorganisation, and they could not proceed without physical invasion (of Belgium by Germany). . But most recent histories depict it as a necessary fight against German militarism. So was it utterly pointless, or a Great War for Civilization? This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:22. [21][22], Other scholars, most notably Niall Ferguson, argue that Britain chose France and Russia over Germany because Germany was too weak an ally to provide an effective counterbalance to the other powers and could not provide Britain with the imperial security that was achieved by the Entente agreements. He argues, "The fact that so many plausible explanations for the outbreak of the war have been advanced over the years indicates on the one hand that it was massively overdetermined, and on the other that no effort to analyze the causal factors involved can ever fully succeed."[108]. The First World war effectively broke the worlds own idea of itself, turning it on it's head and casting new players into the field, new mindsets, and new horrors for the world to face. From 1902 to 1910, the Royal Navy embarked on its own massive expansion to keep ahead of the Germans. We are also in danger of belittling the experience of soldiers and civilians caught up in countless other appalling conflicts throughout history and the present day. The intent of German policy was to drive a wedge between the British and French, but in both cases, it produced the opposite effect and Germany was isolated diplomatically, most notably by lacking the support of Italy despite it being in the Triple Alliance. In a matter of days, Europe's great powers went to war. And in the summer of 1914, the British were more concerned with Belfast than the Balkans. Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Leopold von Berchtold remarked to the German ambassador, Heinrich von Tschirschky in July 1913, "Austria-Hungary might as well belong 'to the other grouping' for all the good Berlin had been. Moreover, the Russian Civil War can in many ways be considered a continuation of World War I, as can various other conflicts in the direct aftermath of 1918. Find out more from Dan Snow on how so many soldiers survived the WW1 trenches and Michael Mosley on the plastic surgery techniques pioneered in WW1. German colonization was characterized by the use of repressive violence in the name of "culture" and "civilisation." But many scholars argue that a confluence of factors had been creating the conditions for conflict in Europe for decades prior. [93], One of the aims of the First Hague Conference of 1899, held at the suggestion of Tsar Nicholas II, was to discuss disarmament. However, anti-German sentiment remained. It changed the world view on imperialism, led to the decline of colonization . The dtente was driven by Britain's desire for imperial security in relation to France in North Africa and to Russia in Persia and India. Huge artillery pieces fired with pinpoint accuracy - using only aerial photos and maths they could score a hit on the first shot. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, The Historiography of the Origins of the First World War, Controversy: The Media's Responsibility for Crises and Conflicts in the Age of Imperialism, Kuliabin A. Semine S. Some of aspects of state national economy evolution in the system of the international economic order.- USSR ACADEMY OF SCIENCES FAR EAST DIVISION INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC & INTERNATIONAL OCEAN STUDIES Vladivostok, 1991, The Evidence in the Case: A Discussion of the Moral Responsibility for the War of 1914, as Disclosed by the Diplomatic Records of England, Germany, Russia, 'World War One and 100 Years of Counter-Revolution' by Mark Kosman, Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Causes_of_World_War_I&oldid=1141314073, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from August 2016, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2019, Wikipedia articles that are excessively detailed from January 2023, All articles that are excessively detailed, Wikipedia articles with style issues from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Articles with dead external links from February 2023, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from July 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The addition of Italy to the Germany and Austrian alliance in 1882, forming the Triple Alliance. In the event of such an attack, both states would mobilize in tandem, placing Germany under the threat of a two-front war. Most inhabitants associated the Habsburgs with the benefits of orderly government, public education, welfare, sanitation, the rule of law, and the maintenance of a sophisticated infrastructure. Almost no-one except the politicians ruling agreed with it, which has been proven by soldier's diaries, and most famously the football match between the British and the Germans on Christmas Day 1914. And for this, more than 16 million men went to their slaughter, many of them in cruel and creative ways. And we have carried on pedalling canards ever since. The Aussies and Kiwis commemorate Gallipoli ardently, and understandably so, as their casualties do represent terrible losses both as a proportion of their forces committed and of their small populations. Decisions for war, 1914-1917. During the war more than 200 generals were killed, wounded or captured. The name "Kettle War" doesn't so much describe the war as how it ends, but the whole thing is stupid. None planned for the food and munitions needs of the long stalemate that actually happened in 1914 to 1918. 4. Save Paper; 8 Page The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was fought during the First World War from 1 July to 18 November 1916. Cambridge University Press, 2004, p.75, Mulligan, William. The First World War is often perceived as a war of attrition, a conflict in which each side tried to wear the other down by killing as many of its men as possible. The overwhelming British response proved to Germany that its efforts were unlikely ever to equal the Royal Navy. Germany's army collapsed as a series of mighty allied blows scythed through supposedly impregnable defences. The situation was always, as the Viennese journalist Karl Kraus quipped, 'desperate but not serious'. The territory you lost in 1848 and subsequently," explains . World War I Timeline: 1914, The War Begins. The Nobility ruled the roost. Clark states it was "not that antagonism toward Germany caused its isolation, but rather that the new system itself channeled and intensified hostility towards the German Empire."[66]. The most important alliances in Europe required participants to agree to collective defence if they were attacked. Furthermore, the wide acceptance of Social Darwinism by intellectuals justified Germany's right to acquire colonial territories as a matter of the "survival of the fittest," according to the historian Michael Schubert. All war plans called for a decisive opening and assumed victory would come after a short war. The continental Great Powers' mobilization plans included arming and transporting millions of men and their equipment, typically by rail and to strict schedules. "[24] Ferguson argues that the British government rejected German alliance overtures "not because Germany began to pose a threat to Britain, but, on the contrary because they realized she did not pose a threat. The war was won, but subsequently the peace was lost. [82], War was seen as a natural and viable or even useful instrument of policy. Hamilton suggested that imperial ambitions may have been driven by groupthink - because every other country was doing it, policymakers would think that their country should do the same. [51] Moreover, the Archduke had been a decisive voice for peace in the previous years but was now removed from the discussions. (According to Clark, the hypertrophic forms of masculinity then prevalent favored unyielding forcefulness over suppleness.) They were not pushed; Clark dismisses the myth that European men leapt at the opportunity to defeat a hated enemy. And some knew the risks of continental, industrialized conflict; British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith feared Armageddon, while others foresaw the extinction of civilization.. Pity the poor historian, who must swim in a vast sea of official documents and self-justifying memoirs, wary of linguistic ambiguities and gloomily aware that the veil of secret diplomacy can never fully be pierced. It basically said, "If you want to, we will help you in the effort of helping you regain some of your lost territories from the United States. The death of Archduke Ferdinand saw the Austro Hungarian Empire go to war with Serbia. Imperial rivalry and the consequences of the search for imperial security or for imperial expansion had important consequences for the origins of World War I. After WW2 Germany was occupied, split up, its factory machinery smashed or stolen and millions of prisoners forced to stay with their captors and work as slave labourers. But that is not true. [70] Russia, having become highly indebted to France in order to finance its own industrial development, rounds out the major powers of the Triple Entente at the outset of the conflict. "[26], The Triple Entente between Britain, France, and Russia is often compared to the Triple Alliance between Germany, AustriaHungary and Italy, but historians caution against that comparison as simplistic. WWI was avoidable because Germany could have not feared the future balance of power in Europe and . "[53] The Conservative Party leader Ernst von Heydebrand und der Lasa suggested that "a war would strengthen patriarchal order. The continent was almost fully divided up by the imperial powers, with only Liberia and Ethiopia still independent. The Agadir crisisv.8. [17], After Bismarck's removal in 1890, French efforts to isolate Germany became successful. The Near East, 1903-9 -- v.6. Rockoff estimates the total cost of World War I to the United States at approximately $32 billion, or 52 percent of gross national product at the time. Germany's battleships had been bottled up by the Royal Navy until their crews mutinied rather than make a suicidal attack against the British fleet. "I consider a war inevitable," declared Moltke in 1912. They also downplay the impact of Weltpolitik and the Anglo-German naval race, which ended in 1911. The unflappable archduke pressed on with the days program, visiting City Hall and enduring the embarrassed mayors official welcome. Britain concluded agreements, limited to colonial affairs, with its two major colonial rivals: the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904 and the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907. We enjoyed the Dreadnought races of the 1900s as both Countries vied to show that they were dominant on the High Seas. Most importantly, it granted freedom of action to Britain in Egypt and to France in Morocco. Biography of Czar Nicholas II, Last Czar of Russia. Clark states: "Serbian authorities were partly unwilling and partly unable to suppress the irredentist activity that had given rise to the assassinations in the first place".[63]. 1904V.3. The US Navy was in a period of growth, which made the German gains very ominous. Several key factors played a part in this change of course. Indeed, evidence is slim that weve grown wiser since the war intended to end all wars did nothing of the sort. There's a few positive things that happened as a result of World War 1: Greater respect for women and women entered the workforce . The first thing is to feel grateful that we didn't live through such an appalling catastrophe and a waste of human life. It was the bloodiest war in history to that point. [85] Social Darwinism carried a sense of inevitability to conflict and downplayed the use of diplomacy or international agreements to end warfare. After their strained reception, they planned to visit their wounded countrymen before leaving the city. If Franz Ferdinand had been assassinated in 1904 or even in 1911, Herrmann speculates, there might have been no war. [30][31], British backing of France during the crisis reinforced the Entente between the two countries and with Russia, increased Anglo-German estrangement, and deepened the divisions that would erupt in 1914. Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. Six Causes of World War I. Plus massive and influential German diaspora. Mightiest among them is The Sleepwalkers, by Christopher Clark, a fellow of St. Catherines College, Cambridge, who argues that the wars origins are the most complex of all historical problems. Acknowledgement of workers rights . It is odd to talk about winning. Imperialism is the expansion of a government's power through the conquest of new territories. Some 12% of the British army's ordinary soldiers were killed during the war, compared with 17% of its officers. The treaty was notably less harsh than treaties that ended the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War and World War Two. The underlying cause of WWI was the alliance system. World War 1 Dbq Essay. [16] By the 1890s, the desire for revenge over Alsace-Lorraine was no longer a major factor for the leaders of France but remained a force in public opinion.

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