World War 1: A Total War with Global Impact and Devastating Consequences

World War 1 was different than any other wars that came before it by that it was the first war fought in on many continents, as well it was the first war where chemical weapons were used, and it was the first total war. The total number of casualties in World War 1 was 37 million. There were 9 million killed, 20 million wounded and others that weren’t were most likely dead. The expectations before the war started was a reason why the war began because people thought it was going to be a short, bloodless war and that there was going to be easy victory.

According to Nial Ferguson, millions of Europeans saw war as the way to save their honor, as well as to solve internal and international problems that needed to be resolved. What were the major causes of World War 1 and could it have been avoided? The major causes of World War 1 were economic, intellectual, political, and geographic causes. If they could’ve avoided the war they would’ve avoided it because if they would’ve thought about the consequences that the war was going to bring to them, they would’ve never been involved in it. Document # 1 is a chart of comparison of France’s, England’s, and Germany’s naval forces from 1890-1910.

Document # 1 shows a political, economic, and geographic cause for World War 1. All three countries believed in militarism. Militarism is the belief that a country should maintain capability and be prepared to use it to defend their country. Governments were in conflict and militarism was a way to become superior to other countries. Tension was building up between some European countries. When one country saw that another’s country’s military was becoming stronger, the country would become “scared” and work on getting their military stronger. The chain went on and on like that with several countries.

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From 1890-1910, France went from 2 million tons to 10 million tons, England went from 10 million tons to 50 millions tons, and Germany went from 1 millions tons to 43 million tons. In order to build there naval forces, it takes a lot of money. The countries would use their colonies and what they’ve been able to gain from the industrial revolution. Not only that, but the navy had to fight in different parts of the world. Document # 2 is a map of Europe on the eve of World War 1. Document # 2 shows a political cause for World War 1. There was two different alliance systems.

There was the triple alliance system and the triple entente system. The triple alliance system was a treaty between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, these countries were known as the Axis. The triple entente system was an entente between Great Britain, Russia, and France, these countries were the central powers. Since these countries had treaties with each other, that meant that, they would have to back each other up in case of a war. As this happened, more and more tension stimulated between the counties that they weren’t even thinking what could happen if the were to really occur.

Everyone expected the war to be short, bloodless, but eventually they would find out whether that was going to be true or not. Document # 3 is an excerpt that outlines accusations against Serbia by Austria-Hungary. Document # 3 shows an intellectual cause for World War 1. The authors of this document are Austro-Hungarians, and they’re criticizing Serbian nationalism. Nationalism is a patriotic feeling for your country, it was the big idea of the war. Nationalism can be seen in two different ways, a bomb and a magnet. A magnet symbolizes unification, which in this case is Serbia uniting.

A bomb symbolizes destruction, which in this case is Austria-Hungary’s imperial power, which could be destroyed. The spark to World War 1 was when a Serbian assassinated Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Of course there was a lot of criticism from Austria-Hungary. “[T]he Royal Serbian Government has done nothing to repress these movements. It has permitted the criminal machinations or various societies and associations directed against Monarchy…” Document # 4 is a quote. Document # 4 shows an intellectual and political cause for World War 1.

This quote shows how nationalism and resentment was a cause that led to the war. “The French wanted revenge for the loss of territory to Germany…” and “Russia resented the growing influence of Germany in Eastern Europe. ” and “Germany resented the desire of France and England to keep Germany week and underdeveloped. ” Each country had a lot of pride in their country, and would eventually lead to hating the other countries and not trusting them. Each and county and its government were willing to do anything to make their country look superior.

You can say that all countries were very ethnocentric. Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group. Document # 5 is a political cartoon. Document # 5 shows a political and geographic cause for World War 1. The cartoon shows John Bull representing Great Britain, and he’s holding all the colonies that Britain has colonized. Next to him are other figures representing counties like Russia, USA, Italy, France, Turkey and Germany, they’re starting at him almost with hatred. Colonies were a great source of raw materials and market for goods.

All of these countries governments were in competition for colonies, it was all about imperialism. Imperialism was the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries. As other countries saw Britain expand, they as well wanted to do the same, therefore resulting in completion, eventually even turning out to be war. Document # 6 is two quotes from two secret treaties, one from Bismarck and the other from Nicholas the second. Document # 6 shows a political and geographic cause for World War 1.

Governments were uniting with other governments, forming alliances, promising to support each other. Countries kept trying to get other territories on their side, which would case a lot of tension. In one of the quotes, Germany claims that they just simply want to protect themselves from Britain, Russia, and France. Austria-Hungary was a very multi-ethnic country and in the second quote they were claiming that they would defend all Slavic peoples, because they were cousins to them. It was like each country started taking sides, creating a lot of tauten.

Document # 7 is a chart showing colonial possessions in Africa in 1914. Document # 7 shows a geographic, political, and economic cause for World War 1. Germany was very resented with how many colonies France and England had taken over, they felt as though they were getting the “leftovers”, which resulted in them feeling humiliated and being angry. All the countries wanted to colonize because colonies were a great source of raw materials and market for goods. Germany wanted an empire, and Germany and Italy got late because at first they were divided into city-states.

Later on in the mid-19th century, Germany and Italy, alone united their countries, but unfortunately France and Britain had already colonized many countries. As the chart shows, France had colonized 7 countries and England had colonized 9 countries. Germany was left with 4 counties and Italy was left with 3 countries. In conclusion, the powers that fought the war didn’t really know what the consequences of the war would be. Millions of people ended up dead and wounded because of World War 1. The economic consequence was that the countries were so destroyed that there was starvation.

The consequences for the Tsar of Russia and his country were that, he was killed along with his family and there was a socialist revolution. Empires like Austria-Hungary and Germany collapse. There as a legacy for the world from the Armenian massacre, it was the first time that genocide was committed against them. The intellectual cause for the lost generation was that they all loose the will to live and they’re afraid of another war. The war sew the seeds for another world war, because of the unfair treaty of Versailles, there was a lot of anger and Hitler used it to gain power, eventually leading to World War 2.

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