Needless to say, one of the most serious conflicts that occurred during the past century is definitely World War I. The most of European countries were involved in the conflict. To understand the history and significance of World War I, this argumentative essay will trace its deeper causes and effects.
Militarism
The first serious cause that led to the beginning of the Great War was militarism. Generally, the notion of militarism can be defined as a nation’s capability to participate in a war. Just before the War, most countries from Europe started to enhance their military potential to be able to defend themselves in the time of need. For example, history tells that Germany and France became the competitors and did everything possible to enhance their forces to become superior to others. As might be expected, it resulted later in the countries’ involvement in the Great War that started in 1914. It also needs to be mentioned that militarism was greatly developed in Great Britain as the country had the largest navy among other nations. Therefore, it becomes evident that Great Britain was on standby, and could be ready if needed to begin the war in a short time.
Hence, Germany believed that British military forces are a significant threat to peace all over the world. In turn, Germany was really afraid of Great Britain and felt insecure about the state of its navy. Therefore, in response to the potential threat, Germany presented its battleship and did everything possible to restrict the power of Great Britain. Overall, there are no doubts that the military competitions that existed between the European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, and Great Britain, encouraged the nations to enter the Great War.
Imperialism
Another cause of the Great War became imperialism that took place in the 1800s. The historians Fitzgerald, Pickard, and Stewart believe that the most apparent examples of the fact that imperialism has a direct connection with War I are Two Moroccan Crises. Although Morocco was a French colony, Germany wanted to make it free from France. The main reason for that is that Germany was seeking new alliances and had a plan to gain Moroccan assistance. Undoubtedly, France did not like the German interventions, and, as a result, there occurred the conflict between these two nations. In addition to this, there were implemented numerous imperialist campaigns against the African areas that greatly contributed to the beginning of the Great War as they intensified competitions between the European countries. As Fitzgerald, Pickard, and Stewart state, for many years the world leaders were fighting mainly for obtaining additional land and resources to become world superpowers.
Alliances
One more serious cause that is believed to contribute greatly to the beginning of the Great War was the alliance system. In fact, this cause is the long-term notion that existed in the last years before the War. First of all, it contributed to tense relationships between the nations-participants. When the war took place, European countries were divided into two alliances systems, and the countries of each alliance were ready to provide help for one another in the time of need. The event that grew into the confrontation between the countries of the alliances was the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Besides, it should be mentioned that because of the rise of Panslavism movement that was highly supported by Russian Empire and promoted the idea that all nations speaking Slavic languages should be a single nation the initiated by the Russian Empire, the Serbians felt the hazard and wanted their independence. Consequently, the relationship between the nations in the Balkans became especially tense, and many countries have got a negative relation to Russia. Hence, there are no doubts that the alliance systems that took place before World War I required countries to start the war in order to protect their allies. Besides, the alliance systems make such countries as France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, and Italy involved in the Great War, literally getting the hook.
Effects of WW1
First, the War resulted in the major shifts in the political, social, and technological spheres of life. As far as political consequences are concerned, World War I contributed to the end of the federal order and created the ground for further revolutions in many countries. The thesis already has a variety of illustrations. In addition to this, the war contributed to the social shift as a great number of women started to work, and the place of females in society was changed. After overcoming the prolonged and sustained bloodshed and self-destruction, the nation realized what does it means to be a socially responsible person. Especially it was in Austria-Hungary, where nearly 500 000 individuals have died because of famine, cold, and different epidemics brought by the war. As far as the technological sphere is concerned, in short, the Great War led to the development of technologies. Besides, in terms of technological causes, it greatly improved the infrastructure and spread electricity. In conclusion, one more effect of the Great War is that it left many unresolved issues that later made World War II inevitable.
