The Italians did not get what they felt had been promised at the Treaty of London and that caused resentment especially at the losses Italy had endured fighting for the Allies. The government came over as weak and lacking pride in Italy. In the years that led up to World War One, Italy had sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary in the Triple Alliance. In theory, Italy should have joined in the sides of these two nations when war broke out in August 1914. She did not.
If it hadn’t been for Germany, Austria-Hungary would not have been confident enough to start a war with Serbia and Russia. France and Britain were allied with Russia and therefore had to protect it. This is frequently referred to as a Domino effect. On the 3rd of August Germany declares war on France, this is when the Schlieffen plan comes into play. The Schlieffen plan also lays a lot of the blame on Germany.
German defeat in the Great War was largely down to the incompetence and mistakes of the German Military Elite. The failure of the Schlieffen plan in 1914 can be accredited to these German leaders and also more importantly blamed for the failure in the First World War. Schlieffen, Chief of the German General Staff (1891-1906) devised what is known as the ‘Schlieffen plan’ in 1905 in response to the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale and the further negations this alliance began to have with the huge empire that was Russia. These new relations began to worry Germany and create fears of a combined attack on the country. Schlieffen’s plan aimed to counter a joint attack and then later in the Great War the Schlieffen Plan was used as a strategy to ensure a swift victory and avoid fighting two-fronted war.
Also with the France, Britain and USA not agreeing on the terms of the treaty made it even harder for it to end. Germany’s anger from the treaty came from a few of conditions which one wasn’t entirely true. The first of these conditions were that they were to blame for the war, this condition so bad that no man in Germany would sign it not even a soldier under direct orders. Also the amount of money that Germany had to pay back was very unrealistic ($6600 million) and would cripple their country for years to come. There were other factors that Germany thought that were very unfair such as their tiny army and the amount of land that was taken from them.
Various historians argue that it was in fact foreseen to fail due to the various complications that the Republic encountered, such as opposition from both sides of the political spectrum, the implications of the Treaty of Versailles and the impact of the Great Depression. Others argue that the Weimar Republic was a product of complex and painful compromises, and may in fact have survived had it not been for the economic conditions that riddled both Germany and the international economy. It was indeed inevitable that the Weimar Republic would have faced difficulties from the start; however, to say that the Weimar Republic was doomed is to some extent incorrect. The republic was beginning to overcome its difficulties during the mid-1920s as economic, political, and cultural improvements were occurring, and if it hadn’t been for the economic circumstances, the republic may have prospered for many years. From the very beginning, the Weimar republic encountered resistance from both sides of the political spectrum.
Since Russia and France were allies and France didn’t like Germany due to the lost war against them in 1870, they declared war on Germany on August 3rd 1914. Germany wanted to start
It involved Germany defeating France rapidly and then turning to the eastern front for a major offensive on Russia. However, the plan failed at the Battle of Marne. Russia invaded Germany sooner than expected, meaning that the Germans were now facing war on two fronts, thus having to send troops from France to Russia, losing soldiers. In addition, Belgium ended up fighting when Germany invaded, which slowed down the entire process; also, due to an old truce, Britain ended up joining the war, which Germany had not anticipated: Britain sent 250,000 well-trained soldiers to France. The Germans, on the contrary from the British, lacked the training.
This reasoned to long-term tension before the war. The Great Powers also began their preparations for war on land long before the war broke out. Again, Germany created the Schlieffen Plan 1905. Named after German general Count Alfred von Schlieffen who created the plan, which later proved unsuccessful (arguably, they didn't actually follow the plan). The main idea of this plan was to avoid fighting a war on two fronts simultaneously, first take out France in the west and then move to the East and fight a slower mobilizing Russia to the
Causes of WW 11 Who, or what was to blame in causing WW 11? The Versailles Treaties have been blamed for fillnig the Germans with bitterness and the desire for revenge. The League of Nations has been for failing to secure general disarmament and collective security. The Great Depression has been mentioned because without it Hitler would never have come to power. While these factors created tension, something more was needed to create the war.
It would have some warning in the event of an another attack in the West by the German army. If such an attack took place, the conflict was more likely to take place on German soil rather than French. During WW1, nearly all the fighting in the West had taken place on French soil. North West France had been devastated as a result. The French were terrified that this could happen again.