So for example if the allies in the west did not promise to rebuild Germany and try to stop every country from becoming communist when they threatened to even if it through fair vote (rare as it was). It can be argued that the cold war was an avoidable one. Firstly the Russians were very aggressive in creating a buffer zone and in fact created communist states practically all over Eastern Europe and made much more than a buffer zone and Stalin was at the heart of all these communist political movements and was trying to spread his influence to even Italy and France. This worried the west very much because they thought their very freedom was being threatened but more importantly the more states that became communist the less ttade there was. The west needed trade partners in the east and they couldn’t trade with communist states.
This was especially the case for Germany as she was to reap the blame for the First World War. The peace treaties took place soon after the final bloodbath of WW1, emotions would have been raging which would have tainted some of the decisions made, and soldiers would have retired back to their homes and would have been reluctant to want to be involved in border shifting and disputes. The Allied countries wanted Germany to concur to a harsh settlement but the United States brought diplomacy into the situation. The treaties were not just and reasonable but without the United States, Germany would have been handed a much harsher punishment. The injustice of the settlement unintentionally gave birth to long term problems, including key events for the lead up to the Second World War.
STRENTGHS It was set up by the Treaty of Versailles (which every nation hated) Its aims were too ambitious Some of the greatest powers in the world - Germany, Russia and the USA - were not members: The USA did not want to join. The Russians refused to join (they were Communists and thought the League harboured Capitalists) Germany was not allowed to join Council members were not the most powerful countries in the world, and were not prepared to use their armies. Also sometimes council members were involved in the trouble Trade sanctions would damaged the countries of the League as well as the country that had gone to war The League had no army; it had to rely on member countries declaring war on countries that broke the Covenant Its organisation was a muddle Decisions had to be unanimous, making it very hard to get anything done Secretariat was too small to handle the vast work of the League The League came to be seen as a club for the victors of the First World War and was mostly European WEAKNESSES It was set up by the Treaty of Versailles, which every nation had signed Forty-two countries joined the League at the start. In the 1930s about 58 nations were members. This made the League seem strong.
This was the weakness of the league. Also Germany wasn’t a member due to the reason of creating WWI and USSR wasn’t a member too as they were communists. Other problem includes the truth that it was created as a part of Treaty of Versailles which indirectly meant that the league will be a serving favor of the big4. Due to these, member states were able to create chaos in the League where it already didn’t have any controls. Also the league wasn’t responsible enough to take care of all the problems in Europe as its powers were not so strong.
This was also a great threat to the other countries. Russia joined the Dual Alliance creating the Triple Alliance in order for the German Empire to not be threatened from both sides, and there Russia in some way entered the war. The reason why Russia joined the alliance was because they saw Germany as a great threat, and another lost was too expensive. To join them would be a great excuse to hide. At this time Britain was extremely frustrated because the German Empire had taken control of the sea, the strength that for a long time belonged to Britain.
How significant was The Great War in explaining the revolutions of 1917? The Great War to a certain significance contributed to the revolutions of 1917 due to the fact that the war was the major trigger for both of the revolutions in the year 1917,also the aftermath of the war questioned the leadership in Russia, The Great war had shown the incompetence of the Tsar and the Provisional Government, both failed to meet Russia’s growing needs. The Great War had also worsened the already existing issues within Russia at this time for example, political unrest, social and economic problems Russia had already faced during this period of 1917. The Great War strongly contributed towards the February Revolution as this event in history was the key event which had really broke the camels back for the revolution to happen. The war had affected the trigger of the revolution by the weak army with a large lack of ammunition for their weapons, therefore they were unable to fight and fend for themselves, therefore Russia had to depend on the Allies such as Great Britain and France had to help them, also the tactics the Russians had used were very old fashioned therefore it had seemed they weren’t ready for war at all.
Germany was forced to take all the blame for damages received by the allies. They were also forced to accept charges of starting the war. This left much of the German population feeling cheated by the ‘Big Four’, moreover, Germany had to pay all damages incurred in the French and Belgian territories during fighting. This subsequently caused great tensions in Germany, as they were bemused as to how they could be held responsible for starting the war, when they felt it was equally the faults of the four allied countries. It is commonly accepted that Germany were eager for a war, however in 1914 they were only responding to events in Sarajevo by agreeing to back Austria, as opposed to starting a war with no origin.
It has been argued for a long time if Germany is to blame for causing world war one. This essay will argue if Germany is responsible for the first world war which took part in 1914-1918. There can be different opinions to this question but it is hard to blame only one contry for such a big war. German government was very eager to rule the world and be part of the big countries in Europe, especially like Great Britain. This ruling is inadequate and can make the other countries aggressive and full of hatred.
Was the Treaty of Versailles unfair on Germany? The Treaty of Versailles was essentially meant to be a peace treaty for all countries included in the first World War, but ended up causing huge amounts of conflict amongst Germany and the Allies as both saw the Treaty as completely different to each other, the Allies believing that Germany was treated fairly, whereas Germany thought she was treated unfairly and her punishments were unjust. The Germans certainly thought they had been treated unfairly because of several crucial reasons. Due to President Wilson’s fourteen points for a Just Peace, Germany assumed all these rules would to apply to herself as well as the other countries associated with the war. They expected to have open discussions with everyone involved to produce a treaty and that there would not be any secret treaties.
They clashed with the main powers of Europe over territory like morocco, which ultimately strengthened Franco-Anglo relationships. Weltpolitik was a huge political risk and in the end the risks outweighed the positive factors, which resulted in the failure of the plan and ultimately was a great cause of WW1 In 1893 the Franco-Russian alliance was formed which meant that it allowed the possibility of encirclement of Germany, which made them paranoid. The Kaiser at the time was Wilhelm II and he surrounded himself with military figures so had a very militaristic point of view. So his response to the possible encirclement was to come up with a new plan called the Schliffen Plan. This stated that if a possibility of a two front war with France and Russia was ever to arise they would mobilise their troops quickly and beat the French within six weeks and then march back in time to meet the Russian army.