Some may argue that no one wanted war. Winston Churchill stated that the Great Powers slid over the brink into a war nobody wanted. (Doc I). Russia and France were forced into war because Germany declared war on Russia 1 August 1914 and war on France 3 August 1914. Therefore, it may be true that countries that did not want war were forced into it, however, “nobody” is inaccurate due to the fact that Germany wanted war.
Additionally there were developments that occurred without war, which illustrates that involvement in war was not the only cause for change. Therefore war was an important catalyst and factor to significant changes but was not the sole cause of change. The war that caused most change was Word War One due to its role in the February revolution in 1917 and the fall of the provisional government in the October revolution. The defeats of the war dwindled support from liberals and Octobrists for the Tsarist regime, which was further worsened by criticism from organisations including the Central War Industries committee and the union of Zemstva. This formed support and reason for the Progressive Bloc.
It also forced some crucial US losses which, due to the bi-polar nature of the US-USSR relations, translated into further Soviet victories. With all these long-term victories, the results of the crisis were a triumph for the USSR. The immediate outcome of the crisis was a huge propaganda loss for the USSR with the withdrawal of Soviet missiles; the USSR was seen to back down from the USA, showing the USA to be powerful and the USSR to be weak. This terrible propaganda loss was made even worse by the recent propaganda disaster in Berlin in 1961, with the building of the Berlin Wall. The two huge propaganda losses were so damaging to the USSR that it even resulted in Khrushchev being ousted from power in 1964.
Although German signed the Treaty of Versailles, much to the disgrace of many Germans, admitting they were to blame it is undeniable that aggressive German foreign policy had a lot to do with the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914, but this neglects other factors that may have additionally added to the tensions leading up to the war. Many historians debate whether it was mainly Germany to blame or whether other dominant powers led them into a no-win situation. Source V, ‘Modern Germany’ by Volker Berghahn suggests that the Kaiser no longer saw foreign policy and civil war as separate issues and that they were now seen to entwine together. The mention of the 1913 Army bill that had aggravated many within the German society due to the growing distress over money and the status quo within the German political establishment, the argument over the tax burdens grew with every bill passed. These tensions started to disrupt their dual alliance with Austria-Hungary, even with a ‘Blank Cheque’ being given to them.
Russia also feared the growing German threat and sought to ally itself with Great Britain, France, and even Germany itself for protection. The British, for their part, tried hard to remain out of the conflict, but found that having the world's most powerful navy made that impossible. Rebellious provinces within the Austro-Hungarian Empire made central Europe extremely unstable, and the leaders of the Ottoman Empire in the Near East sought to expand their power. Historians have generally noted that the European powers had managed to avoid war for so long, that when it did
Jorge Luna February 23, 2013 Period: 1 U.S Foreign Policy Change between 1920-1941 From 1920-1941 the United States foreign policy changed from being a strict isolation and neutrality policy to a more liberal policy because of the circumstances and tensions of the future world war two. This new change in the policy allowed America to help its allies and keep America safe from the totalitarian dictators of its time. In 1918 after the First World War ended, the United States created a foreign policy in which they stated that they weren’t going to help in any way any nation at war. Many of the reasons were because of the economic depression that was going on also, because the people of America didn’t want to go to war again. For a few years America tried to isolate itself from the rest of the world trying to ignore the fight leading up to World War Two.
After The World War 1 had ended America was finally beginning to return to normalcy. The idea of Isolationism and the outlaw of War with wall nations began to shape the foreign policy for the United States. Although the world was as peace during the 1920’s it was not soon enough that Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union would spark another World War. Due to Political, social and economic changes during 1920-1941 the foreign policy of the United States would dramatically change. Isolationism , the made idea in the early 1920’s was changed after the course of World War 2, and urge to engage in world affairs made America the leading power in the world.
This is unfair because only Germany was required to pay for the reparations (about 6,600 million Euros). Also no other country’s army was restricted only Germany’s was. They were banned from using gas bombs, tanks, aircraft and heavy artillery and their troops were reduced to 100,000. This makes them unable to even defend themselves. Another reason it’s unfair is because that Germans lost about 13% of their land while no other European countries lost its territory.
In order for Britain to win the war, they needed to alter their war strategies. The French and the Native Americans were initially allies. Under the guidance of British leader William Pitt, the war took a turn away from French victory as the Native Americans switched sides. By promising the Iroquois and Ohio Natives ‘clear and fixed’ boundaries between British territory and the
Georges Clemenceau wanted revenge. He wanted to be sure that Germany could never start another war again. Lloyd George personally agreed with Wilson but knew that the British public agreed with Clemenceau. He tried to find a compromise between Wilson and Clemenceau. Germany had been expecting a treaty based on Wilson's 14 points and were not happy with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.