In Europe in 1014 it seemed very tense, this happened to spark off a war, this was then a result of millions killed. The war was fought between rival alliances of European powers: In 1878, Germany and Austria - Hungary formed an alliance9 the dual alliance) that gave them great strength in the centre of Europe. In 1892, the French and the Russians formed their own strong alliance (the dual entente) that meant Germany had an unfriendly power on each side. Soon afterwards, Germany’s most powerful soldier, general stiffen, drew up a plan that would allow Germany to beat France very quickly in any future war. This would then free most German troops to fight Russia in the east.
The 1919 treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay war reperation to France. These reperations made the people of Germany angry at the treaty and Hitler was able to manipulate and use this by promising not to pay them thereby gaining popularity. Another factor of the treaty of Versailles is the war guilt cause. This required Germany to take full responsibility for world war 1. Hitler instead blamed many others, mainly the Wemiar and the Jews, this also gained popularity with the people of Germany.
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.
President Roosevelt used Pathos and Logos to attract the nation to the idea that if we did not act swiftly with force we would get attacked again and many more innocent lives would be taken. Roosevelt used the fact that Japan attacked not only Midway, but also Hong Kong, Guam, Philippine Islands and Wake Island along with attacks on American ships between San Francisco and Honolulu. The attack of this nature is the showing of unethical behavior that had to be stopped. This speech was given by Franklin D. Roosevelt on 8 December 1941 to the Senate, House and the citizens of America. This speech was given to the people by Roosevelt to show that he had declared a state of war, due to the actions of the Empire of Japan.
Germany was trying to gain the Moroccan land which France had already taken over as a colony. When Germany did this France was furious. In a conference Britain and France, Germany had to back down from taking over Morocco. Wilhelm wanted land to create an empire for Germany, their ally Austria-Hungary helped gain land from Turkey. This meant more power for their empire.
Imperialism, competition for trade and colonies, resulted in tense relationships between European nations. Britain and France formed alliances against Germany as a result of competition for colonies. Alliances were agreements among nations to aid each other if attacked. By 1907, Europe was divided. Great Britain, France, and Russia all formed the Allies while Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Italy formed the Central Powers.
Fischer’s argument that the outbreak of the First World War was due to Germany’s aggressive foreign policy, with a harsh focus on annexation, can be regarded as one of much significance. This theory has been backed up by historians such as Berghahn who claims that Germany ‘[tried] to shift the balance of power in their favour’, and did this through a weltpolitik policy of aggressiveness. This, it can be argued, can be shown by The Navy Race, in which Germany attempted to expand their navy in order to compete with Britain. Despite this being regarded by some as an attempt to
Although there was still significant distate towards the tsar, Russia forged many alliances with countries such as Great Britain and France which helped them in the Bosnian Crisis of 1908, as they could negotiate passage of Russian warships into the Mediterranean, expanding their territory, in exchange for the annexation of Austria. However as Germany began to make things more difficult for them, issuing an ultimatum in 1909 for them to recognise it, to which they had to agree to their great humiliation, the atmosphere in Russia became more tense. This prompted Nicholas to intensify the rearmament programme and by 1912, Russia’s Great Military Programme had been announced; the situation was surprisingly not exacerbated this time by Nicholas, as would have been expected, as he actually proved he could make some good decisions under the influence of advisors like Izvolski. The Russian military programme proved an extensive threat to the german high command, as Durnovo forsaw the war between Russia and Germany and rendered Germany incapable of using their Schleiffen Plan, whilst leaving them in a
In this essay I will be arguing how far I agree with the opinion ‘the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive German policy which had been waged since 1900?’ The outbreak of war I Believe to a large extent The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive German policy which had been waged since 1900.This is shown in The Second Moroccan Crisis (1911) when in April there were disturbances in Fez which led to French military intervention and also Germany’s intervention. Germany sent a gunboat, attempting to bully France into Giving Germany the French Congo in return for Germany giving up all interests in Morocco. This shows how to a large extent the outbreak of war was due to German aggressive policy as they had aggressive intent using the gun boat and attempting to bully France. This statement The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive German policy which had been waged since 1900 is supported by Fischer who says ‘war in 19154 was a bold leap forward to establish German dominance’. This is true as Germany tried to establish German dominance in Fez using aggressive policy to govern France.
Another cause of World War One is imperialism. Imperialism is the domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or religion. Imperialism divided European nations. In 1905, and 1911, competition for colonies made France and Germany come very close to war. Back to the Germany and Great Britain rivalry, Britain was scared of the fast economic growth of