The years leading up to the war the German people were dreading it, there were protests in Berlin in July 1914. The proletariat knew that they would have to bear the brunt of the war. However once the war broke out, the government played on the German’s people nationalism as he presented the war as defensive one against Slav aggression. The Enabling Act known as Burgfrieden was passed. The Act promoted national unity.
The war was caused by grudges countries had held against each other from previous wars. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy were the Triple Alliance. Britain, France and Russia were the Triple Entente (friendly agreement). These agreements meant that if ever war broke out you would help the country you are in agreements with. Germany was 30-40 years old and wanted to have a bigger empire and navy than Britain, which had the biggest empire and biggest navy out of all of the countries.
Germany had only been a united country since 1871 however by 1914 it had built up a strong army, navy and had the beginnings of an overseas empire. As you can see, Germany since its unison had been very competitive and ambitious against the other ‘leading’ countries. I feel that this may have brought the other countries resentment, especially Britain. Britain had been known as and was the main industrial country in Europe for over 100 years but Germany had very quickly grown into a powerful country. This would have caused Britain some concern, especially because the leader over Britain was cousins with the Kaiser, this would have brought extra tension between them as they both wanted their country to be the best.
The German’s got the British and French to split, this way it will make work easier for the German’s. The German’s were quick on the bombadert as they started around 4:30 am with as many as 6,000 German artillery pieces. The British disobeyed and laughed at their officers, they were not serious and this helped the German’s a lot because they will have the chance for reinforcement when they want to. The British and French were enemies and their commanders didn’t understand each other, this kept the Ludendorff offensive strong as they had more time to prepare for the war. They were very close because in the first 5 days they were doing so well.
Some historians say it was the consent and willingness of the German people that took him to Fuhrer but there are other strong arguments such as the Enabling Law, the demolishment of other political parties and trade unions, his agreements with the church, media and industrialists and the Night of the Long Knives. One of the main reasons Hitler was able to come into power was the consent from the German people. Without their willingness to believe and back Hitler, he wouldn’t have been able to gain any real momentum. On the 5th of March in 1933 the Nazis increased their vote from 33.1% to 43.9%, securing them 288 seats. One of the ways Hitler got the backing of the German people was by telling them what they wanted to hear.
He was a second lieutenant which was quite low in the rankings. He hated and feared the war. He did crazy things in the war which was why he was called “Mad Jack”. He was injured and met Wilfred Owen. He was awarded a military cross and was well-known before the war.
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. The naval force was something that they wanted back, and therefore entered the war. It did not look very promising for either France or Britain since Russia, the German Empire and Austria-Hungary (who were the largest nations at this time) cooperated. However, since the new German emperor Wilhelm II did not care about the alliance, things went wrong. Austria-Hungary declared war with Serbia on 28 July in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June in 1914.
Wilfred Owen had a good education as well, but (unlike Rupert Brooke) he went to war, and saw what it was it was really like, the bad conditions, the lack of food and meaningless deaths, Wilfred Owen realised that the war was cold and cruel, not like people imagined it. This poem is very negative, and quite sad, unlike ' The Soldier' it expresses the tormented thoughts and recollections of a teenage soldier in the 1st World War, who has lost his limbs in battle and is now confined, utterly helpless, to a wheelchair. I think Wilfred wanted people to realise that the war was not as glorious and victorious as people thought, there were so many men whose lives were thrown away even if they did physically survive it.. Unfortunately Wilfred Owen died on the 4th of November 1918, before the end of the war. To conclude, these two poems are different in many ways (attitude, mood, tone, ect..) One was to encourage the people to fight for their country and go to war, one was to make people see that the war destroyed many men's lives, it had no mercy.
Owen also seeks to expose the betrayal of the authorities throughout poems such as ‘Disabled’ and ‘The parable of the old man and the young.’ He expresses how they acted with a disregard for the lives of their countries young men. Religion and its betrayal during the war is also emphasized by Wilfred Owen in ‘Anthem for doomed youth.’ He shows how the belief in religion did nothing to dampen the grim realities of war and he even begins to question his own beliefs. Another way Owen feels he has been betrayed is through the way society treated those soldiers who had suffered both mental and physical injuries. They were labelled as cowards and looked down upon. This is best shown in the poem ‘Disabled.’ Owen was ultimately driven by the betrayal of the authorities, religion and society and he used his horrifying experiences of the war to exemplify this betrayal.
Germany was part of the reason that the Arms Race happened. The Arms race was the naval rivalry between the British and German navies. Britain had always had the strongest navy forces, but a power hungry Germany sought to change this. It goes without saying this would have caused tension between Germany and Britain, especially since Germany thought Britain where overreacting. This was shown by Kaiser Wilhelm in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 1908: “You English are like mad bulls: you see red everywhere!