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.
Militarism is known as to maintain a strong military capability and increase in the number of armed forces. Germany and Great Britain were in a great competition. Both countries were increasing their naval spending. This arms race, or the build up of armies and navies, caused fear and suspicion and also led to a hostile relationship between these two countries. Imperialism, competition for trade and colonies, resulted in tense relationships between European nations.
Overall, Source W challenges source V, as it indicates that Germany’s aggressive actions since the turn of the century resulted in war. Source X implies how it is a matter of great controversy however leads more towards the fact that Germany had always wanted colonial expansion. Although it could be argued otherwise, it is evident that outbreak of war in Europe was due to an aggressive foreign policy which had been waged c.1900. Source V states that Germany, ‘felt encircled not only by the triple entente but also by the forces of change’. Although it is true that Germany was surrounded by an alliance system, indeed an extensive alliance system did surround Germany, whether they posed a threat or not is questionable.
They consisted of Britain, Russia and France against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (who later switched sides). I believe that alliances were the most important cause of WW1, because instead of making allies to prevent war, the alliance system actually had an opposite effect. Alliances are a long-term cause to WW1 because they take a considerably long time to make. It led to distrust for each country and secrecy with some countries resulting in an increase in tension. The main leaders of ‘World War 1’ in the ‘Triple Entente’ were George V (British Empire), Raymond Poincaré (France) and Nicholas II (Russia).
Gareth Parker. A Written Report Of A Discussion On The Rise Of Hitler and the Nazi Party 1918-1933. Identify and comment upon the key weaknesses of the Weimar system of government. The Weimar Republic was born in a time of great turmoil and struggle, encountering many problems throughout its sixteen year history. Possibly the greatest vulnerability was 'the weakness within' - the constitution gave the President, the states and the military too much control, whilst proportional voting meant that the Reichstag was separated and weak.
This break-down of relations resulted from Russia’s suffering of what it regarded ‘humiliation’, after the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Austria-Hungary was more than willing to join the treaty as they had goals incompatible with the
1. Explain the origins of the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union were uneasy allies; their collaboration was really the result of a mutual fear that the Nazis would gain control over Europe, not based on any ideological commonality. Because of this, after the war was over and the restructuring of Europe began, a power struggle developed between the Soviet Union (who wanted Germany to be Communist) and the United States and Britain (who wanted democratic rule.) However, you shouldn't make the assumption that devotion to ideology was all that was behind Cold War animosity; countries tend to be more complaint trading partners with countries that share their political systems and both Stalin and the Cold War Era presidents in the US knew this.
What came out of the post war era was a generation of suspicion and mistrust called the Cold War. This was a stalemate war between the US and USSR, or the global East and West. Both sides were sceptical of the other and the threat of war made society at the time harsh. There were many causes for the cold war; however the main beginnings were in the immediate aftermath of World War Two. The world was left in a bipolar power struggle between the two main superpowers, America and the Soviet Union.
Once done this essay will examine the cases in which Britain nearly came to war or intervention throughout the American Civil War, the causes of that and the role played by members of HMG in resisting it. Finally, a vital part of this essay will evaluate the effect of how external forces threatened the policy of HMG. The conclusion of this essay will be that HMG was desperate to keep out of the American Civil War yet because of that became locked in a Battle for Neutrality that if lost would have dragged Britain into the conflict. Introduction The four year struggle of the American Civil War from 1861-1865 cost the lives of more than 620,000 soldiers and 50,000 civilians. The policy of The British Empire as set by Her Majesty’s Government was to avoid becoming embroiled in the conflict on either side, in short to remain neutral.
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.