Germany then declared war on Russia on August 1 but then was immidiately on the way to conquer Paris through Belgium, which they managed on August 4. Germany attacked Belgium even though every country had to sign a treaty that Belgium will stay neutral in the war. Belgium then of course asked Great Britain for help, who where able to stop Germany coming into France. So now Germany was blocked by Great Britain, but they still declared war on Russia which means that they where getting bombed by the Russians and they could not fight back because they where stuck in Belgium. This situation again shows how
One of the main factors was the blank check that Germany gave Austria-Hungary. Allowing Austria-Hungary to go to war on Serbia, with Germany’s full support. Austria-Hungary wanted to go to war on Serbia because, a member of the Black Hand (a Serbian terrorist group) assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Austria-Hungary served a harsh ultimatum on Serbia, and if they didn’t agree they would declare war. They had known Serbia would reject the ultimatum.
Therefore Austria wants to attack Serbia. This is one great example of how war and about the battles fought when one person or nation feels that another has done a bad deed to them is still relevant today. On September 1, 1939, World War 2 started because of the invasion of Poland by Germany. “Hitler had long planned an invasion of Poland, a nation to which Great Britain and France had guaranteed military support if it was attacked by Germany.” (History 1). Since Germany did invade Poland, which was a bad deed to the Poland’s, Great Britain, Poland, and France went back and attacked Germany.
The pact was the final cause of war as Hitler could now invade Poland without any interference from Stalin. Britain and France had declared war on Germany as they guaranteed Poland’s independence. However, the policy of appeasement in the 1930’s also played a big role in causing the Second World War. Appeasement had led Hitler to believe that Britain and France were weak. Britain and France gave Germany the Rhineland, the Sudetenland and they were allowed to have an Anschluss with Austria.
Question To what extent was Germany to blame for causing World War 1 The treaty of Versailles included the War Guilt Clause, Article 231, which laid the responsibility for causing World War 1 with Germany and its allies. Some historians, however, have argued that no one country can be held responsible for the outbreak of war in August 1914. Germany brought tension between the European powers, by creating a new foreign policy called “Weltpolitik”. Germany tried to influence other colonial powers, by creating the “Weltpolitik”, since there had been an increase in the colonial rivalry, therefore Germany wanted to secure its empire overseas, and especially against Britain. As a result, there was one noteworthy incident to mention, the failed attempt of the British to incite a rising against, the Boer Republic, in southern Africa, which was good news for Germany.
These two wars are unparalleled in the world’s history for the devastation that occurred during the wars. The First World War gives us several obvious examples of total war. The first example is in how the primary leaders of the different countries planned on waging the war. Emperor Wilhelm II made it clear to both his admirals and his generals that he wanted them to use every means necessary to crush the French and then turn their attentions to the Russians. The battle plans of the Germans depended on quickly defeating France and then either defeating Russia, or drawing them into a stalemate.
‘The outbreak of war in Europe was due to an aggressive German foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900’. How far do you agree? It has been a matter of fervent controversy that Germany went to war with aggressive or defensive intentions. Source V suggests that Germany went to war solely for defensive reasons due to the extensive array of alliances that encircled her as well as diplomatic tension. Overall, Source W challenges source V, as it indicates that Germany’s aggressive actions since the turn of the century resulted in war.
“The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900”. How far do you agree with this opinion? Explain your answer using sources V, W and X and your own knowledge relating to the controversy. The implication that Germany’s use of an aggressive foreign policy led to the outbreak of the First World War is an extremely controversial topic, and has ultimately caused great debates amongst historians. Fischer, the provoker of this controversy, expresses this concept of German aggression by stating that since c.1900 Germany planned, and then was able to execute a war, due to their aggressive weltpolitik; based purely on expansionism.
(Stevenson, pp.13-17) In other words, Germany was trying to cover too much territory. At the end of 1916, Germany, whose surface fleet had been bottled up since the indecisive battle of Jutland, announced that it would begin unrestricted submarine warfare in an effort to break British control of the seas. In protest, the United States broke off relations with Germany in 1917 and entered the war. (Ferro, pp.112-115) American participation meant that the Allies now had at their command almost unlimited industrial and manpower resources, which were to be decisive in winning the war. It also served from the start to lift Allied morale.
The war of 1914 broke out for many reasons, such as the alliances, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, being a neutral country, the rivalry between Britain and Germany in the navies’ race. Many of these are long-term causes some are short-term. But each of them had a role in the First World War breaking out. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the trigger that set off the world war. Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of Austria - Hungary.