The first major war since the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most devastating and unjustifiable wars of all time. The Great War of 1914 began in Sarajevo with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian terrorist group, the Narodna Odbrana. The war began as a small dispute between two countries but soon spread through the entirety of Europe. The expansion was largely due to alliances made prior to the war. These alliances were made due to fear, revenge, common enemies, and a desire for protection. Otto von Bismarck of Germany formed numerous alliances during his time as chancellor of Prussia and then later Germany. Bismarck’s alliances included The Three Emperors League, which was instituted in 1873 then
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Bismarck had two main goals: to unite Germany furthering the expansion her empire and to bring just enough peace to Europe so that the united Germany could keep her dominance. Bismarck did not do this out of the goodness of his heart, but out of these ulterior motives. His way of keeping this newly defined “peace” was to manipulate the other Great Powers into feeling valued and falsely empowered so he “embarked upon a system of complex European alliances”, but it is clear that “in foreign policy, as with [his] imperialistic policy, [his] domestic policies were never far from view" (Abrams 43). In particular, Bismarck had a goal of isolating France to the extent that she would not dare wage war on Germany. As she allied with other Great Powers, the resurgent France had very high potential to become a threat to Germany and this made Bismarck aim his foreign policy at the need to keep France isolated. To do this Bismarck ensured he was on good terms with with Russia, for that would prevent a two fronted war from the both of them. Instead of making things more peaceful, this did just the opposite. The complications arose when Bismarck created the Three Emperors’ League in 1873 including Germany, Austria, and …show more content…
The long-term effects of the First World War were almost as devastating as the actual event. The casualties of this war were outstanding; approximately 39,000,000 young men between the ages of 19 and 30 died or were irreversible stricken by this war. These casualties are referred to as the “Lost Generation” by many. Not only because of the immediate generation lost but also the potential of the next generation these men would have helped to form. The number of people lost in this war is startling and disturbing. What this war took was not the only devastating piece, but also what it left. The new technology that had its origin in this war are still used and modified in modern war. Although produced during the industrial revolution, machine guns had their first major début during World War I. Machine guns made this war and later wars more devastating than ever experienced before because the number of shots fired per minute was increased beyond belief. Tanks, submarines, and planes were used in war for the first time ever. Chemical warfare, in the use of poisonous gases, was an evolving idea experimented with on the battlefield. This increased the casualties and made for much more disturbing and brutal deaths. Gassing human beings was unjustifiable, because there were few defensive measures
Bismarck had two main goals: to unite Germany furthering the expansion her empire and to bring just enough peace to Europe so that the united Germany could keep her dominance. Bismarck did not do this out of the goodness of his heart, but out of these ulterior motives. His way of keeping this newly defined “peace” was to manipulate the other Great Powers into feeling valued and falsely empowered so he “embarked upon a system of complex European alliances”, but it is clear that “in foreign policy, as with [his] imperialistic policy, [his] domestic policies were never far from view" (Abrams 43). In particular, Bismarck had a goal of isolating France to the extent that she would not dare wage war on Germany. As she allied with other Great Powers, the resurgent France had very high potential to become a threat to Germany and this made Bismarck aim his foreign policy at the need to keep France isolated. To do this Bismarck ensured he was on good terms with with Russia, for that would prevent a two fronted war from the both of them. Instead of making things more peaceful, this did just the opposite. The complications arose when Bismarck created the Three Emperors’ League in 1873 including Germany, Austria, and …show more content…
The long-term effects of the First World War were almost as devastating as the actual event. The casualties of this war were outstanding; approximately 39,000,000 young men between the ages of 19 and 30 died or were irreversible stricken by this war. These casualties are referred to as the “Lost Generation” by many. Not only because of the immediate generation lost but also the potential of the next generation these men would have helped to form. The number of people lost in this war is startling and disturbing. What this war took was not the only devastating piece, but also what it left. The new technology that had its origin in this war are still used and modified in modern war. Although produced during the industrial revolution, machine guns had their first major début during World War I. Machine guns made this war and later wars more devastating than ever experienced before because the number of shots fired per minute was increased beyond belief. Tanks, submarines, and planes were used in war for the first time ever. Chemical warfare, in the use of poisonous gases, was an evolving idea experimented with on the battlefield. This increased the casualties and made for much more disturbing and brutal deaths. Gassing human beings was unjustifiable, because there were few defensive measures