At the end of all the fighting in World War one and the formation of the Treaty of Versailes Germany was placed under the full responsibility for the starting the war. This creation of the Treaty of Versailles had marked the start of hostility amongst the Germans. More specifically the War Guilt clause otherwise known as Articles 231 and 232 of the Versailles treaty where Germany blamed for the war and forced to pay for all the reparations. Such harsh reprimands shattered the German economy and in the short five years after the war, one American dollar was equivalent to 350 000 German marks. This lead to the rise of immense hostility against the democratic governments of the Allied forces who imposed such a treaty on them, which lead to
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In the work of James Joll and Gordon Martel the Origins of the First World War, since the 18th century the idea of the balance of power was a common concept that was used amongst politicians. This idea of the balance of power was used as an overall assessment of military and economic strength as well as national interest in their countries. As stated by Eyre Crowe, "The only check in the abuse of political predominance has always consisted in the opposition of an equally formidable rival, or a combination of several countries forming leagues of defence. The equilibrium established by such grouping forces is technically known as the balance of power." With that in mind this idea of maintaining the balance of power then in turn would help prevent war by deterring the aggressors by presenting another equally powerful opponent. In other words, in order to prevent the misuse of political dominance over other nations there must exist a rival equally as powerful in order to counteract the power of the other …show more content…
Under such circumstances many of the policy makers in both countries felt that they were encircled by to many powerful countries. With this in mind, for Germany they perceived Russian and French alliance the biggest threat to their empire. With the French conscription law in effect and the rate of the Russian industrialization by 1916 they perceived this alliance an unbeatable enemy. In addition to the growing threat of the Russia and France alliance many of the Germany’s leaders expected a war to erupt sooner or later, rather than losing this future war they had planned to engage now than regret it later. However in contrast, for Russia their enemies consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey who they became recently hostile with as well as Japan who they recently waged war with. Not to mention China who was certainly hovering around if Russia ever posed a threat in the future. In a similar manner, another equally important point to mention is the overall motive of Russia leading up to World War 1. In Sean McMeekin 's work, the Russian Origins of the First World War he argues that contrary to the popular justification of the Russians siding with Serbia from Slavic honour, Russia had other hidden motives to partake in the war rather than to aid Serbia. Moreover Russia’s participation in the war was more from the
In the work of James Joll and Gordon Martel the Origins of the First World War, since the 18th century the idea of the balance of power was a common concept that was used amongst politicians. This idea of the balance of power was used as an overall assessment of military and economic strength as well as national interest in their countries. As stated by Eyre Crowe, "The only check in the abuse of political predominance has always consisted in the opposition of an equally formidable rival, or a combination of several countries forming leagues of defence. The equilibrium established by such grouping forces is technically known as the balance of power." With that in mind this idea of maintaining the balance of power then in turn would help prevent war by deterring the aggressors by presenting another equally powerful opponent. In other words, in order to prevent the misuse of political dominance over other nations there must exist a rival equally as powerful in order to counteract the power of the other …show more content…
Under such circumstances many of the policy makers in both countries felt that they were encircled by to many powerful countries. With this in mind, for Germany they perceived Russian and French alliance the biggest threat to their empire. With the French conscription law in effect and the rate of the Russian industrialization by 1916 they perceived this alliance an unbeatable enemy. In addition to the growing threat of the Russia and France alliance many of the Germany’s leaders expected a war to erupt sooner or later, rather than losing this future war they had planned to engage now than regret it later. However in contrast, for Russia their enemies consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey who they became recently hostile with as well as Japan who they recently waged war with. Not to mention China who was certainly hovering around if Russia ever posed a threat in the future. In a similar manner, another equally important point to mention is the overall motive of Russia leading up to World War 1. In Sean McMeekin 's work, the Russian Origins of the First World War he argues that contrary to the popular justification of the Russians siding with Serbia from Slavic honour, Russia had other hidden motives to partake in the war rather than to aid Serbia. Moreover Russia’s participation in the war was more from the