Argumentative Essay: The First World War

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The First World War was everything but what it was expected to be; it was long lasting with devastating losses and little gain on either side. The nations involved in this Great War signed up for a lot more than they had bargained for at the onset. This period in history reflects multi-nations simultaneously experiencing intense nationalistic beliefs, at its most detrimental levels, where feelings of superiority take residence in the minds of the people and leaders of a nation and irrational thoughts begin to take hold. A good majority of the key players leading up to this war were deeply encroached in these nationalistic beliefs, which in turn, led them to make extremely poor decisions, bad alliances, and even worse war strategies, leaving little to no room for error should their plans not come to fruition. Their puffed up sense of superiority led them to hold tightly to irrational beliefs, such as the Short War Illusion and the Cult of the Offensive. This overabundance of patriotism also led this war to become the first strategized to not only defeat the enemy, but to totally annihilate them. The Short War Illusion was one of the major flaws in thinking of this war campaign. Although many nations were under the assumption that the war could be easily won and in short order with their side prevailing, …show more content…
This theory, although not an accurate one, was believed at the time to have been proven through former wars in recent history. Germany’s recent unification into one great land came about using this exact method and it was a major success. The difference between former favorable outcomes using this strategy and what transpired in 1914/1915, is the sizeable advancement in defensive firepower over the course of the last decade prior to the outbreak of

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