The first world war started from 1914 to 1918

The first world war started from 1914 to 1918

The first world war started from 1914 to 1918, while the second world war was fought from 1939 to 1945. The battles were the largest military conflicts that involved alliances from different countries. WWI or the great war was centered in Europe, where the warring nations were divided into two groups. The first group was the allied powers, which include Russia, Britain, Italy, France, Japan, and the US from 1917. The second group was the central powers, which comprised of Germany, turkey, Hungary, and Bulgaria. WWII had two opposing alliances. The first was the allies, which included France, Britain, the US, China, and the Soviet Union. The second was the Axis, which included Germany, Japan, and Italy. There are similarities and differences between the causes and consequences of the first and the second world war.

Nationalism was a common aspect that caused both wars. In WWI, France’s pride was hurt from their loss to Prussia, a small German territory during the Franco- Prussia war. This had led to distrust and hostility between France and Germany, which caused them to form alliances with different nations hence increasing the tension. Germany also had a strong rivalry with Britain since they felt like they were restricting them from gaining allies from overseas because Britain had the supreme power on the sea. In the second world war, the German pride had been hurt after their surrender in WWI. This brought out the failure of the peace treaty that was signed in 1919. After their defeat, the Germans did not agree with the terms of the Versailles treaty, which brought them shame and anger to Germany and Italy. As a result of the nationalistic feeling, both countries became strong European powers during the time of the great depression, where they rivaled with the power of Britain and France.

Militarism was another common aspect of both world wars. In WWI, Germany had formed an army that was efficient, powerful and successful during different battles with France in the 1870s and Austria- Hungary in the 1860s. Germany was able to sustain its strong army that was supported by the high industrialization, which created military machines that surpassed those of other nations. In the second world war, new war technology was created, which was used in both sea and air. Japan desired more land and resources to provide for its war factories. It launched an air raid in pearl harbor using aircraft carriers and fighter planes, which led the US to declare war against them.

In both wars, imperialism was an underlying aspect of creating tension in both world wars. The imperialist drive was because of the newly discovered power among the different warring nations. In WWI, the crisis started as a result of various disputes over colonies. The tangier crisis of 1905 was one of the conflicts where war almost broke out when Kaiser Wilhelm tried to test the newly formed alliance between France and Britain. He went to Morocco and offered them assistance in case France attempted to colonize them. He was offended by the fact that France did not involve Germany in their decision. France was upset and wanted to get back at German after their loss of Lorraine and Alsace to the Germans in the France- Prussian war fifty years prior. WWI trigger came during the Balkan wars when Austria – Hungary had invaded Herzegovina and Bosnia, the two nations that were highly populated with Serbians who hated the Austrian rule. A Bosnia Serbs terrorist group killed Franz Ferdinand, a throne heir and his wife Sofia, during his visit to the country. This assassination caused the onset of the first world war. Imperialism from the second world war created tension from Hitler’s philosophy of having a ‘pure’ Aryan race, where he planned to take territories that German lost during WWI. He eventually managed to get the lost lands due to the failures of the league of nations to protect those lands. WWII was triggered when Hitler managed to invade and conquer Poland after a secret treaty with the Soviet Union.

In both world wars, the American government tried to separate itself, but it eventually joined the fight. In WWI, the US tried to isolate itself because it did not want to involve itself in other countries’ affairs since the war did not affect their interest. This changed in 1917 after a leaked telegram of Germany’s proposal to Mexico to join them by helping Mexico acquire their lost territories from the US. In WWII, militarism and dictatorship discouraged the united states from joining the war, but this changed soon when japan attacked pearl harbor, killing and injuring American citizens.

Alliance was one of the differences between the warring nations during both world wars after the first world war alliances shifted where the triple entity formed an alliance between France, Britain, and Russia against the Germans. In response Germany allied with Italy Austria – Hungary to form the triple alliance.

To gain territory and power, conciliation was used in WWII, unlike in WWI. Fear against the Germans made some politicians agree to Hitler’s demands. One of the politicians, Stalin, was offered a secret treaty and negotiated with Hitler to remain neutral in the war between German and Poland, where he was promised a piece of in Poland, Finland, Bessarabia, and the Baltic state.

WWI ended with Germans losing and surrendering, which led to the signing of a Versailles peace treaty. When WWII ended, most of the European countries’ industrial facilities had immense damage, and the German V bombs had destroyed a percentage of residential places in Great Britain. The end of the war brought liberations to most countries as colonial powers lacked the finances to hold their colonies with their economies being destroyed. There were creations of weapons of mass destruction, including the most dangerous weapon to this day the atomic bomb and other weapons like flame throwers, submachine guns, and aircraft technology. The second world war ended with all of the Axis being defeated and forced to surrender.  The US had emerged as an economic and military superpower. At the end of both wars, millions of people had lost their lives, and others were wounded.

Both world wars were as a result of a vast global conflict where the causes were deeply connected. In all the countries, mass destruction weapons were created, which brought about the suffering of millions of people like dead and injured soldiers, displaced families, starvations, and imprisonments.  At the end of both wars, there were repercussions and devastating consequences around the world.