The Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Political differences, economic competition and a growing sense of nationalism had created tension between the nations. This tension erupted in 1914 when the Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in Sarajevo by Serbian nationalists. Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an impossible ultimatum and hence declared war on Serbia. Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia collectively known as the Allied Powers aligned against Germany and Austria-Hungary collectively known as the Central Powers and the Great War began. The war was fought on the Eastern and Western Fronts. New military techniques technology was introduced during this time, such as planes, submarines, trench warfare and machine guns that led to large scale deaths of soldiers and civilians during the war. New military techniques, particularly trench warfare, was the common fighting technique, which subjected soldiers to deplorable conditions as they battled at the war fronts.
Section II
Soldiers who fought in the gruesome war reacted differently to their experiences in the war through various expressions of art. Poetry is one such form of art that most World War I soldiers used to shed light on their experiences during the war, their reactions to these experiences and the methods they used to cope with what they went through as the war was waged. Colonel John McRae, an American soldier’s, famous poem shows the thoughts and emotions of soldiers during the war “In Flanders Fields” he writes “To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high” (McRae). On the one hand, the poem is a grim reminder of the reality of death in the war, with soldiers dying helplessly with nothing to hold onto other than the promise that those who they leave behind will continue the fight bravely. On the other hand, the poem alludes to the spirit of comradeship between the soldiers amidst the dangers of the war. It speaks to the sense of responsibility among the soldiers to fight with bravery on behalf of their fellow soldiers. American soldiers entered the war in 1917, and as such did not see as much combat as their European counterparts. Other soldiers used art to show other aspects of the war. Otto Dix. A German soldier painted the Trench Warfare that depicts the aftermath of a battle during World War I (Dix, Trench Warfare). In some parts of the painting, the soldiers used blurry lines to show that fighting left people dead and unrecognizable and that the dangers of war did not discriminate between the nationalities of the soldiers. The painting also depicts soldiers with multiple bullet wounds, gasmasks and dark clouds to show the brutality of war and the dangers that the soldiers faced during the war. The painting reveals that for some of the soldiers, the war was too brutal and inhumane, and not all of them supported the tactics and deaths of the war. Most European soldiers joined with the belief that the war would end quickly, but the war went on for four years, and they saw the cruelty and needlessness of the war.
Section III
After the war ended, people around the world sought to commemorate the war as a reminder of the horrors of the war and as a lesson for future generations. One of the common themes of most memorials is the human cost of the war. The Cenotaph Whitehall by Edwin Lutyens in London is a memorial that remembers the British soldiers who fell on the battlefield but were never taken back home for a proper burial. The monument reminds people of the sons, fathers, brothers and friends who were never seen again by their loved ones after they left to fight the war. It is a stark reminder of the deadly nature of the war and the sacrifices that soldiers made on the battlefield for the United Kingdom. In America, Doughboy Statue Bringing Home Victory by Alonzo Victor Lewis is one of the most prominent memorials of the Great War. It depicts an American soldier in a walking stance. The statue is a commemoration of the valour and sacrifices that soldiers had to make during the war and the victory of American and its allied partners during the war.
Section IV
The aftermath of the Great War came with significant changes to the politics, psychology and economy of the world. The War led to a “growing claim for national self-determination in international relations was supported by attendant political emigration” (Hein-Kircher & Kailitz). One of the lasting effects of the War was the Russian revolution which ousted the Tsarist rule and established communism and the Soviet Union. The war also led to the collapse of the German empire and Hapsburg monarchy, which permanently altered the political dynamics between European nations. The Ottoman Empire also collapsed as a result of the war, and the empire’s territory was divided as war spoils for Britain and France into several nations such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan which form part of the Middle East today. Gearon’s article that reviews the fragmentation of the Middle East through books of the scholars of the time. Gear writes that the “Sykes-Picot Agreement” that divided the Ottoman Empire after the Great War is associated with “much of the region’s contemporary instability” (Gearon). This fragmentation of the empire into nations was done haphazardly without consideration for the social or cultural relationships of the populations in the region. The effects of this creation of nations are still in play in the current politics of the Middle East. Economically, the first world war led to changes in global economics. The war crippled former global economic powers such as Britain, Germany and France. Germany, in particular, went into an economic crisis which the Nazi Party led by Hitler used to clinch power in Germany and ultimately led to the breakout of World War II. Psychologically, the war made most people reconsider their attitudes towards war. Before World War, nationalist sentiment had made some champion for war as a way for proving superiority and advancing nationalistic interests over other nations. After witnessing the deaths, plunder and destruction of the Great War, many European countries and its citizens saw the catastrophic nature of war and did not wish to see a repeat of it. This is one of the reasons that informed the terms of the Versailles Treaty. The revival of pacifism after World War I is also among the reasons that caused Britain and other European powers to be reluctant in declaring war on Nazi Germany before the outset of World War II. The Great War thus changed the political, social and economic realities of the World.
Section V
World War I was one of the most significant events in human history, with effects that shook the political, social and economic structures of the world. The war in itself was a gruesome and deadly affair which left millions of soldiers and civilians dead. After the war, empires such as the German empire, the Ottoman empire and the Austria-Hungary empire collapsed. Former economic powers such as Germany diminished after they lost the war. However, the new reality after World War I was dictated by the victors, and this reality was punitive on the losers of the war. This sowed resentment that festered and erupted leading to World War II.