Compare the Causes of WW1 and WW2

Compare the causes of WW1 and WW2

World War One and Two were the two most devastating wars the world had ever seen. Two global wars which threatened to swallow and destroy everything in their path. During these wars many weapons of destruction were created and millions of casualties were suffered by all countries. These two wars, which were simiiliar in their results did have varying causes. Although many fall into main categories of Imperialism Nationalism and Militarism there are various sub causes to each war. In both wars Imperialism was an underlying factor in creating tensions among the states in both wars. This imperialst movement was due to that of a newly found desire for power amomng the people of these states. In World War One there were various disputes over colonies. These included the Tangier crisis of 1905 in which war almost broke out as Kaiser Willhelm, in an attempt to test the newly formed alliance between Britain and France went to Morroco and offered his assistance if France tried to colonise them. He did this under the guise of being offended by the fact that France did not discuss this decision with Germany. Also on the other hand France was upset at their loss of alsaice and Lorraine to Germany in the Franco-Prussian war 50 years prior and desired to get it back. Finally it came to its boiling point during the Balkan Wars after Austria-Hungary had annexed Bosnia and Herzegoiva, two countries richly populated with Serbians who had hated Austrian rule. This hatred led to a Serbian terrorist group named the Black Hand, which had assassinated Franz Ferdinand, the heir to a throne, on a visit to the country, which plunged the world into the first world war. In World War 2 however, Imperialism was not as large a reason for the tensions felt between the countries. Hitler included in his ideology of having a ‘pure’ Aryan race was that of Lebrensaum or living space for this superior race. To do this he had planned to take the territories that Germany had lost in the first World War. Due to the failures of the League of Nations he was able to gain back the lost lands and eventually invade and conquer Poland, which again was the deciding factor that caused the war. Nationalism, in its ideals are very similar to that of imperialism. This was as new sense of pride felt by the inhabitants of the various countries. This Nationalism included a desire for power and also recognition. In various cases this nationalistic aspect led to various grudges being held by each country. In world War one it was the pride of the French which had been hurt due to their loss at the hands of the small German state of Prussia in the Franco- Prussian war. This led to various tension and distrust between the Germans and French, which in turned caused them to form alliances with other countries further elevating tension contrastingly in world war 2 it was the Germans whose pride were hurt. Due to the various propaganda around the country at the end of World War one they had believed they were winning when they had surrendered and thus were angry, this was personified in Hitler’s quote when he states “ What I Would like to do with the Treaty of Versailles! Each one of the points of that treaty is branded in the minds and hearts of the German people and sixty million men and women find their souls aflame with a feeling of rage and shame. A torrent of fire bursts forth from a furnace, and a will of steel is forged from it, with the common cry- we will have weapons again!”

This accurately represented the overall feeling of the German people and this further increased resentment. Militarism, was a major factor in World War one where on the other hand it played a much smaller role in being a factor of World War two. Prior to World War one the various countries began to militarize heavily due to the increasing fear and tension . One such example of this is the Naval Race that occurred between Britain and Germany, this was when both Britain and Germany decided to increase the size of their navies. Britain had decided to make their navy the combined size of the two largest navies whereas Germany decided to make their navy large enough that Britain would not risk facing them. During this Naval Race both countries also built large ships called the dreadnaoughts these large battleships were capable of causing massive destruction and by the end of the race multiple were built. Other things such as military plans, such as Schlieefen plan pushed tensions even more and the countries were on the edge of war. On the other hand during world war two, militarism was a much smaller factor. As Hitler rearmed Germany, the members of the League of Nation failed to stop him, and this allowed Hitler to gain power, which although allowed him to go into war was not necessarily a factor in the causes of the war.

The formation of alliances in first world war was perhaps the most important factor in the war. As Europe split into the Triple Entente consisting of France, Britain and Russia and the Triple Alliance consisting of Italy, Austria- Hungary and Germany, the tensions and mistrust between the countries reached new heights. Also this helped push the other factors such as Militarism as alliances were only made in times of war.

The Treaty of Versailles, which was the treaty signed between the Central Powers and Germany in 1919 after the first World War, is a major factor in causing the second world war. This treaty placed the war guilt and thus the responsibility of war reparations on Germany. This was due to mainly to the French’s revenge of the war prior and Britain’s greed as David Lloyd George states, “ I told the British public I

would squeeze Germany 'until the pips speak”. This is highlighting the fact that the treaty was not to instill peace but instead for personal reasons. This caused Germans to resent the Central Powers and also their Government for surrendering. This along with the Great Depression instilled a sense of nationalism in the people and also allowed for Hitler to come to power, who, with his political skill had rearmed Germany and also taken its allowed for it to come out of an economic skill. This combined with the failure of the league of nations allowed for Germany to invade Poland, and start the second world war