The Causes of the First World War Carmen There were quite a few causes of the first world war (WW1). The long-term causes were the militarism, alliance system, imperialism and nationalism- MAIN. The short-term cause was the fact that Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. I personally think the most significant cause to WW1 is the alliance system and here, I will justify why I think like this. I think the most significant cause of WW1 was the alliance system.
“The spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914” (Duffy). This assassination started a chain reaction between the powers, and each country was dragged into it by the Mutual Defense Alliances. Gavrilo Princip assassinated Franz Ferdinand on June 28th, 1914. Princip was part of a Serbian nationalist group named the Black Hand. Franz Ferdinand wanted to replace the dual monarchy and create a government that Serbia would be represented with Austria and Hungary.
There were many minority nations that wanted to establish independence and separate themselves from the mainstream, dominant society. This collective identity and unity that the nations have established caused them to form extreme nationalist ideas and revolt against the more influential people they were controlled by. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand happened due to the severe nationalistic feelings of the Serbs. The Serbs had always wanted to achieve sovereignty and independence from Austria-Hungary. When Franz Ferdinand announced that he will be leaving to Sarajevo to greet the townspeople on June 28, 1914, a terrorist organization called the ‘Black Hand’ had meticulously arranged an attack against Franz Ferdinand.
Gavrilo Princip a crazed member of a terrorist group “Black Hand” killed the Archduke as he hated Austria-Hungary and the Archduke. The Austria-Hungary Empire saw the assassination as an attack on their city and gave Serbia an ultimatum. They had to comply with a long list of demands or go to war with Austria-Hungary, which was bigger and more powerful. Serbia did not want war so they complied to all their demands. However, Austria-Hungary felt that this was not enough and declared war on Serbia.
There was more than just one incident that led to World War I. Americans killed on a sunken ship, the use of restricted submarines, and the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. President Wilson did all he could to avoid a conflict. When things got out of hand for him, he pushed back. The Bible scriptures states that there is a time for war, and I am sure that God’s direction was taken into consideration before war was declared. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a friend of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.
During this war, because of the advancement in weaponry and technology, the excessive amount of death was a supreisment to the different powers. Specifically, the global war took the life of more than 9 million soldiers and wounded more than 21 million (“World War I history”). In addition, there were about 20 million civil casualties. Although the United States weren’t the who was affected the most in death, the war had an impact on American literature (Dayton). During the war, the American literature started off by author having their perspective on the idea of United States entering the war, which eventually change because of the involvement.
The First World War began in August 1914. It was set off by the assassination of the Austrian archduke, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, on 28th June 1914 by Bosnian revolutionary, Gavrilo Princip. Austria/Hungary's waited three weeks to react to the death of their heir. Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the conspiracy of the Black Hand (a secret military society), the Austro-Hungarians chose to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, stopping nationalism there and sealing Austria/Hungary's influence in the Balkans. Austria/Hungary's wanted Serbia to refuse the terms of the ultimatum, which would give them a reason to launch a limited war against Serbia.
Orthodox history represents the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 as a significant tuning point because it brought WW2 to an end and the US wanted revenge for Pearl Harbour. On August the 6th 1945 in Japan, the US military dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the US wanted Japan to surrender as quickly as possible, so they could bring WW2 to an end. Then four days later, the US dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. The action of the US created a turning point as it ended the war and brought insight to the world and why nuclear weapons shouldn’t be used in any war.The consequences of the horrific bombing were that thousands of people in Japan died or were left with severe injuries and diseases from the radiation. Many were left homeless.The debate over whether it was a successful event still remains contestable today.
The July Crisis, this was a series of events which spark the war among the great power across Europe. This event started because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 28 of June 1914 in Bosnia by the Serbs. The Austrian-Hungary thought that the Serbian government had a direct influence with the assassination, which caused the several chain of events which led to World War 1. There were several players that worsen the crisis, these players are Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia and Serbia. However the events of the July crisis was mostly conducted by Austria-Hungary because of failure of diplomacy, the wanting of war and the ultimatum.
The Balkans was a very unstable area, and it was also known as the “sick man of Europe”. The Balkans included different nationalities such as the Serbs, Croatians and Bosnians, and each wanted independence for their country and they didn’t want to be combined and controlled together, which made it harder to rule. There were also a series of wars between the Balkans and Serbia, and as a result Serbia doubled its size. Additionally, Serbia was now determined to unite all Serbs into a “Greater Serbia”. The growing Serbia was a threat to Austria-Hungary, since it was easier for Serbia to attack Austria-Hungary after Austria-Hungary’s colonization of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is one of the Slavic groups with Serbia.
John Hersey wrote that “[Mrs. Nakamura] immediately turned 4 on the radio, which … [was] broadcasting a fresh warning”. Along with radio warnings there were also rumors that Hiroshima might be hit with bombs and air raid alarms when enemy planes flew over the city. Truman also dropped leaflets on many different Japanese cities a month before the attach informing them of what could happen if they did not surrender. PBS translated the leaflets which said that “we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war”. With the warnings given by radio, alarms, and leaflets, this demonstrates that the Japanese knew what could happen to their beloved city and decided not to evacuate their cities.
United States entering World War 2 was the turning point of the war for the Allies. The Allies were being bomb by air and losing on every front of the war, from England to Africa and beyond. The United States wanted to stay neutral and did so for the first 2 years of the war. The United States used economic sanctions on Japan to try and deter their aggression in Asia and the Pacific. They supplied Britain, Soviet Union and China with war materials and even deployed troops to Iceland, relieving Britain soldiers.
The US started to really gain the upper hand due to their thorough planning, sheer numbers, materials and straight up intelligence. In the long term, the US gained the upperhand because of their huge industrial capacity. The US produced huge numbers of aircraft carriers, planes and cargo ships while Japan a smaller poorer nation did not produce near as much. The US had many more soldiers than the Japanese. The Americans had many ingenious plans like General Douglas MacArthur’s “leapfrogging” strategy which devastated Japan.
An invasion on Japan was being planned next year, leaving a opening of time for which American and Japanese lives to be killed by one another during the war. However, the invasion didn’t happen because on September 2, 1945, Japan officially signed to unconditional surrender. The dropping of the atom bomb forced japan to surrender just like the U.S wanted. They just wanted to have the least amount of American deaths as possible. We used the bomb, which saved multiple men’s lives who would have to eventually invade Japan, resulting in the deaths of both Japanese men and American men.
Soon after its invention, President Harry S. Truman decided to use this atomic warfare against Japan. The President justified his actions by claiming that he “used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans.” (Long). However; Japan was inching closer and closer to surrender. Furthermore, no one was knowledgeable of the aftereffects such a “weapon”