Introduction:
The First World War that was fought in the beginning of twentieth century was one of its own kind. A warfare that the mankind had rarely seen before which entangled nations from all parts of the world and multiple continents. The war was not just a result of single factor or merely two nations jumping into the war and unleashing war upon others, instead the war had a multifaceted background.
The roots of war was fixed in military expansions, nationalistic movements, imperial pursuits, religious affiliations and inclinations, nay all the factors that could be used for the self benefits and exploitation of the enemy were used in this warfare.
Europe had ideologically been divided into two blocs, the central powers and the allies. Each hell bent on bringing down the other. The former consisted of Germany, Austria and Hungry, while the latter composed of Great Britain, France, Italy and Russia.
Militarism:
The race for armament, aiming to strengthen the army and enforce psychological military might was the mindset that drove various nations. Germany had initiated military operations and exercises under the capable Army head Von Moltke who would claim to crush any enemy in no time.
Lion vs. The shark:
Great Britain for centuries enjoyed supremacy in the sea, for this reason they were being called the shark at sea. Germany from the central powers bloc could not do with it and wanted to find a solution to this menace in form of Britain’s authority over sea. To mitigate this impact Germany undertook numerous German naval expansions and exercises in 1898 and 1907 giving an idea of the mindset contained in the German army and German people. Kaiser would claim that it was him who had held the people in check else they were ready to take on any nation.
Pan Slav movement:
The Slav subjects were being under the authority and protection of The Porte of Ottoman Empire for centuries. The Slavs consisted of the Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Czechs and other Christian subjects. In recent times in form of treaties like Treaty of Berlin and Treaty of San Stefano were two events and accords that gave Austria a right to protect the subjects and areas of Slav region in 1878. The terms of this agreement were tempered in 1908 when Austria annexed these areas formally, resulting in the resentment of the locals.
The presence of secret societies:
Being unsatisfied with the Austrian annexation and the overall hostilities, Serbians resorted to the use of force and created their own secret societies for the purpose of launching offensives against the leadership and representatives of the Austrian government. The secret societies operated under different banners and different names. One of which was the “Black hand” society (Kirchberger & Carlisle 2009, 10). It was the action of Black Hand that resulted in the direct leading to the war.
The Russian influence and Interest:
Russia in the last two centuries changed its stance and participated actively in the European political activities. Its interest in the Slav subjects and its supposed protection of their religious rights gave it an opportunity to keep an influence in the European realm of affairs.
The Sick Man of Europe:
The Ottoman Empire was losing its strength over period of time, giving rise to a vacuum all over and resulting in creation of opportunity seizure mindset amongst the other nations from the two blocs.
The immediate cause of the war:
The immediate cause that resulted in the launching of physical offensive was the slaying of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, the heir to the throne (Yapp 2007, 92). This was being blamed on the Serbian secret societies namely the Black Hand and they were being asked to hand over the guilty to the Austrian authorities which were not fulfilled.
United Nation’s reason for keeping itself a bay from the War:
United States of America remained neutral in the first period of the W.W.1. This was the result of the policy of isolation and non interference that was being pursued by U.S since the late 18th century (Turku, 2013, 48). America also remained neutral due to the fact that it was not threatened by the German offensive in any direct way. The war was first of its kind, and since many other intercontinental wars had been fought before, United States never expected to get entangled nor desired to, for this reason they kept themselves a bay from the world war for first phase of the war.
The factors that dragged U.S into the War:
The immediate cause which is attributed to the American Entry was the interception of the Telegram in which Germans showed their intent at going beyond Pacific into the Mexican colony. In discriminate attacks by the Germans over the American ships was one other cause that forced them into ending the isolation. This was done in form of destroying of Lusitiana and Sussex. The attacks on submarine resulted in the halting of the diplomatic channel activities and forcing U.S.A to enter into the World War One and strengthening the overall position of the Allies.
Impact of U.S entry:
United States entry into the war turned the tilt directly into the favor of Allies. Already on the back foot and defense, the help on sea and in form of military assistance allowed Allied forces thumping the Germans more severely and pushing them against the wall. The combined effort was focused on bringing down the weak partners of Central power first; this was done in form of defeating the Austrians, followed by the breaking of the Ottoman Empire and ultimately defeating Germans in 1918. Hence U.S’s entry into the war changed the course of the war and ultimately led to the success of Allies.
Causes of failure of Treaty of Versailles:
Heavy reparations, war guilt clause on Germany (Bennett & Graebner, 2011, 111), isolation of Austria and Hungry, loopholes within the League of Nations and several other factors were the visible causes of the failure of Treaty of Versailles. The non approval of the Congress over the ideas of W. Wilson was another setback suffered by Treaty of Versailles. Due to this factor United States of America stayed abreast from the League of Nations for several years and absence of one super power allowed manipulation by other nations such as Germany and Japan.
Role of W. Wilson during and after the war:
Woodrow Wilson was for the immediate stopping of the war. He wanted the war ended with “no winners”. He was the man behind the idea of League of Nations and the charter of League and its principles were more or less based on the ideas floated by Woodrow Wilson.
Post war scenario:
In the post war scenario W. Wilson stressed for quick adjustment of the masses, and providing humanitarian relief to the people who were displaced on massive scale.
League of Nations / Woodrow Wilson role:
League of Nations was the brain child of W. Wilson and a super entity aimed at restoring peace in the entire world. With few exceptions, it did manage retaining peace in the world until the Second World War took place.
Works Cited:
Bennett, E. M., & Graebner, N. A. (2011). The Versailles Treaty and Its Legacy: The Failure of the Wilsonian Vision. Cambridge University Press.
Kirchberger, J. H., & Carlisle, R. P. (2009). World War I. Infobase Publishing.Press.
Turku, H. (2013). Isolationist States in an Interdependent World. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Press.
Yapp, N. (2007). 100 Days in Photographs: Pivotal Events that Changed the World. National Geographic Books.Press.
