Describe what led to the First World War.
As we know, mankind entered the 20th century on a wave of the unprecedented acceleration of socio-economic and, in particular, military and technological progress with accumulated over the previous century, acute and intractable geopolitical contradictions between the leading world powers. All of this led to revolutionary upheavals, and to the First World War, fundamentally changed the dynamics and nature of conflicts resolving between the great countries.
The struggle for the redistribution and leadership in the world had never covered several continents at the same time, did not affect the interests of the majority of countries in the world, World War I was conducted with the use of such a powerful weapon and have such tragic consequences. Moreover, unlike previous wars, which often occurred spontaneously, World War I was carefully planned and prepared in ideological and, in particular, in the military-strategic plan, based on the developed geopolitical doctrines. World War I was the way to permit the global geopolitical contradictions between the major countries.
At the turn of 19-20th centuries, when the struggle for the transformation of the world entered a new phase - the phase of violent redistribution of spheres of influence in the world arena, the political geography was formed on the basis of the works of the "father of geopolitics," German geographer Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904), who believed that the state was continuously developing biological organism, and that one of the main ways of increasing its power was territorial expansion or extension of "living space» by including in its membership a "politically valuable places." In general, the main idea of Ratzel was the understanding of the state as a living organism. And like all living things, state, limited spatial dimensions, in its natural biological development seeks to acquire, primarily by military means, the new lands at the cost of their neighbors (Ratzel, 1896).
The First World War had both quantitative and qualitative differences from the wars and armed conflicts of the past. Its rapid transformation from the European into the world was directly related to the fact that in previous decades regionally discrete foreign policy had evolved into a global world politics. The sharp intensification of the struggle for the territorial division of the world within a small group of major powers of that time was the cause of numerous colonial wars and international agreements on the division of colonies and spheres of influence.
Thus, the historical inevitability of World War I stemmed from the created geopolitical realities at the beginning of the 20th century. In the summer of 1914 for the first time all five known at that time great countries - Britain, France, Germany, the United States and Russia took an active part in the First World War, as well as such relatively strong regional leaders such as Austria-Hungary and Japan. The main geopolitical goals were the capture of the strategically important territories and the formation of extensive zones of geopolitical influence, especially in Europe. All major participants in the war pursued these goals. Russia had sought to strengthen its position in the Balkans, as well as by the capture of Istanbul and the Black Sea straits, and wanted to realize the dream - to gain access to the Mediterranean Sea.
Armed conflicts that had taken place in Europe before the First World War met the criteria for conventional wars in which armed violence was aimed at destroying and weakening the enemy's military power. It is not intended to undermine or destroy the internal socio-political system. The First World War began as conventionally, but quickly turned into a type of total war in which armed violence sharply increased, and the victims are not only the direct participants of military operations (combatants), but also the civilian population. In addition, the total war opponents seek to undermine social and public institutions to each other, using a variety of tools and resources for economic, political, spiritual and ideological nature.
Basically, the First World War was different from previous wars for the following reasons:
a large number of participating countries (all continents were involved in the war).
great human and material losses than in previous wars took place,
for the first time during the war, it was used gas attacks, tanks, submarines, etc,
reason - the war for the redivision of the world (for the first time on this scale)
and the outcome: the revolution in the countries losing the war and the Treaty of Versailles, which in fact was the cause of World War II.
Among the reasons were the desire to weaken states - competition in economic and military development (England worried about the rapid industrial expansion and, mainly, increasing the power of the German naval fleet), contradictions about colonies, spheres of influence and markets, the desire to solve the internal problems with the help of the war, the widespread increase of nationalist sentiments (BBC News, 2014).
The basic preconditions for the beginning of the war were:
aspiration of young unified Italy and Germany to the redistribution of spheres of influence in Europe and the colonial expansion;
The First World War in Europe takes a special place in the history. It is firmly rooted in the historical memory of the European countries. One of the primary factors that led to the war, historians tend to think of the rise of nationalism of the great nations and small nations. J. De Groot said, "The growth of nationalism meant that citizens shared the successes and failures of their countries in previously unseen degree. German people were proud and self-confident after the victory in 1871, but the French felt the humiliation and defeat. British and Germans, like at the competition, tried to overtake each other in the construction of the fleet. " According to him, nationalism became not only one of the origins of the First World War but also defined the nature of the conflict (De Groot, 2001).
Another threat for the prewar European Community, historians saw in militarism and the arms race. For the growth of militarism in Europe 2 factors contributed: the prevalence of universal conscription and rapid imperialist expansion. Among reasons there were also the desire to conquer, have more colonies and the creation of alliances. The balance of power in Europe was destroyed, and there were only 2 camps - Allied Powers and the Central Powers, which fight with each other (Long-term Underlying Causes of War).
The First World War brought all participating countries untold hardships, undermined their economies, caused a revolutionary crisis in Europe, and in Russia became the main cause of the two revolutions and a civil war. Established as a result of this war, the Versailles-Washington system was not stable, the losing countries were preparing for revenge, the new world war was only a matter of time.
Works Cited
Ratzel, Friedrich, and Arthur John Butler. The History of Mankind. London: Macmillan, 1896. Print.
"World War One: 10 Interpretations of Who Started WW1." BBC News. N.p., 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 09 Aug. 2016.
De Groot, Jan Gerard. The First World War. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. Print. P. 4-5. p. 4-5
"Long-term Underlying Causes of War." BBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Aug. 2016.
