The First World War, sometimes referred to as the Great War, was based on Europe and it involved the entire world super powers that formed two dominant alliances which included the allies; United Kingdom, Russia and France and the central power which comprised of Germany, Hungary Belgium and Turkey. There were many contributing factors that arguably caused this far reaching war. Factors like assassinations, nationalism, entangled alliances and militarism as well other factors can be highlighted to have triggered the war (Hamilton and Herwig 16).
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand together with his wife which was affirmed to have been carried out by Black Hand and the group of a young Bosnian Serb Nationalists (Hamilton and Herwig 106). Another major background for the war can be traced to the development of Europe which comprehended the utilization of secret treaties, rise of imperialistic thoughts and pursuits, decline of liberalism and reliance on reason to resolve disputes and the rise of a virulent, jingoistic form of nationalism in chief European countries, than that can be broadly termed as alliances. The two main mode alliances during the war were the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente (Hamilton and Herwig 16). Triple alliance involved Italy, Germany and Austria- Hungary. Triple Entente on the other hand, Britain, France, Russia and Serbia. Worth noting is the fact that these alliances were formed as a result of mistrust and hatred that existed between the nations prompting them to form alliances with other friendly nations as a result of extreme pride- nationalism- that many people had for their respective countries. This was a time when various nations were investing heavily on firearms and military training; an act that is commonly referred to as militarism. Partly, the increase in military expense can be attributed to the scintillating the urge that engulfed various nation to conquer other weak nations as a means of expanding their empires; imperialism (Hamilton and Herwig 16).
The war deduced considerable setbacks that destabilized the economic and social welfare of the involved nations and the entire world in general. The continuity of government, culture, and the institution in Europe was actually shattered by the impact of world war. The emancipatory effects of the war included the death of military men estimated to be over twenty million. In accordance to this, millions of civilians were also killed and a massive number wounded (Marshall Cavendish Corporation 530). Another factor that caused the death was the Spanish flu which was accelerated form the weakening of the peoples’ immune system during the war and lack of enough food.
Apart from the destruction and death, a legacy of hatred and mistrust was also left behind. Consequently, the mode of dressing also changed vastly due the introduction of military uniform and the fancy dressing among the Europeans was ceased (Marshall Cavendish Corporation 530). Women were also allocated some jobs that were previously done by men. In light with this, women were also allowed to smoke in public and vote which was a clear indication that most of the restriction had held unto women before the war were lifted. The most calamitous impact was starvation which was majorly attributed to diminishing amount of food in the fighting nations. Most of the time was concentrated in the war rather than in the production of food. Moreover, the fighting nations were starving each other to surrender in anticipation of winning the war which in turn rendered catastrophic aftermath on the civilians.
Work cited
Marshall Cavendish Corporation. History of World War I, Vol. 1. New York: Marshall
Cavendish Corporation, 2002. Print.
Richard, F. Hamilton and Holger, H. Herwig. Origins of World War One. Cambridge:
Cambridge university press, 2003. Print.
