World War I: Causes, Characteristics, and Consequences
1.1 Causes of World War I: There were territorial conflicts between France and Germany over the possession of Alsace and Lorraine, and between Italy and Austria-Hungary over Istria and Trent. Nationalist conflicts existed in the larger empires, where some minorities claimed independence. This was the case in the Balkans, where different national identities were fighting against the oppression of the Austrian and Turkish empires. There were also colonial conflicts between the competing colonizing nations and economic conflicts due to competition in commerce and trade. The arms race, the militarism of some countries, and military alliances also created a climate of war even before the war was declared.
1.2 Characteristics of the War:
- Territorial Extension: Sixteen nations participated, some of them with large colonial empires. Consequently, the war took place over a very extended area with many different battlefronts.
- New Weapons and Tactics: The introduction of new weapons, new defensive systems such as trenches, and new tactics like psychological warfare made this war much more lethal and frightening than any previous conflict.
- Total Warfare: The entire economy of each of the countries involved in the conflicts focused on the war effort. Conscription of all able men was made necessary; the invention and production of weapons became a priority; women started working to replace the men that were fighting; food was rationed, and the civil population suffered directly from air raids.
The First World War (I)
2.1 The Development of the War:
- 1914: The war started almost simultaneously on two fronts, the Eastern and Western fronts, with significant offensive advances by the German and Russian troops.
- 1915-1916: As there was no decisive victory, the conflict became a war of attrition. The fronts were formed by long lines of trenches protected by machine guns and barbed wire. Various ineffectual offensives were launched, such as the battles of Verdun and the Somme, which resulted in an enormous number of casualties.
- 1917: The USA entered the war, joining the Allies; Russia abandoned the conflict after the triumph of the Soviet Revolution.
- 1918: After an attack on all fronts by the Allies, the Central Powers started to surrender. Finally, Germany was alone and without supplies, so Emperor Wilhelm II had to abdicate, and the government of the new republic signed the armistice. The war ended on 11 November 1918.
2.2 The Paris Conference and the Treaty of Versailles: In 1918, the American president Woodrow Wilson issued his 14 points, a document that contained the foundations for future peace. In the Paris Peace Conference, the victorious countries agreed on the terms for the defeated countries. Five different treaties were prepared. They all included costly economic sanctions, territorial concessions, and the reduction of their armies. The Treaty of Versailles was especially hard on Germany. Germany was made responsible for the war. It had to abandon all its colonies, return Alsace & Lorraine to France, reduce its army, and pay costly reparations. This treaty humiliated Germany and created a desire for revenge.