The Great War was started in August of 1914 and many factors led to it. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 is the event that started this war. He was the heir of the Austrian throne. In result to this, Austrian-Hungarian empire declared war on Serbia. Before the assassination, many other factors played part in starting the Great War. One of the most significant was Germany’s role in leading up to the war. Otto von Bismarck established Germany as a dominate power in Europe. With that being said, Germany isolated France. After Bismarck established Germany, he aligned himself with Austria-Hungary and Russia in 1873.
Although they aligned, there was a rivalry so the alliance didn’t hold so he had to align with someone else. He decided to align with Austria-Hungary and Italy. Germany didn’t exclude Russia and they ended up entering into Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. This treaty stated that if Russia went to war against Austria-Hungary, Germany couldn’t come between them, and if Germany went to war against France that Russia couldn’t get in the middle. This started some alliances. Bismarck didn’t plan on going to war, he just wanted Germany to keep its power and not to expand it.
When Bismarck’s plan broke out in 1890, Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to expand the empire. When Wilhelm refused to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia, France allied with Russia. He started to build ships and this showed everyone that there was going to be a war outbreak. In result to that, Great Britain, France, and Russia all aligned together. Austria-Hungary wanted to start a war on Serbia after Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination. When they wanted to start this war, they asked for Germany’s help. Once Germany agreed, they started war on Serbia. After this war was started, it made a hain of events that start our world at war. With everyone being allied, they all entered the war. Serbia, Russia, France, Belgium, Great Britain and the United States were allied together. The Central side consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary were allied together. The Ottoman Empire ended up joining the Central side. BWarfare during the Great War was different from the previous conflicts for a lot of different reasons. Trench Warfare was a style of warfare and it was one of the differences. Both sides fighting would dig a trench six to eight feet wide and they would entrench themselves in them.
These trenches would be where the soldiers eat, sleep, fight and live. Then there was the invention of the machine gun. The previous guns would only get off a few shots a minute but with the machine gun, you could get off 200 to 250 shots per minute. This gun made it to where you didn’t have to have a good shot just in the right direction. Even if you hit someone, their chance of living would be very slim because their wound would be infected and the medicine wasn’t as advanced enough to fit the infection off. The Germans became the first to use cylinders of poisonous gas.
After these were being used, it became a practice for soldiers to carry gas masks with them everywhere. Not only did they use the poison gas, they also invented the U-boat. But there were rules that ended up coming the the operation of submarines. The submarines would have to be removed so that the cargo could be checked. In the beginning, people would be removed from the submarines before they were sunk but Germany ignored those rules. They would just sink the submarines without any warning to the people. Aerial warfare was also introduced during the Great War. This was first used as an observation method and to adjust the military fire.
When 1915 came along, aerial combat between planes became more common. With all of the new weapons being made, a considerable changes was on the home front. Since the men had to be away at war, the woman had to step up and fill the jobs that the men left behind. These jobs consisted of police officers, car drivers and even in the government. But the German civilians suffered a great amount due to the British blocking their overseas trade. This problem caused them to be unable to get the food they had previously relied on. The women, children and elderly took a big hit from this happening.
With this happening, it caused the soldiers to have to scavenge for the food. These are many of the differences that played a role in the Great War. With all of the different types of warfare, there was a result in a tremendous amount of lives taken. In return to the roles changing for the women, it ended up changing the women’s rights. CWorld War II was greatly different from the Great War. One of the main and most noticed difference was the amount of lives that were taken. Although there was a lot of deaths still, the medicine had advanced which helped decrease the amount of casualty deaths.
Even with the advanced medicine, World War II still had a greater amount of fatalities than the Great War. World War II was more global than compared to the Great War. World War II was fought on most of the continents and more countries than the Great War was. On top of that, it also was fought on every ocean. All of this was made possible because of the technological advances in the fighter planes and naval advancements. Germany first used the missiles and they couldn’t be detected, therefore, there was no warning to be available.
The weapons were being made to where they were more mobile. Tanks were used in World War II and these helped penetrate the enemy lines. With all of the new weapons and being mobile, this made the offense very different. The Germans were also the first ones to use the strategy of a lightning war. With this, the countries could be taken over in a matter of days or weeks. Bombs then became a big part of World War II as well. The United States and British ended up dropping thousands of bombs that led to killing 600,000 Germans and injured 800,000.
These deaths weren’t just soldiers, they consisted of civilians also. Women and children were more than half of the deaths. After this, the United States went on to invent the atom bomb that ultimately ended the war. One of the few similarities in the two wars was the participation of the people. Mostly everyone participated in both of the wars in some way or form. While the men were fighting, the women were taken out of their homes to work in the factories. In these factories, they made the weapons that were then used in combat. Although everyone was involved, the economies were different.
The United States ended up benefiting from World War II and this made them able to come out of the 1930’s depression. While in Europe and Asia, the armies would get food, fuel and anything worth something. The goals were the same for both sides and that was to stay technologically and offensively ahead of the other. The development of the different kinds of weapons and mobility labeled World War II one of the most destructive wars in history. The cities were left abandoned, the economies were destroyed more than they already were, and the loss of lives was even more than predicted.
