The Causes of the World War I

The Causes of the World War I

Introduction

For the past one century, the causes of the First World War remain controversy in mind of many people across the world. The war which took place from  August 1914 and concluded 1918, it left seventeen million people dead and twenty million injured. The war mainly focused European countries, which fought for power. The war was between two long-term rivals made up of two alliance of different states in Europe. Germany Italy and Austria-Hungary were on the one hand as a triple alliance; they fought against Triple Entente (Serbia, France Russia, and Great Britain).[1] The conflict raised after the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, which they believe to be organized by Serbian bandits. The conflict resulted in different countries in Europe to have differing views toward this matter. Many urges the war was caused by political conflict, economic conflict, and militarism.

The Causes of the World War I

The battle was mainly between imperialism and nationalism, which started after declining of Ottoman Empire in 1890. In 1900 Great Britain controlled over the half of the whole world, which made other countries such as Germany to be suspicious, Africa was the main target of European countries, which heighten their desire and conflicted to expand their territories in African countries. The causes of the First World War are not clearly established as the Second World War. Unlike the Second World War, there are many controversial statements on the causes of the First World War.[2] The tension of the war raised in the beginning of  20^th century between Germany which was the main player of Triple Alliance and Great Britain the major player of Triple Entente.[3] Germany had a strong navy that instills fear to the Great Britain and France. Britain was forced into the battle after Germany backed Austria out of fear she may be attacked. Britain later joins hand with France and Russia with the aim of controlling Germany in all her borders.

It is not easy to erase the impact of the First World War all over the world. The grief and the repercussions of WW1 remain until today in the mind of many in the world. In the United Kingdom, the war is commemorated every year on 11 November where people are urged to be silent for the two minutes as the remembrance of the events that take place during the war. The group that was directly affected by the wrath of the war was the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to seek victory of their states. The lives of the soldiers who fought in the First World War were miserable and brutal. Many of them they there were forced to the battlefield by their masters without questioning. They left their homes for many months, they fought in harsh environments, and many of them succumbed as a result of the battle between their brutal enemies. They used poisonous weapons, which endangered their life more than their prospective enemies did. Soldiers were ordered to attack by their seniors and not supposed to retreat. The injured soldiers were given treatment, but if a soldier dies, there was no burial ceremony for them. Ten million soldiers died while still in battle, and their armies executed many of them because of cowardice. More than sixty million soldiers involved directly in the First World War, and it is the only war that soldiers had the most devastating experience of the war environment and technology.

Thesis Statement

The circumstances before and within the First World War is controversial which provides a significant interest to determine the fact surrounding the matter. Since 2014 up to date, the world is commemorating one hundred years after the First World War in the world. The current generation in the world mainly comprises the youths who are much interested in the issues that lead to an outbreak of the First World War. They are also a need for establishing the role played by different parties before and during the First World War. It is difficult to find the eye witness of the war in this 21^st century, many of them died as a result of war and elderly, even if one is lucky to find one; many of them are on unstable mind due to mental degeneration. There are extensive ambiguity and confusion around various occasions that are happening all over the world related to the First World War.[4] Most of this occasion force people to follow the social norms that have been there for almost a century on expressing a moment of grief as a commemoration of the war. Many of those who follow such mainstream they never understand and cannot explain the reason behind their action. There is a need of enlightening the society as well as the scholars the cause and significance of the First World War as a measure of combating the situation that can lead to conflict and war in future.

Methodology

Most of the information on the First World War is available in secondary sources such as books journals and articles among others. The research on the causes of the First World War will gather information mainly from the secondary sources as they contain discussions of various research of the First World War. Secondary sources are the sources written at a time before the research. They are vital when doing research on a topic in history since it deals with events that happened before the research. CSP library website will be used to search for books and journals needed as a source of information to support the thesis statement. CSP library website will be a reliable source of information at all time since it is easily accessible at any place so long as there is internet connectivity.

The research will be a qualitative research where views, opinion, and arguments of different writers of different books will be analyzed so as to come up with a tentative conclusion on to what led to the outbreak of the First World War in the world. It is better to go through all the relevant information on the First World War. It is better not to be subjective but to be objective and find out different meaning and significance of First World War as indicated by different authors. One need research tools such as notebook and a pen for noting down all relevant information as well as doing the close analysis. It is better to find out writer with contrasting views to come up with strong arguments that support the thesis statement. During the research, one needs to develop some of the research questions that acts as a guide to collecting the information needed to support the thesis statement.

Research Question

Research questions are set forward to fill the gap knowledge that exists. While doing the research on the causes of World War I, it is better to come up with the research questions that are relevant to the topic. The research questions for this research are;

1. What were the reasons of World War One
2. How was the life in the Battle Field during the first war?
3. Why was the Battle Field a way to promote internationalism?
4. What are some of the aspect of a successful Battle Field?
5. How the soldiers survive during the First World One?
6. How many people died in the Battlefield during the First world War?
7. Who wins the first world One?

Conclusion

In the course of responding to the research questions of this study, one may come up with many conclusive answers that support the thesis statement. Such statements are like; the major reasons that lead to the world war one are imperialism and economic conflicts. The battle life during the First World War is quite contradicting because the war spread to various countries across the world each backing one side between the fighting rivals. Many people lost their properties during the First World War, and about 17million persons died as the result of this war.[5] Scholar fails to agree on who won the first world war, but many urges that Germany was the main loser of the war and victory group was the triple entente after receiving support from the United States after the Russian Revolution. Soldiers of World War I experienced the most devastating situation, and many were killed if they resisted following orders of their masters.   

Bibliography

Tarr, Russell. “WW1 battlefields as a way to promote internationalism: Some practical suggestions.” The International Schools Journal vol. 34, no. 1, 2014, 27-32.

Rein, Chris. “From ‘observation’ to ‘tactical reconnaissance:’ the development of American battlefield ISR in World War II.” Air Power History, vol. 63, no. 1, 2016, 32.

Isdale, William. “Are there moral reasons to remember the First World War?” Think vol. 14, no. 41, 2015, 89-97.

Chandler, Pat. “World War One Centenary 1914-1918.” School Librarian, 2013, 207.

Olds, Sharon. “The End of World War One.” The Massachusetts Review, vol. 20, no. 4, 1979, 666.

“Combat and the soldier’s experience in World War One.” The British Library. January 20, 2014. Accessed March 30, 2017. https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/combat-and-soldiers-experiences

[1] Russell Tarr, “WW1 battlefields as a way to promote internationalism: Some practical suggestions,” The International Schools Journal, vol. 34, no. 1, 2014, 27-32.

[2] Chris Rein, “From ‘observation’ to ‘tactical reconnaissance: The development of American battlefield ISR in World War II,” Air Power History, vol. 63, no. 1, 2016, 32.

[3] Pat Chandler, “World War One Centenary 1914-1918,” School Librarian, 2013, 207.

[4] William Isdale, “Are there moral reasons to remember the First World War?” Think vol. 14, no. 41, 2015, 89-97.

[5] Sharon Olds, “The End of World War One,” The Massachusetts Review, vol. 20, no. 4, 1979, 666.