There was a gap of 21 years in the two
world wars of the 20th century. There were also changes in economic conditions,
diplomatic alliances, military hardware etc. However, to understand these
differences, we will compare the two world wars. We will first compare the
immediate provocations and then, the main causes of these two world wars.
Every war starts because of some immediate
reasons apart from some long term causes. The immediate provocation for World
War I was the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a Serbian
extremist on June 28, 1914. Austria declared war on Serbia. As Serbia was
supporting allied powers (like UK, France and Russia), these powers came to
help Serbia. The central powers (like Germany and Italy) supported Austria and
joined the war. This marked the beginning of World War I.
Similarly, the immediate provocation for World
War II was when the German tanks entered Poland on September 1, 1939. Hitler,
the dictator of Germany, invaded Poland as a punishment for refusing to
handover the, port of Dazing to Germany. Polish territory lay between two parts
of Germany. Hitler thought that the takeover of Poland would be small military
operation. But Poland had a defence pact with Britain. So, Britain joined the
polish side and France also joined them a day later. This marked the beginning
of World War II.
Now, let us turn to the long term causes
of the two World wars. The reasons that led to World War I started in the 19th
century. Aggressive nationalism, imperialism, secret alliances and militarism
were the main long term factors which led to world war I. these causes
continued after World War I but some new long term causes were also added to
the reasons of World War II. One of these was the dissatisfaction of Germany
with the legacy of World war I. we have discussed these long term causes in
detail one by one.
Aggressive Nationalism
The ideology of nationalism was a positive
impulse. Many newly formed modern nations were created because of people's
strong feeling of nationalism. It was also the force behind the unification of
Germany and Italy. But this ideology created pride in these nations and hatred
against the neighbor countries. This hatred was slowly growing between the
nations of Europe in the 19th century.
Italian Fascism from 1923 and Nationalism
in destructive mode. Fascists promoted aggressive nationalism and the image of
victorious Germany ruling over the world. They also mobilized the Germans
against the order nations of Europe.
Imperialism
With the growth of industrial capitalism,
European countries like Britain, Germany and US needed access to raw materials
and markets for their products. They wanted to invest their growing capital in
the colonies. Thus, by the end of the 19th century there was a race for
colonies between the European powers. The governments of these countries helped
their capitalist to increase their area of influence and decrease the areas
under their competitors.
The new industrial powers (like japan,
Germany and Italy) that emerged wanted to re-divide the colonies but the old
powers were not ready for this. This created a lot of tension often leading to
wars.
Secret Alliances
After defeating France in 1870, Bismarck,
the German Chancellor, made a secret alliance with Austria in 1879 and Italy in
1882. The purpose of this defensive alliance was to save Austria from Russia
and Italy from France. France made a mutual alliance with Russia in 1891 and
with Britain in 1904 after resolving their problems. Russia, France and Britain
formed their triple Entente in 1907. The triple alliance led by Germany and the
Triple entente made the European powers jealous and suspicious of one another.
Instead of real peace, these alliances created an atmosphere of fear and 'armed
peace' in Europe.
Militarism
Militarism is the belief that military
power is the best way to ensure security and that war is a good way to solve
problems. From 1880 to 1914, the military expenditure of the six powerful
countries (viz. Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, France and Britain) increased
by over three times, i.e. from £ 132 million to £ 397 million. Three
things are important in the context of militarism. Firstly, all these countries
had built massive standing armies for their defence. Secondly, they competed
with each other in increasing their military weapons. They encouraged people to
support wars. Thirdly, a large industry of weapons emerged which
constantly promoted the idea of using war as a solution to diplomatic problems.
Wars usually increased their profits manifold.
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