The great war known as World War-I made a
mockery of the peace and abundance prophesied by the statesmen and scientists
of the 19th century. It was called as the World War as
it engulfed all the countries of the world directly or indirectly. The war had
its impact on the material and non-material resources of the entire world.
Causes for the First World War Ambition
of Germany
The unification of Germany in 1870 made
Germany industrially developed. She needed additional markets and raw
materials. Her colonies in Africa were not potentially rich as possessed by
England and France. Kaiser William II of Germany believed that his country
alone was competent to rule the whole world. He could not tolerate the British
saying that the sun never sets in the British Empire. Germany needed colonies
not only as a sign of her world importance but also for her growing population.
In order to protect Germany he increased the strength of the army and stationed
a fleet at Heligoland in North Sea. The aggressive policy adopted by the German
ruler led to the First World War.
System of Alliance
The European powers allied themselves into
opposing groups and signed several secret military alliances which led
suspicion among the countries and finally resulted in the First World War. The
two opposing groups were:
Triple Alliance-1882-ltaly, Germany and
Austria-Hungary.
Triple Entente-1907-France, Britain and
Russia.
Lack of International Organization
There was no effective international Organization
to reconcile conflicting interests of nations. There was anarchy in the
International relations of the various countries. The Hague conference of 1882
and 1907 which tried to do some work of reconciliation failed to show any
results.
Militarism
Militarism was a strong factor for war.
European Statesmen often said “If you wish for peace prepare for war”.
Germany, France and Russia adopted a new
programme of arms expansion. Great Britain increased its, already large, naval
expenditure. Germany, in fear of an anticipated attack from France initiated
military expansion.
Colonial and Commercial Rivalry
Since Geographical discovery of the 15th
and 16th century there was a race for colonies among the European
countries. The Industrial revolution increased the demand for raw material and
market for their manufactured goods. Asian and African countries were already
colonized by the Europeans. Germany made a great progress after her
unification. Her goods flooded in the international market which made Britain
angry.
The Moroccan Problem
When
France occupied Morocco it was recognized by Britain. But it was opposed by Kaiser
William II of Germany who wanted to declare Morocco
an international colony. He sent two warships - Berlin and Panther to Morocco.
When Britain intervened Germany withdrew her ships from Morocco. It wanted to
revenge Britain.
The Balkan Problem
The Balkan countries like Serbia,
Bulgaria, Albania, Greece and Montenegro
proclaimed their independence from the Ottoman Empire due to its
weakness. In 1912 the Balkan countries declared war on Turkey. This is known as
First Balkan war. Turkey was defeated. The war came to an end by the Treaty of
London. Dispute arose between Serbia and Bulgaria in sharing the spoils of the
war. In 1913, the other Balkan countries declared war on Bulgaria. Bulgaria was
defeated and Serbia gained more territories. Turkey and Bulgaria approached Germany
to regain their territories. It resulted in the war.
French interest
France wanted to get back Alsace and
Lorraine which she lasted during the Franco - Prussian war to Germany. France
thought that the industrial development of Germany was due to those
territories. So she was waiting for a chance to get back those territories.
Immediate Cause
The Congress of Berlin, 1878 gave the
right to Austria - Hungary to govern Bosnia and Herzegovina but not to annex
it. These territories should have gone to Serbia since the inhabitants were
Slavs as in Serbia. But in 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina against
the congress of Berlin. It created rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.
In June 28, 1914 Austrian crown prince Francis
Ferdinand and
his wife Isabella
were
assasinated by a Serbian lad at Serajevo, the capital of Bosnia. Austria sent
an ultimatum to Serbia with humiliating terms. When Serbia ignored the
ultimatum, Austria declared war on Serbia on 28th July 1914.
Russia moved her troops to support the
cause of Serbia against Austria. Germany declared war on Russia. France by her
alliance went to help Russia. So Germany declared war on France. When Britain
joined France against Germany the First World War started.
Course of the War
The First World War began in July,28, 1914 and lasted till November,
11,1918. The countries which were on the side of Germany were called as the
Central Powers and those on the side of Britain as the Allies. Artillery, Tanks
and Submarines were used in the war.
War in the Western Front
Germany started the offensive and she
invaded France by crossing Belgium. The British and French forces were not able
to stop the advance of the German forces. But in the Battle of Marne, the
Allies were able to hold them in check. Both the armies dug trenches and fought
from them.
War in the Eastern Front
The
Russian forces attacked both Germany and Austria. But Russia suffered a defeat
at the battle of Tennenberg. When Austria was facing a crisis, Germany came to
its aid. German forces inflicted heavy losses on the Russian forces and forced
them to withdraw from the Austrian territories.
War tn the Near East Front
In October 1914, Turkey entered the war
extending her support to the Central Powers. This was a terrible blow because
communications between Russia and the Allies were cut off. The British made an
attempt to capture Gallipoli Peninsula with a view of controlling the
Dardanelles and capturing Constantinople. But the Dardanelles expedition was an
utter failure.
Bulgaria and Rumania in the War
The failure of the British in the
Dardanelles expedition emboldened Bulgaria to join the side of the Central
Powers in 1915. Rumania joined the Allies in 1916.
War on the Sea
While the British
navy commanded
the North Sea, the Mediterranean sea was dominated by the French and Italian
navy with the British support. In the battle of Dogger bank a German battle
cruiser was destroyed by the British. In spite of the heavy losses sustained by
both the parties in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, the German fleet retreated
to the port. Since it could not break the naval blockade of Britain, it used
submarines to sinkthe ships of the Allies.
Entry of US In the First World War
In 1917 Germany drowned four merchant
ships of America, including Lusitania with her submarines. More than hundred
Americans died in this
incident which made the American president
Woodrow Willson angry. Hence, on the 6th April 1917 Woodrow Wilson
declared war on Germany.
Withdrawal of Russia
Russia suffered major reversal in the war.
She suffered heavily both in men and materials. The discontent of the Russian
people found expression in the October Revolution of 1917. The Czarist
government was overthrown by Lenin and Russia withdrew from the war. Russia
made peace with Central Powers at Brest - Litovsk in 1918.
End of the war
In the beginning, the Central Powers had
some victories but soon their defences began to break. The Germans began to
retreat. The resistance of Turkey and Bulgaria began to crumble. Austria sued
for peace. In November 1918, Kaiser William II of Germany abdicated and fled to
Holland. Germany sued for peace on November 11,1918.
Results of the War
The
First World War came to an end by the Paris Peace Conference
of 1919. The main personalities of the
conference were, Clemenceau of France, Lloyd George of Britain, Orlando of
Italy and President Woodrow Wilson of America. The Peace Treaty with Germany
was signed and it was called as Treaty of Versailles. Separate
treaties were also concluded with other defeated countries. The Treaty
of St.Germaine was concluded with Austria, the Treaty
of Trianon with Hungary, the Treaty
of Neuilfy with Bulgaria and the Treaty
of Sevenes with Turkey. It was on the Fourteen Points
put forward by President Woodrow Wilson the terms of the treaties were drafted.
The important terms of the treaties were the following.
a.
The covenant of the League of Nations was
drawn up.
b.
A huge war indemnity was imposed on
Germany . Her army was reduced.
c.
Germany surrendered Alsace and Lorraine to
France. She also gave up the Saar coal field to be occupied by France for a
period of 15 years.
d.
The overseas possessions of Germany were
divided among the victorious nations.
e.
Monarchy was abolished in Germany, Russia,
Austria and Turkey.
f.
It caused inestimable loss of property and
human lives.
g.
In many countries Monarchies gave place to
Democracies. New Republics of Czechoslovakia and Poland were born.
h.
The Republic of Austria and Hungarywas
recognised.
i.
The city of Danzig was internationalized.
j.
Lithuvania, Latvia and Esthonia were
granted Independence.
k.
The victorious nations forced the defeated
nations with unfair treaties, it sowed the seeds for another world war.
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