ipl-logo

German Policies In 1914 Essay

1057 Words5 Pages

In 1914, the First World War commenced. The outbreak of war was a result of a number of factors, however, many historians argue that German policies were the main feature for the start of the war. Therefore, this essay will address the question: to what extent did German policies lead to WWI?

Firstly, it is extremely unjust to state Germany as the only country to blame for the war and make it pay the harsh punishments the Treaty of Versailles forced them to. However, it is reasonable to say that Germany is obviously one of the nations who had the most impact on the War, if not the most.

There were a number of factors in which Germans can blame one of the main characters of this era who, together with Kaiser Wilhelm II, might have been the …show more content…

Wilhelm thought that the only way of Germany becoming a world power was if war occurred. However, Germany was unprepared, so they could not force a war with those conditions, and this was why the policy of Militarism was used, to strengthen this belief of becoming a greater nation. The naval race between Germany and Britain is one example of how Germany strengthened it’s military, but also increased the chance of a probable war. Germany defied Britain to see what nation had the best navy. In order to challenge Britain, Germany augmented its battleships from nine to twenty four cruisers between 1898 and 1900. This made Britain feel challenged as at the time Britain had the best Navy system by far comparing with the other great powers, forcing them to act.

Another Kaiser Wilhelm’s action that made the war inevitable was the controversial “blanck-cheque for war”. Everything started when Franz Ferdinand (successor of the Austria-Hungary throne) was shot by Serbians in June 1914, a month before the actual beginning of the War. Wilhelm, instead of encouraging a careful response, approved an Austrian attack on Serbia and assured Austria that, if Russia (former German ally but now a Serbian ally) decided to intervene, Germany would support Austria. Once more, Germany fed

Show More
Related
899 Words | 4 Pages

Militarism, the glorification of the military, affected most of Europe at the turn of the twentieth century as demonstrated by Documents 1 and 7. Military spending in three of the major powers in Europe, Great Britain, France, and Germany, more than doubled per capita from 1870 to 1914, according to Document 1. Great Britian and Germany in particular were involved in an arms race with each other. Germany attempted to build a navy to rival Great Britian’s, whose navy was considered the best in the world at the time, and Great Britian responded by improving on their own navy. In the rest of Europe, countries were building up their stores of weapons, including rifles, bombs, and artillery, causing international

Read More
785 Words | 4 Pages

Georges Clemenceau’s Effect on France During World War I In 1914, during the events leading up to World War I, mankind was going through a time of despair. A global nightmare spread throughout the globe causing a chain reaction of problems. World War I, also known as the Great War, stands as one of the biggest conflicts in the history of mankind. Over the span of 4 years, 70 million people either fought or participated in the war effort.

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

it shows an example of how militarism was the main cause of World War 1. In the article it says, “But otto von Bismarck the Chancellor of Prussia who led the unification of Germany was sandwiched between Russia and France.” The article talks about how Germany was landlocked by Russia and France. At the time Russia and France were enemy countries and because of that Germany needed to protect themselves, so they spent millions and millions of dollars on building an army and navy to protect themselves even without a war going on. This article is one way that shows that militarism is the main cause of World War 1, but another example is the speech of Bernhard von Bulow where he talks about how the Germans needed to build an army.

Read More
1323 Words | 6 Pages

Imperialism is the underlying cause of World War I because it not only caused bitterness among countries with less colonial rule, it also promoted the increase in militarism and alliances. Colonies were forced to fight alongside

Read More
374 Words | 2 Pages

Militarism was a huge factor as to why the war was caused, as too many other reasons including Imperialism and Allies. The war was caused because of the distrust and accusations made by one nation to another. Militarism is the belief of keeping a strong military. Each nation would spend millions on weapons and keeping their military strong. Document C ‘‘Growth in Armaments, 1890-1914’’, states that nations including Great Britain, Austria-Hungary and many more spent millions on developing their armies, Great Britain being the nation that spent the most.

Read More
756 Words | 4 Pages

There were a variety of underlying causes in World War I. They were militarism, alliances, nationalism, and a mix of imperialism. Before the war Nations started to build up their arms (DBQ: What Were the Underlying Causes of World War 1, 2010, Doc 7) making a competition for dominance, and alliances are formed making powerful armies. Nations produced propaganda infuriating the citizens and giving the pride in their nation which led to nationalism. Nationalism is a patriotic feeling for your nation, causing new literature relating to the war, for example this poem “When Britain first at Heaven's command Arose from out the azure Main; This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sand this strain;...

Read More
1643 Words | 7 Pages

To what extent do you agree with this statement?’ ‘The First World War was the result of a series of unintended consequences.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?’ Although some of the factors to the launch of the first world war seemed to be unintended; the first world war was the result of a series of consequences provoked largely by Germany and its leaders at the time Kaiser Wilhelm II and Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg.

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

Britain had a large and powerful navy. Germany wanted to have the same thing too, or even bigger and better. All the countries felt like they had to build up their militaries to keep up with everyone else. Not just one of the four causes takes the blame for starting WWI. All of these things: imperialism, nationalism, alliances, and militarism combined to make a large war, involving many countries, which took several years to

Read More
1116 Words | 5 Pages

The changes he made in the policies and style of government during the next years played a big role in the outbreak of war during 1914. Compared to Bismarck, who chose really conservative politics between the 1870s and 1880s, Wilhelm opted for a militaristic and expansionist political path, in order to defend Germany’s “Place in The Sun”. Many people believe that Kaiser Wilhelm’s role wasn’t as important for the outbreak of war, but what happened in the past proves the exact opposite, by realising that military and foreign campaigns were the main objectives of the Kaiser we can see a strong connection between the Wilhelmine policy, the Kaiser and the beginning of World War I in 1914.

Read More
841 Words | 4 Pages

How did nationalism cause WW1? 1910-1919 Nationalism was the main cause of World War One. The direct result of it led to the militarization of Europe’s countries, nationalistic feelings in Yugoslavia, and the alliances formed before the war. Despite the common idea that the first world war started because of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, it was only a reason for Austria-Hungary to declare war. Nationalism was the driving factor to his assassination, and would not have happened without it.

Read More
1853 Words | 8 Pages

Militarism - a philosophy that places a strong military as the backbone of society and promotes the interests of a nation through an aggressive foreign policy backed by a powerful armed force - damaged Germany and led to an uneasy relationship with neighboring countries. The damage caused to foreign relations would cause tension to rise throughout Europe, culminating in an all-out war between the major powers in place. World War I ended in disaster for Germany, leading to millions of young Germans losing their lives and the dissolution of the monarchy. Germany's military possessed most of the power in Germany leading up the World War I, surpassing Kaiser Wilhelm II's control over the country and demolishing any possibility of creating an alliance with foreign nations. The military's newfound power ushered in a naval arms race against Great Britain and increased Germany's weapons stockpile of firearms, artillery, ammunition, naval vessels, submarines, and more.

Read More
417 Words | 2 Pages

World War I impacted future global conflicts through the flaws of the Treaty of Versailles and the pioneering of new, more advanced weapons of war. The German blame caused Hitler’s rise to power. On the other side of the world, the possibility of nuclear war raised tensions between different countries with opposing views. The Treaty of Versailles was known as one of the most unfair treaties in history, as it blamed the nation of Germany for all of

Read More
1873 Words | 8 Pages

I: Germany waged World War I in 1914 due to their increasing fear of the rise of Russia. Russia had a much greater potential power than Germany due to their sizeable land mass and increasingly industrialized economy. While Germany was widely regarded as the predominant military state in Europe, by 1917, Russia would overtake them. Russia’s future intentions were unclear, and Germany preferred major war instead of a dominant state of immense size and power.

Read More
903 Words | 4 Pages

On 28 June 1919, the countries involved in World War I gathered at Versailles Palace, to sigh the treaty which was a symbol of the end of World War I. This treaty is known as Treaty of Versailles. The treaty changed the world pattern, caused conflicts and controversies among victorious countries, and displeased the Germans, contributing to the occur of a more destructive world war - World War Ⅱ. The original goal of signing the treaty is to keep the peace, but every country pursued its own national interests, so, unfortunately, it failed quickly. The treaty is like a blasting fuse, causing a much bigger disaster for people all over the world.

Read More
1090 Words | 5 Pages

The First World War (WWI) was fought from 1914 to 1918 and the Second World War (or WWII) was fought from 1939 to 1945. They were the largest military confrontations in human history. Both wars involved military alliances between different groups of countries. While the WWI involved the alliance system, the WWII involved the Axis Powers and the Central Powers. Periods and duration

Read More

More about German Policies In 1914 Essay

Related Topics

Open Document