The first and second world wars were very much alike, and at the same time unique. Each war was fought in different places, at different times. However, both wars were fought between many of the same countries, but for different reasons. The beginning of WWI was surrounded by rising conflicts. Tensions caused by imperialism and strong nationalistic feelings caused countries to begin building up their militaries. Once the fear of war started, several alliances were made.
Finally, the spark that set off the war was the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. This caused Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia, because Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serb. Then, all the treaties began to take effect, and everybody jumped in on one side or another. The start of WWII had some similarities, but had a whole set of other reasons for taking place. First of all, after the first war, most of the world went into a depression. This caused people to want reform, and several dictators came to power, including Adolf Hitler.
Eventually Hitler and his German forces invaded Poland, and that marked the beginning of WWII. Although the beginning of each war was different, the United States was involved in neither war until the middle, and the reasons we joined each war were very similar. WWI was viewed by Americans as largely a European problem, but the US did provide some money and supplies to our allies. After a while, Germany developed submarines, and began sinking non-military ships. This outraged the US public, and after we asked nicely for Germany to stop, and they didn’t, we joined the war. In the beginning of WWII, the US sentiment was similar, and we also provided some money and supplies to our allies.
The Essay on The Great Patriotic War, Cold War, WWII Alliances
The Great Patriotic War: The great Patriotic War is a term used in Russia or previous parts of the Soviet Union when referring to a part of the Second World War. It had originally been used first under the French invasion led by Napoleon and when referring to the First World War, before it again was used. The name represented fighting for your homeland. The Great Patriotic War (GPW) were during ...
Then, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and awoke a sleeping giant, as the United States joined the war on the Allied side. Some of the most drastic differences between WWI and WWII came in how the wars were physically fought on the battlefield. In WWI it was a war of attrition. Both sides dug trenches and planted mines and just tried to wear down the opponent.
Many, many people died because of lack of basic supplies. In WWII, there was much more technology implemented. Airplanes were used much more successfully in bombings, and also to deliver supplies. Also, one of the biggest weapons in the war was the atomic bomb, which was very technically advanced for the time, and proved to be the most powerful weapon ever, at the time.
Some of the longest lasting similarities and differences came in the post-war decisions made by the victorious countries. After the first world war, the Western European countries wanted to make Germany pay for its actions, so in the Treaty of Versailles they allowed for harsh reparations to be paid. This only sent Germany into an economic tailspin which in turn allowed Hitler to come to power, which basically caused the second world war. Also, the treaty formed the League of Nations, which proved useless. After WWII, the United Nations was formed and has been much more successful. Also, instead of punishing the losing countries (Germany and Japan) the allies tried to rebuild the countries and.
