Unit 8 LEQS
Compare and contrast the reasons for Germany’s involvement in the First World War and the Second World War.
In 1871, Otto von Bismark unified German states and created the German Empire. Once Prussia and the smaller German states were unified; however, Bismark pursued a policy of peace which he established and attempted to maintain through the Three Emperors’ League in 1873, the Dual Alliance in 1879, the Triple Alliance in 1882, and similar conferences and treaties until his retirement in 1890. He felt that Germany was already established as a world power and was satisfied with his use of nationalism to unite Germany. Herbert Spencer introduced Social Darwinism in the 1880s, and while discrimination against minorities was always present, it had not yet been introduced and used on the large scale that it would be in WWII. In both WWI and WWII Germany was involved because of German expansionism; however, during WWI this expansionism was an attempt to prove itself a world power, and in WWII it was mainly to conquer Europe for the benefit of the Aryan race which led to different war tactics throughout the war and reparations afterward.
In both WWI and WWII, the main cause for German involvement and initiation of the war was German expansionism which was started by a strong leader and led to extreme war reparations or consequences. For example, in 1888 William II came to the German throne filled with a sense of German destiny as a leading power of Europe and therefore wanting equality with world powers such as Britain. This purpose caused William to initiate the First Moroccan Crisis in 1905—which added to tensions between powers and was by implication establishing the German right to participate in Moroccan destiny—and led to the ambitious Schlieffen Plan of 1905. This is an example of German expansionism as it was the war plan for Germany to gain power in both France and Russia. Similarly, in WWII, German expansionism is seen in Hitler’s aggressive militarization of the Rhineland in March 1936, Anschluss in 1938—which involved the Russian annexation of Austria—and his activities in Sudetenland in the fall of 1938. In 1939 he continued to occupy Prague and end the Czech state and then his invasion of Poland in September of 1939 was what officially started WWII. This is important because this aggressive expansion is most likely why reparations were so high and extreme. After WWI the Allied Powers implemented large reparations that caused Germany’s economy and the German people to suffer and in WWII Germany came out of the war physically divided by the powers. Despite their intentions of expansionism, in the end, the wars had the opposite effect with Germany losing about 13% of its territory in WWI and in WWII losing all of its overseas land as well as significant parts of land taken over by Hitler both of which Germany is still struggling with and affected by today.
The reason for this expansionism however differed greatly as during WWI it was to establish Germany as a Western power; however, during WWII it was part of Hitler’s ideology of conquering Europe for the master, or Aryan, race which had different appeals to the people and therefore created different support. When William II came to power in 1888, he was focused on German pride and securing their place as a Western Power. He wanted equality with Britain and one of the ways he tried to accomplish this was through the naval race, his attempt to create a navy that rivaled Britain’s navy, would establish Germany as a power. In 1907 Germany had built their first dreadnought (a ship the British had just launched in 1906) and in 1908 Germany accelerated even faster by passing laws that would continue to challenge British supremacy. This race between Britain and Germany shows German expansionism with the intention of gaining power as the military was a large way to show power, so growing their navy was a show of power as well as a challenge to one of the largest navies in Europe. In WWII, however, Hitler claimed to be expanding for the benefit of the Aryan race which he believed Germans were the purest descendants of and therefore superior. The Nazi’s idea of Lebensraum, popularized in 1901, was both Hitler’s goal to create a new Germany as well as the plan to colonize and exploit the Slavic areas for the benefit of Germany. This is also seen throughout the Holocaust and WWII as wherever Hitler conquered, he also attempted to “purify.” He genocided 6 million Jews and after the Polish army was defeated in 1939, he killed 1.8-1.9 million Polish people whom he believed to be Untermenschen or subhuman creatures like beasts who need not be treated like people. This is significant because these different motivations behind German expansionism created different appeals to the people. During WWI while initially the people supported their government in war, by the end they were pushing for an end to the violence and hardship that the war brought on them. The idea of becoming a Western power did not directly affect the German people and therefore the novelty wore off when hardships came. Hitler’s idea that they were genetically superior, however, was something that the Germans accepted and were directly affected by. Propaganda caused indoctrination and the people fully supported WWII. When the hardships came, they were facing it as a good German would. Their extreme loyalty to the country is ultimately what stopped them from seeing what was truly happening around them and the terrible things that WWII was doing.
While Germany was involved in both WWI and WWII because of German expansionism, in WWI this expansionism was created by the need to become a Western power, and in WWII for the benefit of their superior race which led to harsh, extreme reparations and differing support of the German people.
WWI
prove that it was a world power/secure place as western power
assasination- alliance with Austria (blank check)
William II
arms race with britian?
russia? against
WWII
treaty of Versailles- instability
prove
hitler
transform into war state
conquering europe for the benefit of the Aryan race
lebensraum!!
anschless, sudetenland, Poland
russia? with?
Evaluate the most significant similarity between the regimes of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia in the interwar period.
After WWI and the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany was given the blame and forced to sign a treaty they had no control over as well as pay significant reparations. Other countries such as Great Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium owed large amounts of money mostly to the United States and the world was going through the Great Depression. Russia went through the Russian Civil War from 1917-1923 and many new political and social ideas were evolving. Italy was a fascist regime under Mussolini starting in 1922, the Soviet Union was formed in Russia in 1922, and Hilter took over Germany in 1933 creating a Nazi state. The most significant similarity between the regimes of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia was the role of a dictator who took advantage of the negative economic situation of their countries; however, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia had considerably differing goals as Germany was racist and Russia was communist which affected the way that they could use propaganda to win over the people and later an alliance at the beginning of the second world war.
In Germany and Russia during the interwar period, powerful dictators took advantage of the negative economic situation caused by WWI and the Great Depression which helped them gain the support of their people and led to the creation of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. After the reparations inflicted upon Germany through the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and the Great Depression following WWI, Germany’s economy came to an all-time low. There were high unemployment, starvation, poverty, and inflation rates due to the Weimar Republic's excess printing of money. Through the Enabling Act of 1933, Adolf Hitler came to rule the Weimar Republic by decree with aspirations of imperialism in Central and Eastern Europe, German nationalism, and an improved economic situation. Hilter promised the people a strengthened economy. His ideas and campaign became associated with more jobs and a better economy. Because of this, he was able to gain the support of the people by supplying them with what they needed as well as a way to restore German pride, and therefore he was able to come to power. Similarly, after WWI, the Civil War, the Russian Revolution, and the Great Depression, Russia was struggling financially. There were low production and high unemployment rates, and ultimately most of the economy was still focused on agriculture despite previous Tsars’ efforts to industrialize Russia. Then, when Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin became the head of the Soviet Party and State. In an already communist state, Stalin introduced the “Five-Year Plan” of industrialization in 1928, which he brutally carried out, and collectivization which forced peasants into community farms. Stalin ultimately brought a better economy through Russia; however, it was at a very high cost of lives. Despite this, he had the support of the people through propaganda. This is important because although met with some opposition, Stalin and Hitler were both able to play into what the people of their countries needed and wanted. Although with differing goals, Hilter and Stalin were both powerful totalitarian leaders who understood the world of politics. Both power-hungry and wanting to take revenge for the effects of WWI, Stalin and Hilter—and therefore Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia—were brought together and able to create a powerful alliance for WWII which served them well throughout the war.
The goals of these regimes, however, differed dramatically as Nazi Germany was considerably more racist and focused on creating a superior Aryan race while Soviet Russia was much more concerned with creating socialism in one state and an industrialized Russia which affected how the leaders were able to use their power. Hilter, and Nazi Germany, were extremely nationalist. This is seen through their attempt to create a pure German race and their view that German women had a special role in this through their duty to breed strong sons and daughters for the German nation. In addition, the Nazis were very anti-Semetic. In 1935 Hilter passed the Nuremberg Laws which robbed German Jews of citizenship and in following years they were harassed in many different ways. In 1942 Hitler decided on what he called “The Final Solution” which resulted in the holocaust and the genocide of 6 million Jews. This anti-Semitism allowed the Nazis to indoctrinate the German population with their ideas of a “Master Race.” In Soviet Russia, however, Stalin was focused on communism in one country and for the society union to overtake the productive capacity of its capitalist enemies. Starting in 1929, Stalin also enforced collectivization in Russia which took away freedoms that peasants had over their farms and created farms owned by the state therefore exemplifying Russia’s communist regime. Because of these differences even though both leaders heavily relied on and used propaganda to gain the people’s favor they did so in different ways. Hilter was able to play into German pride which was badly hurt at the end of WWI and to use nationalism to justify his actions. He used this as a rallying point and was able to use the power he gained from it to annex the land of many surrounding countries, grow and strengthen the German army, and overall rebuild Germany. Stalin’s focus on communism helped him rebuild the Russian economy, have complete control over the goings on in Russia, and be more available and open for alliances during WWII.
In conclusion, even though Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia had different roles which changed how the dictator could control their country, the most significant similarity was the powerful dictators and their ability to take advantage of the negative economic situation both of which changed propaganda and the view of the people and later led to an alliance during WWII.
In what ways, and for what reasons, did technological developments affect the nature and outcome of the First World War and Second World War?
From the late 18th century to the early 20th century, the first and second industrial revolutions brought technological advances through inventions such as the steam engine, the spinning jenny, the automobile, steel production, electricity, and railroads. These had a greater impact on war than previously thought. Planes, bombs, and trench warfare were used and caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people. Even though the American Civil War in 1861 and the Spanish Civil War in 1936 had similar elements, going into the World Wars the world expected wars similar to those fought before industrialization. Technological developments affected the fighting style and therefore the death toll as well as the outcomes of WWI and WWII which caused them to develop into total wars directly affecting the people and the reparations inflicted after the wars.
During both WWI and WWII technological advancements affected the fighting style of the wars. These different styles and strategies led to more deaths on all sides during both wars than in any previous wars. In 1884 Hiram Maxim built the first machine gun which was used in the British army. The machine gun was much faster and deadlier than any previous gun and because of this, the army was forced to create trenches to protect themselves. Soon the trenches were lined with barbed wire as well. These new advancements resulted in WWI becoming one of supplies and positions instead of movement as after three years of being established, the Western Front only moved a few miles either way. These new technologies created a new type of warfare that was worse than ever before as new technologies came with new unknown dangers. By WWII trains were used regularly to transport supplies and the armies across the continent and plane bombers were used regularly as an offensive move. For example, in the Battle of Britain from July to October 1940 the Germans bombed London every day for two months, and about 711 tons of explosive bombs were dropped. These new styles are significant because, in both WWI and WWII, the new technology led to higher death rates than in any previous war. In WWI there were about 40 million casualties with 10 million civilian deaths and 9.7 million military deaths. WWII had about 75 million people die with 20 million military deaths and about 40 million civilian deaths. Because the technology was new, new strategies and styles of war were created and experimented with to combat them, and the dangers were unknown. The technologies allowed these wars to affect the whole world. Armies were able to move faster and communicate better as well as the new weapons which allowed for larger-scale attacks on both the fronts and civilians creating a total war.
The technological advances also impacted the war by affecting the outcomes and reparations of WWI and WWII therefore disrupting the balance of power and situation of the people. For example, In WWI, tanks were introduced in 1916 which made it possible for soldiers to cross “no-man’s land.” While a tank rolled across taking the fire of enemy soldiers, British soldiers could run behind and be shielded eventually resulting British breaking the German front in 1918 and an Allied victory of WWI. In WWII, the Battle of Britain in 1940 was won by the army with the better planes. Germany had the Luftwaffe; however, in the end, the British Royal Airforce was stronger and better equipped which caused Germany to have to abandon the invasion even after 2 months of German bombs on London. This battle was significant as it prevented the German invasion of Britain and therefore Britain was able to continue to fight against Germany ultimately leading to German defeat in WWII. Also in WWII, was the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiromisha, Japan wiping out the entire city with one bomb and killing about 100,000 people. This combined with the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan ended the war between the United States and Japan which had also started with a bomb on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The bomb ultimately scared Japan so much that the United States won the war and therefore had the upper hand when discussing reparations thus showing that new technologies, which often led to fear and death impacted the outcome of the World Wars. As seen in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the winner ultimately benefited from the war and decided on harmful reparations for their enemies. These reparations hurt the economy and the ability of the country to create new technology. Without the new technology being constantly developed, countries that lost—such as Germany in WWI—were left behind in the ongoing industrialization process and lost power ultimately changing the balance of power by weakening some countries and strengthening others. Without a strong economy, the people of the country suffered and discrimination against minorities became even more severe.
In conclusion, technological advancements such as the plane, atomic bomb, and tank, affected the fighting style and outcomes of both WWI and WWII which led to higher death tolls and harmful reparations on countries all of which created a total war and affected the people.
Outcome
specific battles
russia
battle of britian
japan and us
bliztech
WWI
gases
dealier weapons- machine gun
communication
move faster- tank
trenches
become battles of whoever has the most resources
WWII
oil
atomic bomb end war with japan
trains
planes- battle of britian
total war
affect civilians
become world war because able to travel
Choose one of the following:
Assess the importance of each in causing the Second World War: nationalism; alliances; economic factors.
how caused
why cause was important (what else did it lead to??/affect out come of)
Nationalism, alliances, and economic factors all caused WWII and created different
nationalism
german idea of pure aryan race,
lebensraum
holocaust (?)
alliances
cause it to be a world war not just regional
france and great britian declare war on germany after its invasion of Poland
economic factors
hitler able to come to power, take advantage of great depression
economic instability lead to political instability