World War I: Causes and Results

It was said that World War I was "the war to end all wars." As it turns out, it was just the beginning of a century of both infighting and actual violent destruction of homes, property, and worst of all, the utter disregard for the sanctity of life- whether Jews, Gypsies, Russians, Germans, Vietnamese, British, French or Americans. Britain is said to have lost an entire generation of its young men in the trenches of France from 1914 to 1918. Why did this war happen, and why did it not solve a single one of the world's problems?

It may be simplistic to say so, but the cause of World War I was economic. Of course, there are those who claim it was the imperialistic power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the rise of Prussia to dominate middle Europe. But, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was merely as small match to a combustible bundle of European straw. It was also a case of ethnic hatred of one another: The beginnings of the pure German Aryan race, as embodied by the Kaiser and the Prussian Junker elite were pitted against the Balkans and the Russians, who were regarded as somehow genetically inferior.

The economics required France and Britain to ally themselves with Russia. Never mind the actual; relations between the English crown and the Russian Czars. It was a matter of the wide open spaces and the emerging consumerism that economists could see in Russia. Of course, all the family entanglements were also meant to keep the German Empire out of the economic running.

What is most frightening, in retrospect, a disastrous scenario that has been played over and over again, is that the lives of millions were in the hands of some of the most inept politicians who regarded themselves as statesmen. Senility was surely a factor in the push toward war, incited by the French Clemenceau and Britain's Lloyd George. This would be similarly acted out by Frances' Daladier and Britain's Chamberlain in the late 1930s. Again, we need to realize that nationalism, ethnic claims of superiority, political maneuvering, expanding colonization in Africa and Asia all led to one true cause of World War I and its aftermath: the dollar, the franc, the mark, the ruble, the schilling: It was economics. Not to make light of the situation, but one is reminded of the sign in Bill Clinton's office as he was running for President: "It's the economy, stupid!"

So, while to some extent nationalism and separatism were among the principal causes of the first World War. Economic power was the key. As writer Randolph Bourne is quoted by Howard Zinn: "War is the health of the state" (Zinn 350).

However, part of the economic problem was the unhappiness and even the uprising of the lower, working classes, fanned by Communism and Socialism, crying out about the unfairness of the distribution of wealth. Yes, money, economics, again as the major cause of World War I and its aftermath. More than World War II, the first World War was also a class struggle- not merely the industrial nations against one another, but Imperialist nations against social ferment. Marx and Engels were as much responsible for World War I as were the Bank of England and the German and Austrian emperors.

For our generation, looking back at the two horrible world wars, one major question seems to be tough to answer: why did so many millions of young men fight and die for causes they seldom understood? World War II may be more easily explainable, given the horrors of the Nazis, but there was no such serious "holocaust" type of activity that brought on World Wear I. Men fought and died to preserve their nations' economic superiority. It seems to be almost as simple as that. And yet, the violence of economical warfare was then heightened by two major events: the Communist revolution in Russia in 1917 which caused untold millions their lives over the next generation, and the vicious armistice pact the Allies forced on Germany at Versailles in 1919, which bankrupted Germany, brought in a Weimar Republic of politici9ans unable to win either

popular acceptance or who had the slightest idea about how to rule. The result of these two disastrous events: Stalin and Hitler.

There is no doubt that the enormous expenditure of money, even by the victorious Allies, caused serious economic difficulties in Europe- not just Germany, but in France and Britain and that economic downturn helped create the Depression of the American Nineteen Thirties.

It would be easy- but totally mistaken- to claim that it is patriotism that fuels conflict and violence. The fact is that a few politicians, with ambition to control world economy, to enrich their nation's coffers, to be seen as the most powerful nation in the world, have caused, and continue to cause war, violence, maiming of our youth, and death. The economic and political disasters that followed World War I created an even more vicious hatred of the Haves by the Have-Nots. Russian Communists blamed all their ills on the Czars and Czarist masses. The Germans now turned their hatred on the Jews and Communists as causing their depression and inflation and unemployment. Hunger and joblessness always tends to lead to violence. And the violence of overtaking other people and nations to solve internal problems leads to even more violence and wars. The Cold War was not as much political as it was an economic rivalry between the West and emerging Soviet economic power.

Unfortunately, the violence of the 20^th century- based on economics and the power it provides, has not stopped. There is still a powder keg ready to explode- in the Middle East with its oil, in the Koreas with threats of nuclear weapons, and in China with its growing economy but its repressive measures. From the Nineteenth century to the 21^st, economic dominance continues to fuel violent warfare, and young men and women are still asked to fight and die for principles they do not fully understand.

WORK CITED:

Zinn, Howard (1995): A People's History of the United States New York: HarperPerennial Books

WORLD WAR I: MAIN IMPACTS

It was said that World War I was "the war to end all wars." As it turns out, it was just the beginning of a century of both infighting and actual violent destruction of homes, property, and worst of all, the utter disregard for the sanctity of life- whether Jews, Gypsies, Russians, Germans, Vietnamese, British, French or Americans. Britain is said to have lost an entire generation of its young men in the trenches of France from 1914 to 1918. Why did this war happen, and why did it not solve a single one of the world's problems?

It may be simplistic to say so, but the cause of World War I was economic. Of course, there are those who claim it was the imperialistic power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the rise of Prussia to dominate middle Europe. But, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was merely as small match to a combustible bundle of European straw. It was also a case of ethnic hatred of one another: The beginnings of the pure German Aryan race, as embodied by the Kaiser and the Prussian Junker elite were pitted against the Balkans and the Russians, who were regarded as somehow genetically inferior.

The economics required France and Britain to ally themselves with Russia. Never mind the actual; relations between the English crown and the Russian Czars. It was a matter of the wide open spaces and the emerging consumerism that economists could see in Russia. Of course, all the family entanglements were also meant to keep the German Empire out of the economic running.

What is most frightening, in retrospect, a disastrous scenario that has been played over and over again, is that the lives of millions were in the hands of some of the most inept politicians who regarded themselves as statesmen. Senility was surely a factor in the push toward war, incited by the French Clemenceau and Britain's Lloyd George. This would be similarly acted out by Frances' Daladier and Britain's Chamberlain in the late 1930s. Again, we need to realize that nationalism, ethnic claims of superiority, political maneuvering, expanding colonization in Africa and Asia all led to one true cause of World War I and its aftermath: the dollar, the franc, the mark, the ruble, the schilling: It was economics. Not to make light of the situation, but one is reminded of the sign in Bill Clinton's office as he was running for President: "It's the economy, stupid!"

So, while to some extent nationalism and separatism were among the principal causes of the first World War. Economic power was the key. As writer Randolph Bourne is quoted by Howard Zinn: "War is the health of the state" (Zinn 350).

However, part of the economic problem was the unhappiness and even the uprising of the lower, working classes, fanned by Communism and Socialism, crying out about the unfairness of the distribution of wealth. Yes, money, economics, again as the major cause of World War I and its aftermath. More than World War II, the first World War was also a class struggle- not merely the industrial nations against one another, but Imperialist nations against social ferment. Marx and Engels were as much responsible for World War I as were the Bank of England and the German and Austrian emperors.

For our generation, looking back at the two horrible world wars, one major question seems to be tough to answer: why did so many millions of young men fight and die for causes they seldom understood? World War II may be more easily explainable, given the horrors of the Nazis, but there was no such serious "holocaust" type of activity that brought on World Wear I. Men fought and died to preserve their nations' economic superiority. It seems to be almost as simple as that. And yet, the violence of economical warfare was then heightened by two major events: the Communist revolution in Russia in 1917 which caused untold millions their lives over the next generation, and the vicious armistice pact the Allies forced on Germany at Versailles in 1919, which bankrupted Germany, brought in a Weimar Republic of politici9ans unable to win either

popular acceptance or who had the slightest idea about how to rule. The result of these two disastrous events: Stalin and Hitler.

There is no doubt that the enormous expenditure of money, even by the victorious Allies, caused serious economic difficulties in Europe- not just Germany, but in France and Britain and that economic downturn helped create the Depression of the American Nineteen Thirties.

It would be easy- but totally mistaken- to claim that it is patriotism that fuels conflict and violence. The fact is that a few politicians, with ambition to control world economy, to enrich their nation's coffers, to be seen as the most powerful nation in the world, have caused, and continue to cause war, violence, maiming of our youth, and death. The economic and political disasters that followed World War I created an even more vicious hatred of the Haves by the Have-Nots. Russian Communists blamed all their ills on the Czars and Czarist masses. The Germans now turned their hatred on the Jews and Communists as causing their depression and inflation and unemployment. Hunger and joblessness always tends to lead to violence. And the violence of overtaking other people and nations to solve internal problems leads to even more violence and wars. The Cold War was not as much political as it was an economic rivalry between the West and emerging Soviet economic power.

Unfortunately, the violence of the 20^th century- based on economics and the power it provides, has not stopped. There is still a powder keg ready to explode- in the Middle East with its oil, in the Koreas with threats of nuclear weapons, and in China with its growing economy but its repressive measures. From the Nineteenth century to the 21^st, economic dominance continues to fuel violent warfare, and young men and women are still asked to fight and die for principles they do not fully understand.

WORK CITED:

Zinn, Howard (1995): A People's History of the United States New York: HarperPerennial Books

It was said that World War I was "the war to end all wars." As it turns out, it was just the beginning of a century of both infighting and actual violent destruction of homes, property, and worst of all, the utter disregard for the sanctity of life- whether Jews, Gypsies, Russians, Germans, Vietnamese, British, French or Americans. Britain is said to have lost an entire generation of its young men in the trenches of France from 1914 to 1918. Why did this war happen, and why did it not solve a single one of the world's problems?

It may be simplistic to say so, but the cause of World War I was economic. Of course, there are those who claim it was the imperialistic power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the rise of Prussia to dominate middle Europe. But, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was merely as small match to a combustible bundle of European straw. It was also a case of ethnic hatred of one another: The beginnings of the pure German Aryan race, as embodied by the Kaiser and the Prussian Junker elite were pitted against the Balkans and the Russians, who were regarded as somehow genetically inferior.

The economics required France and Britain to ally themselves with Russia. Never mind the actual; relations between the English crown and the Russian Czars. It was a matter of the wide open spaces and the emerging consumerism that economists could see in Russia. Of course, all the family entanglements were also meant to keep the German Empire out of the economic running.

What is most frightening, in retrospect, a disastrous scenario that has been played over and over again, is that the lives of millions were in the hands of some of the most inept politicians who regarded themselves as statesmen. Senility was surely a factor in the push toward war, incited by the French Clemenceau and Britain's Lloyd George. This would be similarly acted out by Frances' Daladier and Britain's Chamberlain in the late 1930s. Again, we need to realize that nationalism, ethnic claims of superiority, political maneuvering, expanding colonization in Africa and Asia all led to one true cause of World War I and its aftermath: the dollar, the franc, the mark, the ruble, the schilling: It was economics. Not to make light of the situation, but one is reminded of the sign in Bill Clinton's office as he was running for President: "It's the economy, stupid!"

So, while to some extent nationalism and separatism were among the principal causes of the first World War. Economic power was the key. As writer Randolph Bourne is quoted by Howard Zinn: "War is the health of the state" (Zinn 350).

However, part of the economic problem was the unhappiness and even the uprising of the lower, working classes, fanned by Communism and Socialism, crying out about the unfairness of the distribution of wealth. Yes, money, economics, again as the major cause of World War I and its aftermath. More than World War II, the first World War was also a class struggle- not merely the industrial nations against one another, but Imperialist nations against social ferment. Marx and Engels were as much responsible for World War I as were the Bank of England and the German and Austrian emperors.

For our generation, looking back at the two horrible world wars, one major question seems to be tough to answer: why did so many millions of young men fight and die for causes they seldom understood? World War II may be more easily explainable, given the horrors of the Nazis, but there was no such serious "holocaust" type of activity that brought on World Wear I. Men fought and died to preserve their nations' economic superiority. It seems to be almost as simple as that. And yet, the violence of economical warfare was then heightened by two major events: the Communist revolution in Russia in 1917 which caused untold millions their lives over the next generation, and the vicious armistice pact the Allies forced on Germany at Versailles in 1919, which bankrupted Germany, brought in a Weimar Republic of politici9ans unable to win either

popular acceptance or who had the slightest idea about how to rule. The result of these two disastrous events: Stalin and Hitler.

There is no doubt that the enormous expenditure of money, even by the victorious Allies, caused serious economic difficulties in Europe- not just Germany, but in France and Britain and that economic downturn helped create the Depression of the American Nineteen Thirties.

It would be easy- but totally mistaken- to claim that it is patriotism that fuels conflict and violence. The fact is that a few politicians, with ambition to control world economy, to enrich their nation's coffers, to be seen as the most powerful nation in the world, have caused, and continue to cause war, violence, maiming of our youth, and death. The economic and political disasters that followed World War I created an even more vicious hatred of the Haves by the Have-Nots. Russian Communists blamed all their ills on the Czars and Czarist masses. The Germans now turned their hatred on the Jews and Communists as causing their depression and inflation and unemployment. Hunger and joblessness always tends to lead to violence. And the violence of overtaking other people and nations to solve internal problems leads to even more violence and wars. The Cold War was not as much political as it was an economic rivalry between the West and emerging Soviet economic power.

Unfortunately, the violence of the 20^th century- based on economics and the power it provides, has not stopped. There is still a powder keg ready to explode- in the Middle East with its oil, in the Koreas with threats of nuclear weapons, and in China with its growing economy but its repressive measures. From the Nineteenth century to the 21^st, economic dominance continues to fuel violent warfare, and young men and women are still asked to fight and die for principles they do not fully understand.

WORK CITED:

Zinn, Howard (1995): A People's History of the United States New York: HarperPerennial Books