World War I began in 1914, after the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and lasted until 1918. During the conflict, Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers) fought
against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United
States (the Allied Powers). Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors
of trench warfare, World War I saw unprecedented levels of carnage and
destruction. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers claimed
victory, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians alike—were dead.
The Great War
On this blog I am going to share how was one of the most important (and awful) events in the whole human history, its impact, and my thoughs about this topic.
sábado, 6 de julio de 2019
Antecedents and main causes
Between 1900 and 1914 there had been three majors
crisis between the great powers. These crisis exposed the differences between
these countries and reinforced the hostility: the Marocan Crisis (1905), the
Second Marocan Crisis and the anexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
One of the most relevant reasons was that Serbia was
aggrandized due to the Two Balkan War (it lasted a year from 1912 to 1913), so
the serbians turned their attetion to the idea of liberating the South Slavs of
Austria-Hungary, that were their colonizers by the time. Serbia were getting
stronger, it was a treath to Austria so they decided to destroy their growing power.
But what did that provoke? Well...
One day, the archiduke Franz Ferninand was about to
visit Bosnia on a tour of military inspection, so Dragutin Dimitrijevic (head of Serbia's military intelligence) plotted his assesination.
The primer minister Nikola Pasicheard of the plot and
warned the Austrian goverment, but the message wasn't understood.
Thats why on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo (the capital
of Bosnia), Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were shot dead by a Bosnian
serb called Gavirilo Princip.
After this unexpected and shocking event, on July 23th
the Austrian goverment started a preventing war agains Serbia, relying on
Germany military power.
On July 25th, Serbia accepted the ultimatum (it means,
the warning of a near war).
On July 28th, War terms were declined by Germany, so
the Austria-Hungary artillery began to bombard and began to movilize on the
Russian frontier. Also Russia ordered general movilization.
Germany, kinda afraid, asked France to keep neutral in
the event of the war between them... but both countries ignored these demands.
Germany started to send trops to Luxemburg. Later, on
August 3-4th, they invaded Belgium. Great Britain had to defend this territory
because it was theirs, so they declared war against Germany.
Likewise, Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia
on August 5th. Then Serbia against Germany on August 6th. Japan entered as
well, and they declared war against them on August 28th.
Then the alliances surged: France and England joined
and Italy confirmed the Triple Allianza on December 7th, 1912, among Russia,
Great Britain, Japan and United States.
Trench Warfare
It was a warfare in which opposing armed forces
attack, counterattack, and defend from relatively permanent systems of trenches
dug into the ground. Each trench was dug in a type of zigzag so that no enemy,
standing at one end, could fire for more than a few yards down its length.
Chemical Warfare
This was a warfare that used toxic properties of
chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy.
Three substances were responsible for most injuries
and deaths during the Great War:
- Phosgene: it was colorless, and soldiers did not at first know they had received a fatal dose. After a day or two, victims’ lungs would fill with fluid, and they would slowly suffocate in an agonizing death. This was the worst chemical weapon.
- Mustard gas: it had a potent smell and provoked victim’s eyes become bloodshot, begin to water, and become increasingly painful, some of them suffering by blindness. And it could be worst: skin begins to blister, particularly in moist areas, such as the armpits and genitals. As the blisters pop, they often become infected. This gas could also contaminate land where it had been deployed.
Consecuences
- WW1 caused the downfall of four monarchies: Germany, Turkey, Austria-Hungary and Russia.
- WW1 largely marked the end of colonialism, as the people became more nationalistic, so that made people more open to other ideologies, such as the communism on Russia.
- The war changed the economical balance of the world, leaving European countries deep in debt and making the U.S. the leading industrial power and creditor in the world.
- Due to the using of toxic chemicals, the land became unusable for years.
- With troops travelling all over the world, influenza was spread easily and an epidemic started which killed more than 25 million people across the world.
- Due to the cruel methods used during the war and the losses suffered, the Great War caused a lot of bitterness among nations, which also greatly contributed to the Second World War decades later.
- Social life also changed: women assumed the role of workers by replacing men in factories and offices, so the countries gave them more rights after the war ended, including the right to vote.
- The need for an international body of nations that promotes security and peace worldwide caused the founding of the League of Nations.
Personal conclusion
The Great War was the deadliest and the most expensive
war which involved many countries and left some in great debt, because their
economies went down at the time the war concluded.
I think this event is a reflection of the lack of
humanity and tolerance that existed between the great powers, because if it
were not for small disputes that generated resentment, many people would have
continued to live and have enjoyed their lives without being poisoned or killed
brutally by the weapons that were created, both soldiers and civilians.
Seeing how the human began to advance in technology by
creating of weapons of mass destruction, makes me reflect deeply on human
motivations and how we tend in some way to evil.
Finally, it seems that everything was a strategy to
revitalize the economy of those great powers that although they did not
participate in the war, did finance it. This support was given with a purely
economic interest: they exchanged money and privileges (also at a political
level) for innocent human lives. In addition to the destruction they caused,
they even left infertile lands that made life even harder for their own
citizens.
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