Gjon Ljucovic Period 10

5/4/09 Mrs. Salmon

There have been many wars in the history of the world, but the most famous wars have been World War 1 and World War 2. Both of these wars were caused mass destruction across the globe, whether it was in Europe, or in the Pacific, havoc was caused everywhere by these conflicts. In both wars there were two teams against on another, each hoping to accomplish what their team wanted to do. In World War 2, for example, the Allies were made up of the U.S., Britain, Russia, and France (predominantly), which wanted to stop the totalitarian governments. On the other hand, the Axis powers were made up of Germany, Italy, and Japan, which wanted to make empires for themselves and to rule the world in a sense. Either way, World War 1 and World War 2 both had causes that were alike and different in many ways. There were many minor similarities such as location (mainly Europe), and minor differences such as when the war occurred. But, the main reasons that both major wars occurred had to do with nationalism, militarism, and imperialism. The causes of World War 1 and World War 2 were militarism, imperialism, and nationalism, which are distinct, but similar in their own ways. One of the causes of World War 1 and World War 2 was militarism, which is a government policy of investing heavily in and strengthening the armed forces of a country. World War 1 and 2 both developed due to the fact that militarism played a huge role in causing both wars. One way that militarism played a similar role in both conflicts is that Germany built up their forces in both wars, in which they had different reasoning in each war. For example, Germany built up their forces in World War 1 because other countries were also building up their forces. But in World War 2, Germany built up their forces because they wanted to fight of the Allies that had made them plunge into a depression, pay $33 billion in reparations, and more In the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany broke one of the provisions, which said that all the countries had to demilitarize, which is the exact opposite of what Germany was beginning to do (Document 4). There were many ways that Germany was building up their forces, for example, they were building up their naval power to be one of the strongest and their air

force too. In a timeline of laws passed to show how Germany is increasing its military strength, it shows that Germany increased its naval power to be the strongest next to the Britishs naval force, and they increased their amount of military forces too (Document 2). Along with the similarities, come the differences that militarism had in World War 1 and World War 2. There were many differences such as the different type of fighting techniques used during the two wars. For example, U- boats were used during World War 1, while blitzkrieg was used in World War 2. U-boats are actually submarines that were made to have high damage attacks, but to attack quietly, and their sole purpose was to regulate the exports that Britain was receiving and to regulate Britains trade. Blitzkrieg, on the other hand, was an attack from above. This strategy was made so that Germanys air force could bomb an opposing country quickly, but to strike with deadly force. Another name that blitzkrieg was known as, and would describe it well, was lightening warfare. Also, in some way, the U.S. was always forced to enter the war because of the fact that the opposing countries tried to destroy the U.S. property. For example, the Lusitania was bombed by the U-boats of the Germans in World War 1, and in World War 2, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii with a method that was like the Germans blitzkrieg (besides the fact that kamikazes were involved). Overall, militarism played a big role in causing World War 1 and World War 2. Imperialism was another aspect that helped cause World War 1 and World War 2 that were contrastable and similar in many ways. Nationalism appeared in both wars when countries were trying to take over other countries (Imperialism). One of the countries that was first to become imperialistic was Germany, and in both wars. In World War 1, Germany went after the colonies that were around them, after they had become a militaristic country. Also, they aided the Austria-Hungary forces just to be able to gain land, which they didnt end up doing. In World War 2, Germany tried to take over Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and the Rhineland, and they prevailed in all of those missions. In Adolf Hitlers book, Mein Kampf, Hitler states that the only reason hes taking over other countries is because many people are starving due to the population rise that is occurring in Germany. But, everyone knew that Hitler had one mission, and that was to rule the world and to spread the German superiority throughout the world (Document 6). Along with all of the similarities come the differences too. Imperialism

changed during World War 1 and World War 2 in many ways, just as it was alike in many ways too. Imperialism changed because there were different alliances in both wars, and most of the alliances were just to keep one another close to each other in World War 2, unlike in World War 1. A saying that would correspond with this action is, Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. This is shown when Germany signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, which basically was signed to keep Russia out of Germanys imperialistic ways, but Germany even tried to invade Russia, which was how the pact was broken. This attempted invasions into Russia failed, and caused Russia to defend the Allies and to help them defeat Japan and Germany. Germany has made many mistakes in both wars, and this was one of the stupidest in World War 2, which could have ultimately decided who won the war if Germany hadnt invaded Russia. In a timeline showing Germanys actions for 1918 until 1939, it shows how Germany started World War 2 by making an alliance with Japans and Italy, and then invading Austria and Poland (Document 5). Altogether, imperialism is what was the immediate cause of World War 2, but how it was done differently, also affected World War 1 in a diverse way. Nationalism is the excessive or fanatical devotion to a nation and its interests, often associated with a belief that one country is superior to all others. Nationalism play an enormous role in World War 2, but was the immediate cause of World War 1. Nationalism was the immediate cause of World War 1 because a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, who was part of a nationalist group called the Black Hand, assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand. They did this because Princip and the Black Hand believed that Serbias independence was being threatened by Austria Hungary. In Gavrilo Princips testimony at his trial for murder and treason on October 1914, Princip states that he was a nationalist, that the Serbian people needed to be avenged, and that he never regrets doing the deed that he did (Document 3). But in World War 2, nationalism was also present in the war. For example, the Japanese had many fighters that would sacrifice their lives for their countries, which were called kamikazes. They had many jobs, such as flying planes filled with explosives and crashing them, or ramming a boat filled with bombs into an American war craft carrier. Also, there were other countries aiding other countries for certain reasons. For instance, Serbia was aided by Russia because they share pro-Slavic views. But, there were many different aspects of nationalism that caused

World War 1 and World War 2. One of the different aspects was the type of governments that were being run. Fascism was occurring in Italy, while Nazism was occurring in Germany. All of these countries, including Japan, were running totalitarian governments, which is when there is a dictatorship, and fascism and Nazism fall under the umbrella of a totalitarian government. Fascism and Nazism go under strict rules, that if not followed, that person will be punished to the full extent, and even killed at times. In a web showing the stringent rules of fascism, it shows that there had to be blind loyalty to leader, extreme nationalism, use of violence and terror, and much more (Document 7). This is one of the main reasons that Italy, Japan, and Germany were all allies at the time of World War 2. Also, Britain, the U.S., France, and Canada were all a part of a democratic government, and they were all allies during World War 2. But in World War 1, countries allied because of their views, for example, Austria-Hungary and Germany both had expansionist views, and Serbia and Russia had the same Slavic views. All in all, nationalism was forced in some countries, depending on their government, but altogether, it affected World War 1 and World War 2 drastically. In conclusion, the reasons that World War 1 and World War 2 occurred were dissimilar and comparable, whether it had to do with nationalism, militarism, or imperialism. There were different immediate causes to both World War 1 and World War 2, but both immediate causes fall under one of the three causes of World War 1 and World War 2. For example, World War 1s immediate cause falls under the category of nationalism, while the immediate cause of World War 2 falls under the category of imperialism. All of the three topics of militarism, nationalism, and imperialism all had a gargantuan affect on the causes of World War 1 and World War 2. Hopefully, there wont ever be another world war, and that these three causes wont occur in any way, even in another war were to break out.