Causes of World War I

Causes of World War I

The causes of war are not always easy to determine. While one person might feel that something specific caused a war, asking another individual what caused the war might produce a different opinion entirely. This can depend on how much knowledge a particular individual has about war in general, how much that person knows about politics and, of course, what side of the war that person is on. It is very similar to how individuals view the issue when they see a crime. Several witnesses will give very different accounts of what actually took place, right down to what the criminal was wearing, the color of his/her hair, etc. This is only human nature, and to be expected, but it can still be very frustrating at times. Police officers have difficulty with this, and historians have the same problem with the war issue.

For purposes of this paper, four documents will be used to discuss World War I, and they will be compared and contrasted in the following section. After that, the next section will critique the material that is used for sources, so that the opinions that are seen within them can be examined and it can be determined whether they are generally accurate, or whether they have ideas and beliefs in them that are not generally accepted among historians. There are often conflicting opinions, even where historians and trained individuals are concerned. This is important to understand, because even subtle differences can affect the way that people examine an event and the understanding and belief that they pass on to others. What caused World War I, therefore, all depends on who is asked about the causes and what that person has been told regarding history up to that point.

Comparison and Contrast of Source Material

Woodrow Wilson was President from 1913 to 1921. He was a political scientist and a historian, and was very serious about ruling the country. He created a large amount of legislation, including the Federal Reserve System, during his first term as President. When he was reelected in 1916, he focused on WWI and the Treaty of Versailles. While it was ultimately rejected by the United States Senate, Wilson felt that it was very important as something that would work to end the First World War (Marston, 1981). The Treaty is significant and important when it comes to talking about WWI.

President Wilson's desire was for the League of Nations at all costs. At one point, Wilson even stated that it was much better to create a bad treaty and then allow the league to fix it than to create a good treaty but have no league. After the Great War took place, Wilson involved himself with negotiations in a desire to assure statehood for nations that were formerly oppressed and to achieve a sense of peace that was equitable for all. On the 8th of January in 1918, Wilson gave an address that is now famous - his Fourteen Points address - which introduced to all listening the idea of "creating a League of Nations" (Marston, 1981). This organization would have the specific and stated goal of helping the preservation of the territorial integrity and the political independence of all nations, whether they were large or small (Marston, 1981).

The intent of the Fourteen Points address was to end the war and achieve peace for all nations. For six months in 1919, Wilson remained in Versailles. At that time, he was the first and only United States President that had ever traveled over to Europe while he was in office. Tirelessly, Wilson worked to promote the plan that he felt was so very important. The Treaty of Versailles was created at that time, and the charter that proposed the creation of the League of Nations was incorporated into it (Marston, 1981).

Also in 1919, Wilson was given the Nobel Peace Prize for the effort that he put into the making of peace. However, the Senate would not support the Treaty and did not ratify it. The United States, therefore, never joined up with the proposed League of Nations. The Senate was controlled at that time by Republicans under the direction of Henry Cabot Lodge, but Wilson would not give these Republicans a voice over in Paris and would not agree to the proposed changes that Lodge offered. The main point of disagreement had to do with the League of Nations and whether the creation of it would lower the power that Congress already had when it came to declaring war. In 2006, several historians stated that Wilson's failure to create the League of Nations and get the Treaty of Versailles ratified was that 4th worst mistake ever made by a President in United States history (Marston, 1981).

Wilson also faced a great deal of political pressure, because other nations were very unhappy with many issues related to the end of the war. There was also the issue of the punishment of Germany, because most of the nations that were involved in the war believed that Germany had really been the country that started the war. This meant that Germany had to defend itself against the blame and work to avoid punishment by other nations that would not buy into the idea that Germany did not start the War. While Germany was dealing with this problem, other nations were still holding onto the desire to punish Germany, not only for starting the war but also for many of the difficulties that Germany had shown in the past when it came to working with other nations. Because of this, there was strong political pressure to see that Germany was punished in some degree, not just for Wilson but for the leaders of many other countries as well.

France was one of the allies that was involved in the war, fighting along with Great Britain, Japan, Italy, and other countries. While France involved itself in the War, the country had ideas about what it wanted from the war and the furthering of position so that it could become a stronger nation. France has traditionally struggled with being seen as a weak nation, both politically and militarily, and the lack of punishment of Germany by France would continue to make the nation appear weak. However, the need for retaliation had to be weighed against the possibility of retaliating against Germany and then being blamed for "re-starting the war" or causing further problems (Barnes, 1970).

The French had a lot of resentment toward Germany, and they wanted to punish them for this. This was the main desire that the country had as it moved into the war and even as the war was drawing toward its close. Germany was a strong nation from a military standpoint and France was not, which created problems between the two nations. They also disagreed on many issues that involved politics, trade, and other concerns. This disagreement created problems for both nations, and were part of the problems that led to the beginning of the war. However, France still felt that the war was not enough, and that Germany had not been punished thoroughly for problems - either real or perceived - that it had caused for France and other nations in the past (Barnes, 1970).

France faced many hardships. It was often not taken seriously, especially when it came to fighting, as a nation, and there were problems with politics and trade agreements as well. The country was struggling at the time the war was started, and it also struggled during the war. This brought other nations into the problem, and eventually created WWI. Even after the war ended, the nation of France was seen as weak. Because it was viewed in this way, France was not seen as being that important of an ally, and this caused it further problems, keeping it from strengthening its position (Barnes, 1970).

The country of Great Britain was also involved in WWI. It joined forces with other allied nations in the desire to force Germany to give in and allow for the other countries to return to normal. Originally, it was Russia and Germany that were fighting over an incident in the Balkans, but this soon escalated with the attack on France. When Great Britain threw its hat into the ring, it was not because of the conflict among other nations, but because Germany invaded Belgium.

When Great Britain entered the war, it was due to the Belgium issue. The country of Great Britain therefore worked to protect Belgium and remove German troops from that country. This was important to Great Britain, but more important than Belgium was the desire to ensure that Germany was not allowed to simply take over and cause further problems for all of the nations that had banned together and belonged to the allied forces (Marston, 1981).

Like France, Great Britain also faced many hardships during and after the war. The most serious one for the country was the death toll of the troops through conflict and disease. WWI was also the first time that toxins such as mustard gas were used and this created panic and death in many different countries, significantly raising the death toll from the war and also making it more difficult for the country to stay organized and on-track when it came to supporting the troops that were fighting (Marston, 1981).

Italy was another of the allies that joined up to retaliate against Germany. If it were not for the issue with the Balkans, it is likely that WWI would have never taken place, but other countries objected so strongly to the way that Germany handled the problem that they felt they must become involved. When Italy had finally been pushed far enough, it "decided to retaliate" and officially joined the war (Marston, 1981).

For Italy, going into the war meant protecting itself and its allies. It had generally enjoyed a good relationship with most other countries, including Great Britain, France, and the United States, and therefore it wanted to keep this relationship strong and healthy if possible. One of the best ways to do this was to join in with the other countries in their fight against Germany and the problems that country was causing for others.

Italy faced basically the same hardships as the other countries that were involved in the war. Namely, there were a lot of individuals killed in the war, and the threat of chemical warfare was very high, which made it dangerous not just for the troops but for innocents as well. Stories of WWI tell of women and children being used as human shields, and being mercilessly killed and tortured.

Japan was another country that belonged to the allied forces and chose to join up with other countries to help defeat Germany. All of the countries that joined the War believed that they were doing the right thing and that Germany must be stopped. Without the War, Germany might have continued to grow in strength and would have taken over as much as it could. This would have been unfortunate for many other nations that were already struggling, because they would not have been strong enough on their own to stop Germany from invading, taking over, and basically doing whatever it wanted (Rothberg & Moltke, 1986).

By going into the War, Japan was not only siding with its allies, but was protecting its own interests as well. Japan is not a large country, but it does have a lot of natural resources that other countries would likely use to their advantage in a war or take-over situation. This would be devastating for Japan in many ways, and therefore the country knew that they needed to side with their allies and join the war if they hoped to get protection from Germany by way of other countries (Rothberg & Moltke, 1986).

Like other countries, however, Japan faced hardships during and after the war. Most of these were similar to the problems that other countries had, such as a high death toll and wide-spread panic and concern where biological warfare was concerned. Many people throughout several countries were concerned that thousands of people would be killed, including many innocent people, when it came to toxins, nerve gases, and other weapons that were unexpected and could be easily hidden. Since Japan had such as large population, the potential for destruction and devastation was very high (Rothberg & Moltke, 1986).