World War 1 may have been the most important turning point of the 20th century. It was not as large and devastating a conflict as WW2 would be, but it did even more to shape the world as it is today. It razed most of Europe and destroyed four empires while also creating many new nationas. It triggered the Russian Revoltuion and laid the basers for Balkan and Middle Eastern conflicts that remain unresolved today. Most significantly, perhaps, it gave Germany grievances that Adolf Hitler's Nazi movement would exploit in its rise to power and thereby contribute to the Holocaust and WW2. Indeed, the roots of that later world war are so deeply embedded in the first that the second world war might justly be considered a continuation of WW1.
WW1 also raised the United States to the status of a world power and inspired the creation of the League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations. In addition, it fundamentally transformed military combat by introducing weapons of unprecedented destructive power and by taking combat closer to civilian populations than ever before. It revolutionized naval warfare and gave the world aerial warfare. Meanwhile, the war's impact on the home fronts of the nations involved set in motion vast social changes, extending democracy, giving more women the vote, and helping to liberate women in the workplace.
The war began in 1914 with plans based on 19th-century military thinking. By the time it ended four years later, it had beocme a hightech 20th century war whose advances would influence the way future wars would be fought. The most obvious military changes it introduced were weaponry. These included more lethal machine guns, longer-range and more accurate artillery, more powerful battleships, deadly poison gases, mechanized tanks, submarines capable of sinking ships, and armed aircraft. Each of these innovations forced changes in tactics and strategy and inspired further advances.
Understanding history involved much more than simply memorizing facts and dates. WW1 had more battles than most people can name. All one really needs to know about most of the battles is that they had little impact on the course of the war as a whole. It is more important to know what events were truly significant, why they happened as they did, and how they were connected to one another.
I want you to pay close attention to maps as we cover WW1. It is imposible to understand any war without knowing something about its geography. The expression WW1 was never used during the war itself. Through the war's early years it was simply known as the European War because it involved mainly European nations. As it expanded into other regions, it became known as the Great War because of its unprecedented size. Eventually, it became known as the World War because it was being fought over a larger part of the world than any previous conflict in history. It was only after the outbreak of the second world war in 1939 that the World War took on a number to become WW1.
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Understanding the causes of war is rarely easy, and the reasons for the outbreak of WW1 are especially difficult to comprehend even today. The outline of events leading up to the start of the war in 1914 is clear, but it is important to learn why these events occurred. Why did each nation involved in the war get into it? What did it expect to gain? What options did each nation have when it entered the war?
The first world war was complicated because the many nations fighting in it had very different reasons for doing so. Some nations, such as France and Belgium, had little choice because they were invaded and threatened with conquest. Others, such as Russian and Italy, might easily have stayed out. Some nations, most notably Italy, could easily have fought on the side opposite to the one they joined, Even the United States, which eventually became an associated member of the Allied Powers in 1917, might conceivably have fought on the opposite side.
Today's Assignments:
- Read A History of US Book 8 Chapter 37.
- Look at the timeline of WW1 Mom printed and keep it close to use throughout the study.
- Look at the map of Allied and Central countries and keep it close to reference.
- Go to this site and read the articles on the causes of WWI
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