Jesse Olivas
Professor Tuyay
History 101
26 March, 2018
World War I vs. World War II
War has always been a part of our life throughout history and it has contributed to the expansion of each country in this world. Wars usually involves two or more countries and sometimes between people in the same country such as revolutions. Those involved in war sometimes have the same motive, whether it is to fight for independence, fight for expansion of power, land, resources, or even because they were just allies to a country that is at war. It all starts with power. Once someone has a hold of even the slightest amount, sometimes that’s all they’ll need to crave more and get the highest authority position as possible. World War I and World War II both have the same goals, but it’s how they went about it that makes them different. These two wars were probably the most brutal wars to ever happen in human history. World War I and World War II were so significant that the questions that needs to be asked is, to put it simply, why, what, and how?
World War I lasted for 4 years from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. One of the reasons World War I occurred was because of the many alliances that the big and strong countries formed such as Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany. They were known as the Central Powers. These countries fought against Great Britain, Serbia, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States. These countries were known as the Allied Powers. World War I consisted of many strong leaders, some of which included: Ferdinand Foch, the French military commander, John French, the top British military commander, Douglas Haig, the top British military leader, Paul Von Hidenburg, the German military commander and president. This war led to over 16 million people, both soldiers and civilians, dying. So many people died because of technological advancements.
It’s because of the new military technologies and the trench warfare that created such destruction. Technology has always been a part of us constantly changing. It affected how these soldiers were able to fight these wars in the first place. One technological advancement used was the tank. Before the tank, there was the use of cavalries. The tank proved to be more durable, had better armament, and was pretty much a wrecking ball destroying everything in its path. Another advancement was the airplane that was mainly made of canvas, wood, and wire. Originally it was used to simply observe enemy troops. It later became used to shoot planes down from the ground with rifles, pistols, and machine guns. This created a war to not only happen on the ground, but in the air as well. The use of gases as well, for example mustard gas and other poisonous gases were first used by the Germans to slow down and weaken enemy troops. They did a surprise attack using this technique in Flanders, Belgium in 1915. There was also the flamethrower which helped clear out enemy lines and troops that had invaded trenches. With some of these rapid technological advances, the nature of warfare had changed forever, affecting soldiers, airmen, sailors, and civilians alike.
Now what was the cause of World War I? There were multiple reasons that caused World War I. One of those reasons being that there was tension between the province of Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Serbia wanted to become their own country, but if the Empire were to let Serbia become their own country then they would lose its reign of dominance. The Serbian government ordered their army to assemble and appeal to Russia for assistance. Second reason was that Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie’s death also sparked the start of World War I. Ferdinand was heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and he and his wife were shot to death. Franz Ferdinand being assassinated led to multiple events such as Austria-Hungary blaming the Serbian government for the attack. They had hoped to use this event as a way to justify and end the question of Serbian nationalism once and for all.
World War I brought a massive social disruption for women because they had to enter the workforce to support their men and replace the ones that didn’t make it back home. This war was not only violent, but sickly as well. It helped spread one of the world’s deadliest global pandemics, the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. This only killed 20 to 50 million people. World War I is also known as “the first modern war” because of the technological advancements that were introduced during this war. Not only did soldiers die during this war, but there was also so many civilian casualties caught in the cross-fire. With so many casualties the two countries that were mostly affected was Germany and France because it was estimated that nearly eighty percent of their male populations between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine were sent to war. Also with this war came political destruction, which included the destruction of three empires; Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian. There was also new borders that were drawn, especially on the country of Germany. What's ironic about this World War I is that it was meant to be the war to end wars, but it played a significant role in the causation of World War II.
With the ending of World War I there had still been destability in Europe. The issues from the Great War were left unresolved and it eventually led up to the second World War. Specifically in Germany, the political and economical hardships that were imposed from the Treaty of Versailles helped the uprising of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist party, also known as the Nazis. World War II lasted for six years between September 1, 1939 and September 2, 1945. One of the reasons World War II occurred was because of the many alliances that the big and strong countries formed such as Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria. These countries were known as the Axis Powers. The countries that made up the Axis powers were at war with countries such as Great Britain, France, U.S.A, Poland, China, Russia, and Belgium. These countries were known as the Allied Powers. It should also be noted that even though Russia did start out on the Axis Powers, the event when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union is when they switched sides to be part of the Allied Powers.
This war was not the same as the first World War as the war tactics have changed. Trench warfare was not as ideal during the second World War. The technological innovations were much different. One of those technological innovations was the atomic bomb, which was used by the United States to attack Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Another innovation was the Messerschmitt Me 262, which was the first jet fighter and was recognized as one of, if not the fastest plane during the war. The tanks were a big upgrade over the tanks used in World War I because of being equipped with better weaponry and defense. Lastly, another innovation that was used was the semi-automatic rifles and these were the first rapid firing handheld weapons ever used in warfare.
This war was the deadliest one in history. More than 30 countries were involved and more than 50 million military and civilians dead. It was previously mentioned that because there was still unsolved issues from the first World War that it was one of the significant causes of the second World War. It had brought upon the rising of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party. Hitler saw the world’s future being dominated by the Aryan race. In order for him to achieve his ultimate goal, he must capture the land of the Slavs. He would also have to eliminate any other human race that was not caucasian and/or heterosexual. Adolf Hitler would begin to put Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, etc.., into concentration camps. It was not only the rise of Adolf Hitler that helped catapult this World War. There was also the rise of a few other dictators as well in other countries such as Benito Mussolini of Italy and Joseph Stalin of Russia. Needless to say that the Treaty of Versailles was another cause to develop the uprisings of the countries affected because those countries were desperate. Some of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles included: war guilt clause, reparations, disarmament, and territorial clauses. With Hitler and the Germans invading most of Europe there was also Japan who wanted to invade and take over most of Asia and the Pacific.
World War II had some political causes, one of which was the Failure of the League of Nations. The League of Nations was an international organization made in 1919 to keep world peace. It was a good idea at first and had some success, but in the end it was a failure. The world was hit by the depression in the late 1920’s causing trade to be reduced, businesses lose their income, prices fall and unemployment increases. The League of Nations had to call countries to stop trading with Japan because when they were hit with the depression, they lost faith in the government and turned to the army for a solution. The League wanted Japan to withdraw from Manchuria in China where their army invaded, but in the end Japan wanted to leave the League of Nations. More reasons as to why the League of Nations was a failure was because not all countries wanted to join; they didn’t have an army, had no power, and they were unable to act quickly. Germany was not allowed to join because they were the cause of World War I. Soldiers were supposed to be supplied by each country, but some were hesitant to be a part of it and didn’t want to risk going against aggressive countries. They had no power since the League’s main weapon was to ask member countries to stop trading with aggressive countries, but it didn’t work because countries could still trade with other non-member countries. The League of Nations weren’t quick on their feet because their meetings only happened four times a year and any decisions they made had to be agreed upon all nations.
Of course there were definitely many other causes of why World War II happened. Again, this war is the most deadliest war up to date. In the end, Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. The Germans were once again forced into depression and debt. The war had been officially ended after the nuclear bombings in Japan and the suicide of Hitler. The United States had been free of their depression with job openings produced by the war. It is also important to note that on June 6, 1944, known as D-Day, is arguably when it was the turning point of the war. World War II was just an extension of World War I. Since the war helped with the United States’ economy, the nation had a huge national product that was greater than all the Allied and Axis powers combined. These two World Wars have changed the world forever, at the cost of millions of people dying.
There were a lot of similarities between World War I and World War II. One of those similarites was the countries who were involved in both World Wars. In the first World War we see that there were two different groups, the Allied powers and the Central powers. The countries that made up the Allied powers were the countries of Great Britain, France, Japan, Italy, United States of America, Belgium, and Serbia. The countries that made up the Central powers were the countries of Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. Similarily in World War II the counties that were involved were pretty much the same. There was also two groups: the Allied powers, same name as previous war, and the Axis powers. The countries that made up the Allied powers were almost the same. It was still comprised with the countries of Great Britain, France, United States of America, Poland, China, Russia, and Belgium. The Axis powers were also comprised with the same countries with some slight change. The countries that made up the Axis powers were the countries of Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria.
A second similarity between World War I and World War II was the economic boosts it brought at the end of these wars. More specifically it brought a big economic boost for the United States of America. At the end of the first World War brought America into the roaring twenties. This was an era between 1920 and 1929 where the nation's wealth more than doubled. During this time stocks rose rapidly and also with different aspects of life things became more modern. Advances in technology and medicine that were made previously thought to be unrealistic in life became easily reachable. Lastly, American towns began to quickly expand into metropolitan cities. In a similar fashion, the ending of the second World War once again brought an economic boost to the United States of America. At the end of the roaring twenties, the U.S. was in a great depression. The end of World War II definitely helped bring the U.S. out of it. Within the next decade or so there was a huge population growth and there were more homes being built in suburbs and it also brought expansion to the Western United States. Just like the stocks after the first World War, the stocks after the second World War again rose rapidly.
Another similarity between these two wars were how they were caused. Militarism, imperialism, and nationalism led to the destruction of these wars. The goal was to win more land and resources. Since a lot of the land that was wanted were already taken, the wars happened because of the aggressive approach they went about it. Both wars involved the Allies: Britain, France, United States, and Russia. Throughout the process of these two wars and no matter what had happened, both led to millions of people dying.
Another major similarity between World War I and World War II were the new technology advancements. Since the first war was introduced to the technology, it’s fair to say World War II was introduced as well because they wouldn’t have the technology resources needed if the first war didn’t happen. Both wars had tanks used during battle, but because of the technological advancements, improvements on weapons were possible. Tanks became faster, easier to move, and have stronger engines than the ones used in World War I. The aircraft improved as well from wood to metal because of the technological improvements. It’s because of the new technology that led World War II to have more weapons, more mobility, and more deadly.
Although there were many similarities between World War I and World War II, there were also many differences. One major difference between the two wars was that in World War I racism did not play a factor into the war unlike in World War II. World War I started because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The countries who were fighting were fighting for their pride and also for their country. In World War II there were holocausts that were primarily used to put jews, gypsies, and “non-perfect Arians” and basically eradicate them. Hitler wanted to kill and get rid of all of them because he blamed those type of people for the problems Germany had been having. Nothing in World War I indicated any type of racism on as big of a scale as the holocausts did in World War II.
Another key difference was the type of warfare tactics that were being used in each World War. In World War I most of the fighting happened in what was known as trench warfare. Trench warfare is a type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches from one another. This type of warfare was extremely dead not because of just enemies going at each other, but also from diseases and trench foot that had developed in theses trenches. Contrary to the type of warfare that was used in World War I it was much different in World War II. The type of military tactic that was used during World War II was the tactic known as island hopping. Island hopping was a type of warfare used during the Pacific stage when the United States Marines would capture small islands one at a time and using them for air bases, anchorages, and also to shorten the distance to attack Japan. There was another tactic that was used by the Germans and that tactic was known as the Blitzkrieg. A blitzkrieg is when tanks would be the first to go in and destroy buildings or fortresses. After destruction is when the troops would go in and finish the job.
Another difference that was seen in World War I and World War II was the role of women. The women didn’t go to war, but their lives were difficult as well when the war affected them. During World War I, some of the women had to take place of their husband’s work while they were away. The first war led to new jobs such as munitions in factories. This was significant because it created a high demand for weapons in factories making it the largest single employer of women in 1918. It was looked down upon for women to have the men’s work, but during this time it was needed. During World War II, it was still hard for women to overcome the cultural stereotype for “working women.” It was a struggle because they were not only working to support their husbands while they were at war, but they had to take care of their children as well. It wasn’t until World War II that women started serving in the armed forces. There was about 350,000 women serving during this war. After the war was over, a lot of women were fired from their factory jobs. In the end, a third of women 14 and older were working outside their homes.
In conclusion, these two World Wars changed the world forever. These were the two of the most negative times in the history of the world. So much death, destruction, and hate during these times is just unimaginable. It is because of war that so many innocent lives had to be taken. Now, in the present, it is something that we as humans can look back on and learn from and to not make the same mistakes again. These wars happened, it is history, and now there is nothing we can do except to prevent it in the present and in the future.