Research Proposal - No Plagiarism

1st World War and 2nd World War

Linwood D. Mason III

LIB/332

Instructor Gregory Salyer

July 7, 2017

Thesis Statement: Although I acknowledge that the causes of 1st World War and 2nd World War were complex, I claim that their major causes were pre-mediated and planned because of the various preparations the key participants had made before the Wars.

Introduction

The major causes of 1st World War and 2nd World War were pre-mediated and planned since most of the causes could have been avoided. The key participants of both wars engaged in activities which created an environment of war which made the two World Wars have a great impact on both the warring participants. This paper will discuss the causes of 1st War and 2nd World War to support that the pre-mediation and plans for the wars. This will include mentioning the key participants and the extent to which they participated. The paper will also support how the wars impacted the world and provide measures which would prevent the occurrence of any other global war.

The Causes of 1st World War, Key Participants, and Impacts

1st World War transpired between the year 1914 and the year 1918 which left over 20 million people dead and massive destruction of property. I claim that the major causes of World War I were planned among them being the formation of mutual defense alliances. Over time, many nations throughout Europe formed various mutual defense agreements which prepared them for war. These agreements implied that the attack on one country would make the allied countries to defend them (Olusoga, 2015). The major alliances during the war include the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance. I also claim that imperialism also contributed to the war whereby the European countries increased their competition to occupy greater territories in Africa and Asia leading to confrontations which led to World War I. I also claim that the major participants of the war also prepared for the war by building their military powers where countries like Germany, Russia, and Great Britain greatly invested in military expansion in preparation for the war.

I acknowledge that the World War I did not involve all the nations in the world whereby the major participants comprised of the two major alliances formed: Triple Entente and Triple Alliance. The Triple Alliance comprised of Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary while Russia, Britain, and France comprised the Triple Entente (Olusoga, 2015). Other nations which played part in the war included the U. S., Japan, Portugal, Greece, China, Romania as well as South American countries like Peru and Brazil. I acknowledge that the World War I had a great impact which severely impacted the participating nations and to a great extent, the nations which the war was fought on their soil. The war was responsible for the demise of more than 20 million soldiers and millions of others would. I also claim that the War also impacted the whole world whereby it helped to spread the influenza epidemic which also took millions of lives (Nye Jr, & Welch, 2016). The War also destroyed the global economy since huge resources were spent in the war. The countries which were heavily impacted included Germany, Turkey, and Austria-Hungary which were major fighting grounds during the war.

The Causes of 2nd World War, Key Participants, and Impacts

The 2nd World War commenced in 1939 after the invasion of Poland by Germany leading to France and Britain announcing war against Germany. Although I acknowledge that Germany triggered the war by invading Poland, I claim that the causes of the World War II were pre-determined by a variety of factors. I claim that the major factor that pre-determined the World War II was the Versailles Treaty. This is the treat which terminated the 1st World War but since Germany was the loser during the war, the treaty forced Germany to bear the war damages incurred by the allies (Olusoga, 2015). I thus acknowledge that the Treaty ruined the Germany economy which made her bitter leading to rising of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler who aimed at restoring the national pride of the Germans. I claim that Hitler’s activities were creating an environment of the World War II whereby he violated the constraints on Germany imposed by the Versailles Treaty. Germany started expanding its empire whereby it took over Austria and Czechoslovakia which provoked the allies into the war. I also claim that the war was also pre-determined by the formation of alliances in preparation for another war whereby the two alliances were formed which were The Axis and The Allies. I also claim that the rise of fascism was also a preparation for WWII whereby dictators rose to power in various countries like Italy and Spain and started expanding their empires which created a war environment.

The key participants in the World War II were the Axis and the Allies nations. The key participants in the Axis comprised of Germany, Italy, and Japan while other nations which supported them to a great extent included Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, and Thailand. The majority of the nations supported the Allies whose key participants included France, Great Britain, the U.S., Greece, Russia, and Turkey (Olusoga, 2015). They were also supported by various countries among including China, Brazil, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Netherlands among others. I acknowledge that the war impacted greatly the key participants whereby more than 50 million people were killed including the civilians. The war also led to massive destruction of property which destroyed the economy of many countries participating in the war. I thus claim that the war heavily impacted the nations which were used as the fighting ground during the war especially Germany.

Measures That Would Prevent Any Other World War from Happening

Although I acknowledge the fragility of the United Nations’ system in preventing the occurrence of another global war, I claim that this can be prevented by taking a variety of international security measures. I acknowledge that violent conflicts have been increasing because of the increased availability of firearms and the machinery of war. I thus acknowledge that the risks of another global war are enormous because of the military potential that many nations have developed. I thus claim that preventing the occurrence of another global require supporting the reduction in armed conflicts by increasing the support to the UN-sponsored processes of maintaining global peace. This is because the UN peace processes and negotiations minimize violent conflict even if they may not prevent the conflict (Nye Jr, & Welch, 2016). I also claim that strengthening the international laws of armed conflict and human rights as well as the international criminal court of justice, military, and economic sanctions, and the war crime tribunals would be essential in preventing the occurrence of another global war.

Conclusion

The causes of both the 1st World War and the 2nd World War were pre-mediated and thus they could have been avoided saving the millions of the lives lost. Most of the causes of 1st World War and 2nd World War were planned through the various preparations made by strong powers in the anticipation of a war. Both the two global wars affected to a great extent the key participants. Although the war had an impact on the economy of the entire world, the key participants were affected greatly especially through the millions of lives lost. It is thus essential to strengthen the international security measures that would prevent any other global war from happening.

Reference

Nye Jr, J. S., & Welch, D. A. (2016). Understanding global conflict and cooperation: an introduction to theory and history. Pearson.

Olusoga, D. (2015). The world's war: Forgotten soldiers of the empire.