World War I
The first world
war broke out when a Serbian nationalist
seeking to free slaves from
Austrian domination assassinated
Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the throne
of Austria-Hungary at Sarajevo in June
1914.1
Before the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, there
were already conditions which could cause war even with the slightest
provocation. For instance, two
hostile alliances had
been entered into by Austria-
Hungary, Italy and Germany against
France, Britain and Russia.
The functioning of triple alliance and triple
entente portend danger as the atmosphere was charged, though the triple
alliance was a military pact in which an attack on one means attack on all
others, triple entente was not a military alliance purposely against Germany’s
bid to rule the world.
The efficacy of the
triple alliance as a military pact was tested after the assassination, the assassination led Austria to declare war on Serbia on July 28 russia mobilized its troops to defend Serbia from Austria.
This made Germany to declare war on Russia on
1st august on 3rd august,
Germany declared war on Russia’s
ally France.
The German aggression on a neutral
state, Belgium brought Britain into the war. Britain went to Belgiums defence and declared
war on Germany on 4th august.
Historians have not agreed on who
were responsible for the outbreak of
war. The allied forces who won the war insist that war guilt belonged to Germany
alone.
Versailles Peace Settlement
In January 1918, the delegation of
twenty-seven victorious allied nations gathered in Paris to conclude a final
settlement of the First World War. Many delegates were of the
view that the mistakes made at the Vienna conference of 1815
like satisfying the selfish ends of autocrats would be
avoided. In fact, Harold
Nicholson, a British delegated outlined
what he felt the conference
should achieve . In his words: “we were journeying to Paris not merely to
liquidate the war, but to find a new order in Europe, we were
preparing not peace only, but
eternal peace. There was about us
the halo of some divine mission… for we were bent on doing great, permanent and
noble things”2
Also president Woodrow Wilson, a
core idealist outlined a 14-point programme which he believed would ensure peace.
Wilson soon discovered that secret
treaties entered into before the
war were still strong even when they
conflicted with the principles of self-determination which he enunciated. National interest and pragmatic
motives preoccupied with issues of national security, great Britain voted David Lloyd in 1918
to ensure that Germans pay for
their war guilt. Clemenceau, French premier argued that French people suffered the highest degree of
German aggression. Therefore, France needed revenge and security in case of further acts of aggression. Clemenceau insisted on demilitarized
Germany, and the Rhineland as buffer
zone between Germany and France.
Though the Versailles peace settlement was composed
on 27 nations, major decisions were made by
the big three Wilson, Clemenceau
and Lioyd George, Germany was not represented.
It should come as no surprise, given both the
intractability of Europe’s problems and
the diversity of the victorious coalition, that the peacemakers failed to
agree amongst themselves on the shape of
the post war world . While Wilson was determined to create the
league of nations to prevent future wars.
Clemenceau and Lioyd George insisted on punishing Germany.
It was compromise which eventually made it
possible for a peaceful settlement on
January 25, 1919. The conference adapted
the principle of the league of nations. Britain and United States pledged to assist France if it were
attacked by Germany.
1. The peace
treaty consisted of five separate treaties with the axis (defeated
countries). Germany Austria, Hungary and
turkey. The treaty with Germany
which was signed on June 28, 1919 was
perhaps the most important, Germans considered it harsh particularly the
article on war guilt which suggested
that Austria and Germany started the war and must pay reparations.
2. The military provisions of the treaty were equally
punitive in nature. For instance,
Germany had no reduce its military force by
100,000 men, reduce its armory
and completely abolish its air force.
3. On territorial provision, Germany lost some of
its territories. For instance, she was
forced to return Alsace-Lorraine to France and a section Prussia, to a new
polish state.
German
land west and as far as thirty miles
east of the Rhineland was established as
a buffer zone, and stripped
of all armaments or fortifications,
to serve as a barrier to any
future German military moves westwards against France.
The German government described the
treaty as “dictated peace” it,
however, accepted, though outraged by it.
The peacemakers
made separate treaty with other
powers who lost the war (Bulgaria,
Hungary, Austria turkey),
essentially redrawing the map of Eastern
Europe. Both Germans and Russians lost considerable territory in Eastern
Europe while Austro-Hungarian empires disappearance completely.
The ottoman empire was
dismembered by the
peace settlement . new nations
emerged from the lands of the three
empires. And in Eastern Europe, the
peacemakers created avenues for
compromises because it was difficult
to draw boundaries along neat
ethnic lines. Virtually every
Eastern European nation was left
with minorities problems. There were
Germans in Poland, Hungarians, poles, and Croats, Slovenes, Macedonian,
and Albanians in Yugoslavia all became
causes of future conflict. The peace settlement negotiated at Paris was heavily criticized not only by the defeated countries but by others who
felt that the peacemaker did not see beyond the period of settlement. The
French general force predicted after the signing of the treaty,
“Versailles would not bring peace, only
armistice for twenty years. It had solved none of Europe fundamental
problems”.
The famous
British economist john Maynard Keynes criticized the peacemakers because they preoccupied themselves with frontiers at the expense of
economic issues that left Europe’s
inefficient , unemployed, and disorganized”.4
Generally, the Versailles peace settlement of
1919 was too hard on Germany and
many Germans argued against the treaty. For instance, Adolf Hitlers regime
vehemently opposed the peace arrangement. Many non-Germans maintained that the Versailles peace arrangement
gave Germans legitimate grievances. However, A.J.P Taylor, a well –known British historian advanced the
view that the Versailles peace treaty was not harsh. He
maintained that the German
problem was not resolved by the peacemakers. The treaty failed to destroy largest unitary state in the heart of Europe.
However, whether the peace treaty was too hard or not hard
enough, it was clear that it
would fail because no major power was clearly committed to upholding it.
Causes of World War II
There were profound structural forces which undermined
stability in Europe. In fact, the Second World War was the continuation of the
first. There was clear imbalance of power which had existed in Europe since the
unification of Germany. The war was a manifestation of deep-rooted instability
in Europe.
To
many historians. The second world war
was not only propelled by structural forces but human angle also played a role
in bringing about the second world war. For instance, no story of the origin of
the war would be told without particular reference to Adolf Hitter. In fact,
some historians argue that it was
simply Hitler’s war the post-war Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals
equally admitted that it was
Hitlers war.
Generally, the
origins of World War II have been subject of controversy among scholars.
Most historians maintain that Hitler
and Nazi Germany were responsible for the war, that is their attempt in expand
German power in Europe.
Perhaps the most controversial of
the origin of World War II by a known historian is that by A.J.P Taylors. The origin of world war ii: in this
text, Taylor argues that Nazi
ideology had nothing whatsoever
to do with the second world war though responsible for the evil of
the gas chamber.
However, many reasons accounted for
the outbreak of World War II
1. German nationalism propelled the people to recover
lost territories and regain people of German origin living in Austria, Poland
and Czechoslovakia.
2. German imperialistic desires were pushed by Nazi
regimes ideology (fascism) which encouraged racism, nationalism and
imperialism.
3. There was a strong desire to forcefully expand the
German state.
4. German aggression was inflamed by resentment of
punitive, unfair and unfavourable terms arising from the 1919 Versailles peace
treaty. For instance, under pressure,
the peacemakers accepted French insistence
on the destruction of German armed forces and the loss of German territory
(alsce-lorraine) a rich territory which Germany had acquired earlier following
the Franco Prussian war, 1870-1871.
5. There was the disintegration of Austro-Hungarian
empires.
6. Germany was
denied entry into the international system as co-equal member. She was only admitted into League of Nations in
1926