A_Total_War

Adam Brochu Period 8 DUE: 10/24/08 Mrs. Trovato World War I: A Total War World War I began in Europe in 1914, and it was the perfect example of total war. Many separate nations became involved in this bloody massacre, and every single one of them were devoted to winning for their own individual reasons. In this warfare, the allies consisted of Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy and the United States. These nations fought against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. The real stories however, came not in the actual battles, but in the treaties and secret alliances that might just have determined the outcome of this war. There were a great deal of European nations that became involved in World War I, and had they not, they would have been taken over. Serbia is a proud nation located in southeastern Europe that had a role in the war. When the Ottoman Empire began to lose its power in the late 1870’s, Serbia was one of the countries that became independent. Unlike parts of the crumbled empire, the Serbs remained loyal to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Serbian patriots aspired to unite with Bosnia-Herzegovina, a dream known as Pan-Slavism. Russia supported the cause because it was home to millions of Slavs. However, Austria-Hungary was also very determined to better their nations, so they annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina. Obviously, the Slavs in Russia were saddened by this and Serbia was furious. The Serbs were so angry that they created a terrorist group called the Black Hand. They assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in 1914. Obviously enraged, Austria-Hungary threatened the Serbs, but rather than give in, Serbia turned to their allies, Russia. This is how Russia became involved; they intervened in order to protect Serbia. The major event that set off this chain of alliances between nations was the retaliation by Austria-Hungary on the Serbian Empire. Russia created an alliance with France and Great Britain, in order to protect each other. These two major nations joined Russia and Serbia as the main allied states in World War I. After Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia for revenge, Russia declared war on the Austrians. But Germany, having an alliance with Austria, decided to declare war on Russia. These two nations were joined by the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria as the main central powers. It is safe to say that the alliances made by these nations played a vital role in the outcome of World War I. Several treaties and agreements were made, but they failed to keep peace and thus, contributed to the war. In 1879, Germany sided with Austria and Britain, and agreed to the “Dual Alliance.” This was made as a result of Russia supporting the Balkan States in their quest to defeat Turkey. Austria had intervened in the first place, but they were soon followed by Britain and Germany. Russia had to give up the Treaty of San Stefano and sign the Treaty of Berlin, and as a result, they were humiliated. This anger was harnessed into hatred for one person – Otto Von Bismarck. In 1882, the much maligned leader of Germany made another agreement called “The Triple Alliance.” This said that if either Germany or Italy was attacked by France, they would aid each other. It also said that Italy would remain neutral in the event that Austria was attacked by Russia. However, this alliance failed to keep peace because Italy and France made secret agreements that each would remain neutral if the other declared war on another nation. Due to this secret alliance made in 1902, and the Racconigi Agreement made between Italy and Russia in 1909, the Triple Alliance became null and void. Even before that treaty, there was the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1893. Kaiser Wilhelm II focused in on Germany’s military and political ties with Austria. Due to their rising suspicion, Russia turned to the side of France. This secret alliance did make any peace; instead, it just created more controversy. This alliance ended the isolation of France and created an alliance rival to the Triple Alliance. Another important alliance in this mess was actually one that failed. The German and the British agreement never worked because Germany wanted Britain to join the Triple Alliance. Out of fear that they would have to fight for inconsequential gains, Britain refused. Not only that, but the German naval expansion threatened Britain, and Germany’s colonial interests in China clashed with Britain once again. So, these once united nations were now fighting against each other. These secret alliance certainly caused more trouble than they were worth. Furthermore, in 1904, the Entente Cordial had a significant role in the war. Britain, in search of an ally, entered into a series of agreements with France in 1904. Then in 1907, a major rivalry was ended with the Anglo-Russian Entente. In this secret alliance, Britain and Russia agreed to settle their colonial boundary disputes. Ultimately, this resulted in the emergence of the second major alliance camp. England was bound to France and Russia by Entente, and France and Russia had a solid alliance. This is what set up the match up between the European powers: The Triple Alliance (the Central Powers) versus The Triple Entente (the Allies). However, all of these alliances did not maintain any form of peace whatsoever. As a result of all of these secret agreements, if war was to break out at any point in time, it would involve every single European power. With all of these alliances, it didn’t pave the way for peace; instead, it laid the foundation for a battle of epic proportions. The alliances themselves contributed to the war because every single powerful nation was somehow bound to another nation in Europe. As it progressed, more and more nations were forced to enter the war because of these previously made alliances. With these two decisive groups being established, total war was bound to happen at any point. These alliances required each nation to support another nation in its time of need – fore example, during wartime. These alliances definitely added to the conflict in the sense that if they hadn’t existed, fewer nations would have had to become involved in this massacre of a war. Rather than getting involved in this mess of secret alliances amongst many nations, another option would have been to stay neutral. At times of war though, if a nation is staying neutral, it is wise to stay prepared as well. America tried to stay neutral, but when Germany continually sunk U.S. ships, America needed to join the war. When the Germans declared unrestricted submarine warfare, America had no other choice. Also, The Netherlands also decided to remain neutral. The Dutch opened up their doors for refugees from Belgium and sent them clothes. However, this strategy of being both neutral and prepared is much harder than it sounds. It is almost impossible to be both in the sense that they contradict each other. Being neutral means not taking sides, not joining alliances, and not getting involved in any disagreements. If a nation is like this, chances are they are not truly prepared for war. That is why the possibility of being both neutral and prepared is slim. A country prepared for war would probably have an army ready for battle, but why would a neutral nation need an army' These two strategies very nearly contradict one another because being prepared threatens a nation’s neutrality. Overall, the strategy of a country being prepared for a war in which that same country claims to be neutral in is very unlikely.