Friday, November 19, 2010

Why was Germany Unsuccesful in World War I?

It is of my opinion that Germany's loss in WWI in for the most part due to the political and economic aspects if the war. Another important factor is that culture of the countries involved and the mass misconceptions. While military is certainly a contribution to Germany's failure the military decisions do not hold such a great importance as the former aspects.

The military situation was significant however, in that had it not been for the military strategies of Britain, France and America they would not have been such a strong force to defeat. While the central powers were politically and technically allied their military efforts were not as well conducted as the alies'. The British and French troops were very much under the French commander, Foch.
A military failure, or error on Germany's part was targeting a ship going from America to England under the suspicion of a military transaction. This offense to America may have encouraged America to join the war on the allies' side.

The cultural negativity which contributed to Germany's loss was primarily due to British propoganda which caused people to oppose Germany. This propoganda campaign whish was named "poor little Belgium" guaranteed Britain and the allies the moral highground.
For some contries, loyalty to Engalnd was embedded in the culture and therefore Australie, New Zealand, and Canada joined the war against Germany when Britain declared war in 1914.
Germany also was ill equipped and not psychologically prepared for a war with Britain due to a disrespect or misguided preconception which assumed that the British army could easily be defeated.
And when Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia in 1914 it was cultural loyalty towards the slavic race which rendered Russia into action. And when Russia joined the war it was due to political alliances that France and Britain also entered.

One major disadvantage Germany had was its economic situation. During the war Germany was rapidly running out of money to fund its military activity due to its lack of a national tax. Germany's army was therefore not equipped to remain in such a war for long.
The US entered the war in 1917 and proved to be a strong army. It's most significant motivation to enter the war was to ease the recession of which it was suffering. They thought that by entering the war they would gain access to African markets and other trade routes.

The political situation before the war began, in my opinion, was the greatest determining factor to Germany's loss. The political loyalties of each country in Europe led to the war's massive scale. Had Russia not been allied with France and Britain they, and other countries, would not have entered the war. Brazil would not have entered had it not been for it's trades with Britain, nor would Australia, New Zealand and Canada. And japan also joined only due to an agreement made with Britain from the Russo-Japanese war. Greece would have joined the central powers had it not been for the succession of a new king. And the political situation in Mexico caused them to decline Germany's invitation or suggestion of joining the war as well as created another motivation for America to fight against Germany.

The main reason Germany and the central powers lost the war was due to the fact that the allies were much larger and therefore stronger than the Central Powers. And the political alignments that each country had caused them to go against Germany. And although Germany and the Central powers lost, Germany was not, for the next few decades unsuccesful in it's endevours. What was gained from the war, from Germany's perspective, was first hand knowledge of how a country could be victorious in war. By WWII Germany used certain strategies that other opposing countries had used in WWI. For example in WWII Germany used the Augustan method to use art as a tool of manipulation and political deception which was also used by Britain. This use of propoganda may have greatly increased Germany's power, however, also caused later on many people to consider Germany as immoral and panipulative.
Therefore, Overall I think that the political situation of WWI was the most prominent reason of the allies' victory but Germany's loss had transitioned into victory by WWII.

1 comment:

  1. Rewrite your thesis in a way that shows integration of the causal factors mentioned. Maintain your personality and opinion, but shape the essay by providing a 'leading' cause.

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