Shabbir !

1
Safa Shabbir

History 10M

Ms Kholoud Madhoun

16 March 2020

Warfare and Peacemaking

As Aristotle once said, humans make war so that we may live in peace. The purpose of any war is to

resolve conflict, so that human societies can be ordered and establish peace. Defined as conflict

carried out between nations or groups within a nation, wars have thought to take place since the

start of time, with some being on a larger scale than others. For instance, the First World War was

the first ever war to take place on such a big scale— with more than thirty countries partaking. But

when looking at any war, especially ones like the First and Second World Wars that took place at

such a big magnitude, most people wonder “what exactly took place to cause such a huge conflict?”

The answer is not straightforward. When it comes to warfare, many events and issues arise and,

together, they build up tension, leading to a breaking point which causes the war. In regards to the

two major wars that took place in the last century— the First and Second World War— territory and

competition for resources was a crucial factor that led to the war. However, this was only to a

certain extent. Many other present factors—both short-term, causes that invoked immediate action

by parties, and long-term, causes that built up over a period of time and reached a breaking point—

played a vital role in starting both of these major world wars.

Over years, territorial disputes have been one of the leading causes of war. Such disputes occur

when official representatives of one country make claims over a territory that does not officially

belong to them. The main reason territorial disputes take place is because countries want the

resources that the territory they are fighting over provides. Such resources include oil, gas, gold and

more. A major example of a territorial dispute taking place in history was during the World Wars,
 Shabbir !2
over a territory called Alsace Lorraine. This territory came with a lot of natural, beneficial resources

such as iron and coal. France had lost Alsace Lorraine to Germany during the France-Prussian War.

This caused a lot of tensions at the time of World War I, and later when the Treaty of Versailles was

signed, Germany was forced to return Alsace Lorraine. Later, during the Second World War,

Germany occupied the territory again because they believed it was wrongfully taken from them

through the outrageous Treaty. This is just one example of territorial disputes causing tensions and

being a crucial cause of war.

Many of the causes of war are long-term, meaning tensions increase as things build up over time.

There are four major issues that built up over time to cause war. Militarism, the first cause, is the

expansion and betterment of a country’s military in order to wage war. This includes increased

supply of weapons, more soldiers as well as other ways to improve the army, navy and air force.

This cause sometimes results in countries competing to see who can have the best army. An

example of this was prior to WWI, when there was a huge, competitive naval race between Britain

and Germany. This is a very longstanding cause of war because it allows countries to build up a

rivalry, increase tensions and then start the war easily due all the improvements that took place.

Another crucial, long-term cause of the First World War was alliances. The system of partnerships

between different countries before the outbreak of war increased tensions because it resulted in

competitions and suspicion over the other parties. At the time of World War I, Europe was divided

into two alliance systems: the Triple Entente, consisting of France, Britain and Russia and the Triple

Alliance, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. At the time of the Second World War,

this alliance system was slightly different. There were two powers— the Axis Powers, consisting of

Germany, Italy and Japan and the Allied Powers, consisting of the UK, the US, France and the

Soviet Union. The third long-term cause of World War I is imperialism, the act of one country

taking over another. This has been a long-term cause of wars since the start of time because it leads
 Shabbir !3
to anger and mistrust between different nations. An example of imperialism as a cause of World War

I was the Moroccan Crisis, with France trying to take control of Morocco, with the backing up of

Britain while Germany tried to stop France. This more immensely showed the different alliances in

Europe at the time. In World War II, on the other hand, Hitler’s plan was to expand Germany

towards Eastern Europe to expand his power and territory. This caused other European countries to

become unrested. Another long-term cause of World War I is nationalism. This cause plagued

Europe for decades before the war. It caused the war because countries like Serbia wanted to have

control over themselves rather than to be a part of a single nation, like they were a part of the

Austro-Hunagrian Empire. This created huge unrest, leading to the conflict.

There are also many other “trigger points” or short-term issues that cause a war. An assassination is

a short term case. Prior to World War I, the the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was

assassinated. On June 28, 1915, the Austrian Archduke and his wife were shot and killed by a

Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip. This assassination lead to a chain of events that started

the First World War. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the murder, with

Russia supporting Serbia. Because of Russia’s power, Austria asked or consolidation from its ally—

Germany. Exactly a month after the assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia,

resulting in Europe’s time of peace to come to an end. On the other hand, imperialism can also

somewhat be a short-term case. The Second World War for example was caused by the German

invasion of Poland in 1939. Britain and France demanded Germany withdrew from Poland,

however, the Germans refused, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany. This

invasion essentially destroyed the remaining clause of the Treat of Versailles.

In conclusion, competition for territory and resources was a crucial cause of the First and Second

World Wars. This factor created disastrous tensions between countries. However, this was only to a
 Shabbir !4
certain extent as many other factors were present that were much more significant in causing the

war. Factors like militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, assassinations, and more were

much more significant because they were more apparent, with some like assassinations or

imperialism immediately triggering the war.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

"Alsace And World War II - Musée Protestant". Musée Protestant, 2020, https://
www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/alsace-and-world-war-ii/
"Long-Term Causes Of World War I". History Crunch - History Articles, Summaries, Biographies,
Resources And More, 2020, https://www.historycrunch.com/long-term-causes-of-world-war-
i.html#/
"Short Term Causes Of World War I". Slideshare.Net, 2020, https://www.slideshare.net/crtfinnie/
short-term-causes-of-world-war-i
"Austria's Archduke Ferdinand Assassinated". HISTORY, 2020, https://www.history.com/this-day-
in-history/archduke-ferdinand-assassinated
Historyonthenet.Com, 2020, https://www.historyonthenet.com/what-were-the-causes-of-world-war-
ii
"World War II For Kids: Causes Of WW2". Ducksters.Com, 2020, https://www.ducksters.com/
history/world_war_ii/causes_of_ww2.php
Historyonthenet.Com, 2020, https://www.historyonthenet.com/world-war-two-causes
Shabbir !5