Events leading to WW1:

 Mutual alliances
 Shifting powers
 Expanding empires
 Arms races
 Nationalism
 Imperialism
 Assasination of Archduke Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip
 Gavrilo Princip was associated with the Black Hand, which was viewed as a terrorist
group to Austro-Hungary
 Austria-Hungary VS Serbia
 Austria-Hungary allied with Germany, and Serbia with Russia
 More countries joined the war
 European tensions were high
 Militarism craze
 Secret alliances; that meant that if a fellow ally was attacked, the attacking country
would immediately become an enemy

Events leading to WW2:

 Aftermath and effects of WWI
 Spread of fascism
 Economic instability
 Adolf Hitler 
 Rise of Nazism
 Scientific racism
 Germany allied with many others
 Germany invades Poland and Britain and France declare war on Germany
 Japan expanded into Korea and China

WW1:
 Allied Powers:
 France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Greece
 Central Powers:
 Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria
 Neutral States:
 Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Albania
 Treated like a game in the early stages
 Weapons:
 Submarines, machine guns, poison gas, airplanes, tanks
 US joined the Allies because they were:
 More democratic
 The US had economic ties with the Allies
 The US resented Germany
 Zimmermann Telegram from Germany to Mexico promising to help them regain territory
lost to the US encouraged the US to join the war
 WWI was rife with propaganda and nations entered total war
 Colonies under European powers were promised self-determination if they fought in the
war
 All woman battalion in Russia used to shame men
  Russia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria allowed female combatants

WW2:
 Axis Powers:
 Italy, Germany, Japan
 Formed the Anti-Comintern Pact and the Rome-Berlin Axis 
 Other states feared war and often gave into Hitler’s commands in an effort to keep the
peace
 German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact formed
 Ignored war policies and entered total war
 Atomic bomb was created
 Japan’s economy depended on the US but they had to oppose the US to gain more land
 Japan hoped to make the US submit
 Britain and America signed the Destroyers-for-Bases Agreement
 US gave up neutrality and aided Britain in the war effort
 Britain withstood months of bombing with their superior technology
 Japan overstepped in their attacks on the US and faced intense retaliation
 Women took over the men’s jobs while they went to war
 Allied Powers:
 US, Britain, Soviet Union
 Aircraft carriers gave the US the advantage
 Italy turns against its former allies
 V-E Day was victory in Europe day
 Japan was atomic bombed and eventually surrendered

How the world was affected after WW1:

 Fall of four major monarchies: Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Ottoman Empire
 Led to “the beginning of the end” of colonialism
 Germany lost its overseas territories and the Ottoman Empire lost its provinces
 Disrupted European economies
 Led to the rise of fascism and communism
 Rise of authoritarian regimes
 Germany blamed and forced to pay reparations
 Led to WWII
 US prospered due to war materials and agricultural products
 Hope for independence was renewed
 Paris peace conference attendees had no interest in freeing their colonies

How the world was affected after WW2:

 Approximately 40-50 million deaths
 Ethnic atrocities continued despite all the destruction that ideology had caused
 Oftentimes there were more civilian than soldier deaths
 Advancement of technology
 New powers rose and fell