The first and second world wars were the largest military conflicts in history, The First World War (WWI) was fought from 1914 to 1918 and the Second World War (or WWII) was fought from 1939 to 1945. The First World War mainly centered in Europe, however the Second World War branched out and some powers from Asia interfered. The Second World War was especially shocking because of the genocide of Jewish people perpetrated by the Nazis.
In the First World War, the world Warring nations were divided into two groups namely ‘The Central Powers’ and ‘The Allied Powers’. The central powers group consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. The Allied powers group consisted of France, Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and in 1917 the joining of the U.S.
The War was caused by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914 by Serbian nationalists; this escalated the issues of the war between the Austrian- Hungarian empire and the other alliance nations in Europe i.e Russia, France while Germany and Austria- Hungary were allies. The Nature of the war was between countries for acquiring colonies or territory or resources that left around an estimate of 10 million dead and 21 million wounded. The German, Russian, Austro- Hungarian and Ottoman Empires
were militarily and politically defeated. Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires ceased to exist. The League of Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict.
However, In the Second World War the opposing alliances are now referred to as ‘The Axis’ and ‘The Allies’. The Axis group consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Allies group consisted of France, Britain, the U.S., the Soviet Union, and China.
The main cause of the Second World War was the political and economic instability in Germany caused by the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of power of Adolf Hitler and his alliance with Italy and Japan to oppose the Soviet Union.
This war was mainly a war of ideologies between fascism and communism, that left more than 40 million men and women serving in the armed forces by 1944, and civilian and military deaths exceeded 55 million.
The war ended with the total victory of the Allies over Germany and Japan in 1945 when the United States used atomic bombs against Japan because it failed to surrender. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers due to the war of ideologies between communism and a fear of the end of the American free world. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts after the failure of the League of Nations.
In conclusion, although both world wars were arguably started by Germany and ended by the interference from the United States were Germany has lost. Germany is rising once again as one of the main economical powers in Europe and is now thriving after the Second World War. The casualties of the world were tremendous, and the loss of resources japan suffered in the Second World War due to the atomic bombs is still being mourned until today. The first world war mainly focused on acquiring more lands and resources, but the second world war was trying to spread ideologies of dictators that are trying to rule with their ideas rather than areas of lands.