Analyzing the Causes of the First World War

Author(s): Pushpalata Kumari, Nishikant Tiwari

Full Text: PDF

Published: 2022-02-09

Abstract:

The world has recently celebrated November 11 as the Remembrance Day to recall the end of First World War.   In the year 2021, 103rd anniversary of the formal end of the First World War provides an occasion to analyze the reasons which lead to this Great War.

The First World War was fought from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918.  This is considered as the Great War which was combated between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers.  The Allied Powers were Russia, France, Britain and Italy. The United States also fought on the side of the Allies after 1917.  The Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.  It engulfed almost whole of Europe but the battle field was over-stretched upto Asia, Africa and American continents as well.

This war is also considered as First Total War in which not only the soldiers but even civilians participated. It left with an estimated death of nine million combatants and 13 million civilian as a direct result of the conflict. It created machinery for mass slaughter in the form of chemical and biological weapons as well.