Causes of World War I Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Causes of World War I - Research Paper Example The second industrial revolution also resulted in unprecedented horrors of war just because this was an industrial war that saw for the first time weapons like machine gun, barbed wire, heavy artillery, tanks, airplanes and zeppelins, bombs and grenades, poisonous gas, submarines and gunboats (Junger, 1920). The   steam   engine   and development of rail lines meant   that   more   artillery   could   be   deployed   to   the   armies, and   the   armies   could   be   kept   clothed, fed, and   armed   indefinitely   (Junger, 1920; Best et al., 2004). The result was unprecedented volume of casualties. For example, in 1916 alone, the Germans lost 850,000 men, French lost 700,000 and the British lost 400,000 men (Merriman, ---year, 907).  Q2: The   nature   of   the   â€Å"The   Great   War†.  The   nature   of   WWI   was   grim and not even closer to what was anticipated   by   the   countries   when    they   decided   to   stage   it. Two of the elements that made it really grim were that it was a â€Å"total war† and also an industrial war. A â€Å"total war† in this context means that it was a global war involving nations across the world, secondly, it was a war in which the nations were totally equipped in terms of weapons and technology to wage an unprecedented war, and thirdly, it actually brought into the battle field, all the social, political and economical resources available for all nations involved. It could be called a global war just because the European states collected the resources needed for war from its Asian and African colonies, and troupes and laborers were imported into Britain and France from these colonies. The Middle East, Japan and the USA were also participants in the war in one way or other. The role of industrialization in deciding the nature of the war was also manifold. As â€Å"mechanized production† replaced the à ¢â‚¬Å"primacy of agriculture†, international trade grew resulting in the emergence of a more influential public (Best et al., 2004).5 Another consequence of this was that the public â€Å"