How Does Arms Race Affect The First World War
Arms race is a competition between two or more parties for superiority in the developments and accumulation of any kinds of weapons, including conventional, light, biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Such competition provokes the other parties to do the same, and the potential of an upcoming war increases. Such a war would not be limited to two countries, but it could include the whole world.
This paper will provide a general overview of the historical dimension of arms race especially in the European context causing the outbreak of the First World War and its nuclear dimension and potential implications nowadays. In this context, the military capabilities of the biggest global powers will be ascertained. Any country that owns or has the capability to …show more content…
This resulted in an arms race between Germany, Russia, France and several other European countries which is nowadays regarded as the principal cause of the First World War.
In particular there were several naval arms races in the build-up to the war including the Japanese-American and South American naval arms race. Especially worth mentioning, is the Anglo-German naval arms race as it contributed significantly to the outbreak of the war. At that point in time Great Britain was a great naval and colonial power and was feeling threatened by the expansion of the German navy and its plans to increase its colonial territories. As a consequence, Great Britain increased its production of battle ships and prepared its forces for imminent military action.
However, despite developing rapidly it had not been economically possible for Germany to be able to defeat Great Britain by the time the war started. This demonstrates how the mere competition the arms race brought about was the cause of the war rather than the unilateral aggression of one nation
This paper will provide a general overview of the historical dimension of arms race especially in the European context causing the outbreak of the First World War and its nuclear dimension and potential implications nowadays. In this context, the military capabilities of the biggest global powers will be ascertained. Any country that owns or has the capability to …show more content…
This resulted in an arms race between Germany, Russia, France and several other European countries which is nowadays regarded as the principal cause of the First World War.
In particular there were several naval arms races in the build-up to the war including the Japanese-American and South American naval arms race. Especially worth mentioning, is the Anglo-German naval arms race as it contributed significantly to the outbreak of the war. At that point in time Great Britain was a great naval and colonial power and was feeling threatened by the expansion of the German navy and its plans to increase its colonial territories. As a consequence, Great Britain increased its production of battle ships and prepared its forces for imminent military action.
However, despite developing rapidly it had not been economically possible for Germany to be able to defeat Great Britain by the time the war started. This demonstrates how the mere competition the arms race brought about was the cause of the war rather than the unilateral aggression of one nation