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To What Extent Was World War 1 A Tragic And Unnecessary Conflict

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To What Extent Was World War 1 A Tragic And Unnecessary Conflict
Modern World History
Mr Brian Horneck
May 25th, 2014
World War I: A tragic and unnecessary conflict
The first half of the twentieth century was deeply scarred by two world conflicts that changed the course of humanity forever. The First World War, also known as “The Great War” was an unnecessary conflict which created great suffering and destruction all throughout the world. The assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand, wrongly claimed to be the main cause of the conflict, was just an excuse used by power craving European countries to solve years of tensions caused by unjust alliances and previous conflicts. The murder of the Archduke could have been solved in a diplomatic way, and the global war could have been avoided. However, …show more content…
As French soldier Ferdinand Foch said after the signing of this treaty, "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years." (Ferdinand Foch). The Treaty severely punished the losing countries. The Central Powers lost territories, and many new nations were formed from them. In the countries which lost territories and power, a feeling of rancor grew against the Allies, as well as a desire for vengeance. Moreover, the aftermath of the war led to questioning of the political models which had governed Europe up to that point, in particular imperialism. The end of the war also marked the disappearance of European empires like the Austro-Hungarian, Russian and …show more content…
The lives of millions of soldiers, civilians and innocent people changed drastically in every aspect. Trench warfare and new machine guns took the lives of more than ten million men, and even more were killed due to starvation and diseases that spread across the globe. An entire generation of young men was lost or injured in the war, leading to a decrease in the birth rate and to the aging of the population. On the home front, almost everyone lost a loved one. The events of World War I left a more pessimistic view of the future. The excitement with which society had received the war soon changed into disillusionment and fear, for since the first battles it was proved to be incredibly destructive. The soldiers who were not killed on the battlefield came to be known as the “Lost Generation” because they would never recover from the psychological trauma. Pain and loss filled the
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