The First World War (1914-1918) was the result of the permanent friction caused by the imperialism of the great European powers.
resume
The Great War, as it was called before the Second World War, was a conflict on a global scale. It started in Europe and involved the colonial territories.
Two blocks faced each other: the Triple Alliance , formed by Germany, Austria and Italy, and the Triple Entente formed by France, England and Russia.
The dispute involved 17 countries on five continents such as: Germany, Brazil, Austria-Hungary, United States, France, British Empire, Turkish-Ottoman Empire, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Kingdom of Romania, Kingdom of Serbia, Russia, Australia and China.
The war left 10 million soldiers dead and another 21 million wounded. Also 13 million civilians lost their lives.
Causes of World War I
Several factors triggered the First World War.
Since the end of the 19th century, the world has been in tension. The extraordinary industrial growth made the Armament Race possible , that is: the production of weapons in an amount never imagined.
The expansionism of the German Empire and its transformation into the largest industrial power in Europe gave rise to an enormous distrust between Germany and France, England and Russia.
Background
We add the old rivalries between France and Germany, Russia and Germany, and the United Kingdom and Germany. Also the disagreements about the boundary issues in the colonies generated by the Berlin Conference (1880).
French anti-Germanism developed as a consequence of the Franco-Prussian War. Defeated France was forced to hand over to the Germans the regions of Alsace and Lorraine, which is rich in iron ore.
The Russian-German rivalry was caused by the German intention to build a railway connecting Berlin to Baghdad. In addition to passing through oil-rich regions where the Russians intended to increase their influence.
English anti-Germanism is explained by German industrial competition. On the eve of the war, German products competed in markets that were dominated by England.
All of these issues made conflict inevitable as the economic and political clashes between the industrialized powers intensified.
Estopim
The alliance network was an armed bomb ready to explode.
In 1908, Austria announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, contrary to Serbian and Russian interests.
In order to show a good relationship between the new subjects, the heir to the Austrian throne, Francisco Ferdinando, paid a visit to the region together with his wife.
On June 28, 1914, a Bosnian student murdered the heir to the Austrian throne Francisco Ferdinando and his wife in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia.
This double murder was the pretext for the explosion of the First World War that lasted until November 11, 1918.
Phases of the First World War
At the beginning of the conflict, the forces were balanced, in number of soldiers, different were the equipment and resources.
The Triple Entente had no long-range cannon, but it dominated the seas, thanks to English power.
War tanks, battleships, submarines, large-scale howitzers and aviation, among other technological innovations of the time, were warlike artefacts of great destructive power.
With heavy artillery and 78 divisions, the Germans passed through Belgium, violating this country’s neutrality. They defeated the French at the border and headed for Paris.
The French government moved to Bordeaux and at the Battle of Marne, restrained the Germans, who retreated.
Later, French and Germans took up positions digging trenches along the entire western front. Protected by barbed wire, armies buried themselves in a trench, where mud, cold, rats and typhus killed as much as machine guns and cannons. This moment is called the Trench War .
In 1917, the United States , which had remained out of the war, despite lending capital and selling arms to the countries of the Entente, mainly to England, entered the conflict.
He declared war on Germany, for fear of its imperialist and industrial might.
That same year, Russia left the conflict, due to the 1917 Revolution , which overthrew the Tsar and implanted the socialist regime.
Consequences
Although Germany continued to suffer successive defeats, its allies had surrendered, the German government continued in the war. Hungry and tired, the German people revolted and soldiers and workers forced the kaiser (emperor) to abdicate.
A provisional government was formed and the Weimar Republic was proclaimed . On November 11, 1918, the new government signed the German surrender. The First War came to an end, but general peace was only established in 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles .
Reactions to the effects of the treaty are among the main consequences of the First World War .
Thus, in 1939, just over 20 years later, they caused the Second World War .
The Great War left profound consequences for the whole world. We can highlight:
- redesigned the political map of Europe and the Middle East;
- it marked the fall of liberal capitalism;
- motivated the creation of the League of Nations ;
- allowed the economic and political rise of the United States.
Brazil in the First World War
In April 1917, the Germans sank the Brazilian merchant ship Paraná in the English Channel. In retaliation, Brazil breaks relations with the aggressors.
In October, another Brazilian ship, Macau, is attacked. At the end of 1917, a medical team and soldiers disembarked in Europe to assist the Entente.
Vestibular Issues
1. (Acafe-2015) The beginning of the First War (1914/1918) completed its centenary in 2014. Conflict of great proportions, it was the result of economic, imperialist and nationalist disputes in an industrialized Europe.
Regarding the First War and its context, all the alternatives are correct, except:
a) The Balkan question highlights the disputes between Germany and Hungary for control of the Adriatic Sea and puts nationalist movements in shock: pan-Slavism, led by Serbia and pan-Germanism, led by the Germans.
b) Despite starting the war as an ally of the Triple Alliance, Italy moved to the side of the Triple Entente for having received a proposal for territorial compensation.
c) Russia did not remain in the war until its end. Because of the Socialist Revolution, a treaty was signed with the Germans and the Russians withdrew from the war.
d) When the war started, crowds took to the streets in the countries involved to celebrate the conflict: loyalty and patriotism were the watchwords.
Answer
Letter A: The Balkan issue highlights the disputes between Germany and Hungary for control of the Adriatic Sea and puts nationalist movements in shock: pan-Slavism, led by Serbia and pan-Germanism, led by Germans.
2. (FGV-RJ 2015) Regarding Brazilian participation in the First World War, it is correct to say:
a) The Brazilian government declared war on Germany in 1914, after the torpedoing of a ship, loaded with coffee, which had just left the port of Santos.
b) The Brazilian government remained neutral throughout the conflict due to the interests of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lauro Muller, of German origin.
c) Beginning in 1916, the Brazilian Army participated in battles in Belgium and northern France with thousands of soldiers landed in the region.
d) Brazil sent a medical mission, a small contingent of Army officers and a naval squadron, which was involved in some confrontations with German submarines.
e) Together with Argentina, the Brazilian government organized an international naval squadron to patrol the South Atlantic against German offensives.
Answer
Letter D: Brazil sent a medical mission, a small contingent of army officers and a naval squadron, which was involved in some confrontations with German submarines.