Causes and Consequences of the First World War - Assignment Example

History Questions The First and Second World Wars are some of the great wars witnessed worldwide and the First World War is believed to have been triggered secret alliances whereas the Second World War happened due to Treaty of Versailles and the weakening of the League of Nations and it was organized in two military alliances, the Allies and the Axis. Protestant Reformation was a movement developed to reform in response to roman catholic church and the Catholics in turn responded the Protestant criticisms be forming catholic Reformation. This paper discusses the causes and consequences of both the First and the Second World War and covers Protestant Reformation. The First World War was triggered by both long-term and short-term factors and some of the long-term causes include alliance system1 particularly the long-standing alliances between central powers including Germany and Austria Hungary versus Triple Entente that comprised of Britain, France and Russia. Secondly, World War 1 was caused by imperialism, that is, most European countries wanted to expand their territory and some historian have described this war as an imperialistic struggle.2 Another long-term cause of the First World War is nationalism whereby, there were rivalries between European countries resulting from colonialism. Finally, arms race is also another triggering factor of World War 1 because Britain and Germany had the best navies during that period and so naval rivalry between the two countries played a significant role in the emergence of World War 1. In addition, there were also short-term causes of the First World War and these include Austria-Hungary’s attack on Serbia among others. World War 1 had political, economic and social consequences, first, it led to the emergence of Versailles Treaty that stated that Germany had to pay reparations and disarm. More so, some countries started fighting for their independence. Economically, it led to worldwide depression, which lasted for years. Socially, it resulted to massive loss of lives, and left many individuals in Europe with home and food among others. The Second World War followed and it was the most widespread conflict that negatively affected the world. 3A number of factors including the Versailles Treaty that had imposed unfair conditions on Germany caused this war and this may have forced them to start the war. Secondly, the weakness of the League of Nations as it was not able to control aggressive actions of the axis powers when England and France embraced the policy of appeasement towards them. Some of the consequences of World War 2 include heavy loss of lives of soldiers and civilians and also many disabled individuals. Moreover, the Second World War destroyed many properties and led to lack of enough commodities including those that satisfy basic needs. In addition, the Second World War led to the emergence of super powers, which in turn led to cold war between the two super powers. Furthermore, it led to the end of imperialism, and it also promoted the establishment of the United Nations to help in maintaining peace and promote international cooperation. The Treaty of Versailles made Germans very bitter following unfair treatment from the victorious allies after the First World War. As a result of this Treaty, German people resented against the winners of World War 1 and so the elected Hitler who promised them to disregard the Treaty and so the Hitler’s election was the primary cause of the Second World War. Therefore, it is undeniable that this Treaty played a major part in the occurrence of World War 2. Moreover, after the First World War, there was increased inflation and increased cases of unemployment and poverty in Germany and this can be stated as one way through which World War 1 triggered the Second World War. Arguably, the Second World War and decolonization are closely related. To begin with, struggle for independence is one political effect of this war as colonized individuals pushed for their independence. World War 2 revealed that colonial powers were no longer capable of handling other nations safely and the main focus was on anti-colonialism in the internal system resulting to the establishment of the United Nations. The UN aimed at encouraging self-determination and bringing to an end colonial rule. The Protestant Reformation was the religious struggle known in history and it ended with the emergence of catholic and Protestant churches. It was mainly concerned with reforming Christianity in reaction to the Catholic Church.4 According to Protestants, the clergy were not supposed to hold authority over individuals on the basis of religion but everyone should be given chance to govern their own religious beliefs. The religious aspects of this Reformation were supplemented by some political rulers who were driven by their selfish needs to be able to extend their power and control at the expense of the church. This Reformation made many Christians to split from the Catholic Church and Martin Luther was one of those who significantly contributed to the rise of Protestant Reformation. The Reformation is rooted in the high middle ages characterized by the emergence of towns and money economy and these led to various developments that all triggered the Reformation. For instance, money economy facilitated an increase in the number of kings who disagreed with the pope concerning the control of church taxes. More so, money economy led to an increase in the number of abuses by the church in search for cash. These two factors negatively influenced the church’s reputation and this in turn attracted different reformists including Martin Luther to participate in Protestant Reformation. After Protestant Reformation, the clergy lost authority and the members of the middle class was unable to challenge the authority of the church. The Roman Catholic were afraid that the entire Christian society would be Protestants and so they devised ways to counter reform the movement and this was referred to as catholic Reformation.5 In response to Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church recognized that some of the criticisms highlighted by Protestants are valid and so they started focusing on how to tackle these issues. Catholic Reformation was based on administrative, moral as well as educational reforms.6 New organizations were founded to help in responding to the Reformation some of which established catholic schools across the world to bring young people into faith. In addition, the Roman Catholics used military force to react to the Reformation as they intended to capture the territory of Protestant monarchs and enlarge their own states. 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