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  • Essay / The Events Leading Up to World War I - 1850

    As the final days of World War I slowly progressed through November, a war-torn Europe broke apart and waited to be picked up and glued back together. An astonishing thirty-eight million deaths between the Allied and Central Powers in a war that took over four years to end. The main players between 1914 and 1918 were Britain and Germany, but this rivalry did not begin simply because of World War I and all the logistics of those four years. This essay is not intended to address the events of World War I, but to explain what caused them. The preludes to the first "World War" are the story of the fight for the heavyweight title of Europe, with on one side the English, equipped with a huge naval fleet and seeking to be the face of the 'Europe. On the other side, Germany, led by Emperor Wilhelm II, was motivated and ready to go, whatever the price necessary, to support Austria-Hungary, a member of the Triple Alliance. It was not the first time that the English and the Germans had clashed. England's first diplomatic relations with Germany began with an alliance between Ethelberht of Kent and Charibert I. These marriages between the two countries were sporadic, but it was here that the relationship began. England had been at the top of Europe for some time: "Since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, England has been the dominant nation of the world and its participation in the Great War will probably be the deciding factor in whether it lasts, or even its duration. its end. " Page 12 bernadotte The question that Germany and many other nations began to ask themselves was: "Why should such a dominant position belong to a few islands whose population was smaller than that of France (until it a few years ago), Germany, ...... middle of paper ...... nch in the 1914 match. A rematch would soon follow with World War II, but by then , England walked away from Europe's 'Thrilla in Manila' as the reigning champions and Germany came away embarrassed and once again overshadowed by that of the English. A rivalry cannot be created overnight, but it can be proven in seconds. Works Cited Berghahn, Volker R.. Germany and the Approach to War in 1914. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973. Bernhardi, Friedrich von and Allen H. Powles. Germany and the next war. Ed. allowed. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1914. Bucholz, Arden. Moltke and the German Wars, 1864-1871. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001. Hall, Richard C. The Balkan Wars, 1912-1913, Prelude to the First World War. London: Routledge, 2000. Schmitt, Bernadotte Everly. England and Germany, 1740-1914. New York: H. Fertig, 1967.