Three subjects that better capture World War I

Choose three subjects that, in your opinion, best capture World War 1.

Give a thorough explanation of each topic, connect it to one or more specific tutorial slides, and make specific references to facts, people, and dates. It's crucial that you read the complete tutorial and that your discussion shows that you've put the information together.

A brief paragraph should be used for each explanation. You could give instances like what surprised you the most or the main reasons why World War One broke out. What's the great deal in this?

Theme 1: Cause of the war, enemy and subsequent spread of war

Many things might have sparked the war, but the very first precursor of the war was sinking of the Titanic in 1912 where 1500 died in the Atlantic. The sinking of the Titanic caused Europeans to view technology in a new dimension, and this sparked people's mind that war can be fought. Bringing a balance between the European powers further spearheaded tension among the nations because, for more than 300 years, countries in Europe were homogeneous but this changed in 1912. By 1914, Germany had become the most powerful nation in Europe with a population of approximately 65 million people and stable economy and this caused tension among other European countries because they were worried of German's dominance. By 1912, Germany and France were serious rivals because of the previous conflict on Alsace and Lorraine territories. Austria, on the other hand, wanted independence and this further created tension among the nations.

Theme 2: Major alliances, nature of the war and revolutions

Before the real first world war, the United Kingdom formed an alliance with Japan in 1902 and 1905 Japan surprisingly defeated Russia in Russo-Japanese war. In 1881 Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy and Russia formed the Triple Alliance but later on in1891 Russia pulled out to join hands with France to form Triple Entente in 1907. Throughout the war, Japan aided Britain because it was a close ally and the United States joined the war on 5th may 1917. Most of the people supported the war especially urban dwellers and the futurists in particular. Several artists joined the war, and the war was extremely complicated because heavy artillery, machine guns, and mechanized warfare were common. During the war, civilian lives were never valued, and the soldiers went ahead to use poison gasses.

Theme 3: Quest for unity and peace

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson initiated talks to restore peace and Roosevelt helped him to do that. The United States had remained neutral, but the attempts by Woodrow Wilson to initiate peace talks triggered Germany to announce unrestricted submarine warfare which continued until September 1918 when it subsided. It is surprising that sophisticated technology was used during this period and many people were killed. The signing of Treaty of Versailles on 28th June 1919 completely ended the war and culminated the beginning of a new era of peace in Europe with specific terms.