World War I and II
| Subject: | 🏺 History |
| Type: | Compare and Contrast Essay |
| Pages: | 4 |
| Word count: | 1123 |
| Topics: | 💣 World War 2, World War 1, ⚔️ Military Science |
essay ASAP?
The First World War occurred from 1914 to 1918 and the Second World War was fought from 1939 to 1945. The two wars are the most extensive military conflict ever to take place in the world history. Military alliances between diverse groups from different countries were involved in both wars. World War I was the first war that involved worldwide countries in the history and it took places mainly in Europe. The countries across the world which were involved in the war were classified into two groups; the central powers and the allied powers. The members of the central power group included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey while the allied powers included France, Britain, Russia, Italy, and Japan. The United States of America however later joined the side of the allies from the year 1917. In the World War II, the alliances which were opposing were referred to as the allies and the axis. The axis group made up by Germany, Italy, and Japan. On the other hand, the allies group was made up by Britain, France, the Soviet Union, USA, and China. The Second World War was particularly heinous for the reason of the genocide of Jewish people initiated by the Nazis. The nature of fighting in both wars was therefore different in the following wars considering the change in the period they occurred, the countries involved and the reason for the war.
The first factor of comparison between natures of fighting in both wars is the methods they used in the warfare. In the First World War, the fighters fought from lines of trenches. The trenches are depressions that were manipulated from the surface of the earth for hiding and escaping attacks from the enemies. The fighters would, therefore, attack from the trenches when it was lee convenient and get out when it was more convenient. The trenches consequently were uses as the shields and a tactic of engaging in attack without the knowledge of the enemy (Keegan, 2014). The fighters in this war used artillery and machine guns, poisonous gases, infantry assault, tanks and early airplanes. By the use of these weapons, the fighters could attack one another and in one way and the other they led to a winning side. On the same point, World War I did not involve a lot movement as it took place in a strategic point, it was static. On the other hand, the Second World War was facilitated by more developed weapons and tactics. The nuclear power and missiles were involved in this war, and the fighters were acquainted with the modern concepts of covert and special operations. In this war, submarines and tanks were used in large proportions and thus there was significant destruction. The communication among the fighters was encrypted by the use of codes which were complex and thus it was discrete. The Germans used blitzkrieg fighting tactic in this war. For this reasons, regarding the method of the warfare, the Second World War was more organized and developed regarding the weapons used (Neitzel & Welzer, 2012).
Fighting in the First World War was as a result of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was a prince. The people from the side of the prince, therefore, fought because of their loyalty and pride against the side that was perpetrated to have killed their prince. Both groups thus got into conflicts as a result of the death of the revenge for the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The war was thus based on the national pride. On the other hand, the fights in World War II were influenced by the holocaust which was based on the races and the superiority of the Aryan race (Chang, 2012). Adolf Hitler was among the initiators of the war because he gave the idea of the superiority. The war for that reason was aimed at the people who were not from the Aryan race including but not only the Jewish civilians and the Gypsies. The holocaust was also meant to end homosexuality among other diversities that were influenced by the physiology. Both wars were therefore resulted by different reasons with one fighting for their nationalism and pride and the other one fighting because of the holocaust. The nature of the fighting in both wars was thus influenced and stimulated differently.
The locations of fighting in both wars are another factor that can be considered to base their differences regarding the fighting nature. The First World War was fought in the Eastern and Western Europe and North Africa. There was chaos in both the east and western sides of Germany which made them come to a consensus of splitting up their resources. They thus came up with a plan that would see that the western side of the country was finished quickly and then turn to the eastern side. Their strategy, however, did not succeed which therefore meant that they were in a deficit of resources and they were likely to be defeated. The world war one was confined at a certain point as a result of the trenches which even moves to a total of eleven miles before the war ended.
The world war two was however fought on their fronts. The most crucial front was all of the Europe, and the stage was dominated by the European nations involved and the United States of America. The participants of this front thus had to ensure that the European territories were untouched by all means (Goodwin, 2013). The second front in the Second World War was the Pacific which was a new front to the scene of the world war. It was a conflict that involved the superpower then; united states if America and Japan. The grudge between the two countries was after Japan bombed the Pearl Harbor which was used by the USA ships that were supplying materials in Britain (Tanaka, 2017). The bombing of the harbor thus marked the entry of the US to the Second World War. The third front was in Africa. It was a stage that was incorporated by the European fighting was at a stalemate. Several nations occupied the front from Europe, and they safeguarded their land at this point. It can hence be noted that the Second World War was fought from the different strategic location. Different fronts were used to ensure that the probability of the enemies getting into the territories was very small and thus losing was not an option. Moreover, the Second World War was significantly influenced by the entry of the United States of America. USA bombing Japan marked the end of the Second World War because the attack was severe such that axis group could not hit back.
- Chang, I. (2012). The rape of Nanking: The forgotten holocaust of World War II. Basic Books.
- Goodwin, D. K. (2013). No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. Simon and Schuster.
- Keegan, J. (2014). The first world war. Random House.
- Neitzel, S., & Welzer, H. (2012). Soldaten-On Fighting, Killing and Dying: The Secret Second World War Tapes of German POWs. Simon and Schuster.
- Tanaka, Y. (2017). Hidden horrors: Japanese war crimes in World War II. Rowman & Littlefield.
Offered for reference purposes only.