National Rivalry Between Great Britain And Germany example essay topic

On April 6, 1917, the United States officially declared war on Germany and entered itself into the Great War. The Great War, or World War I, had begun in Europe during the summer of 1914 when a Serbian student terrorist assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungry. Many Americans had not even heard of Austria-Hungry, but it would soon change their lives and bring them into the most destructive war the world has ever seen. National pride and the ally system almost instantly drew several European nations to conflict. Eventually, the US under Woodrow Wilson would go from neutral, to joining the front lines, and eventually contributing to peace after the war. On the morning of June 28, 1914, while traveling in a motorcade through Sarajevo, a Serbian terrorist assassinated the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungry.

As a result, Austria-Hungary decided to punish Serbia and declared war on them. Russia got involved as it had an agreement to protect Serbia, and began to mobilize it armies. Germany, who at the time, were allies with Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia and France as a counter. Soon after Germany invaded Belgium to attack France, England joined France and the Great War had begun. Theodore Roosevelt's peacekeeping attempts in the first decade of the century had little effect among the European nations. A growing sense of nationalism and pride brought European nations to turn minor disputes into worldwide problems.

National rivalry between Great Britain and Germany, led to military competition and a race to build bigger and better battleships. As European nations armed, they create treaties and alliances. Despite peace conferences and international agreements, many promoted by the United States, the balance of power rested on the alliances that formed. Many Americans thought the 20th century was "going to be an age of treaties rather than an age of war".

However, when war broke out in Europe, many Americans changed their views. The United States initial stance on the war was to remain neutral. President Woodrow Wilson said that the United States must remain "fit and free", and so the United States declared a policy of neutrality on August 4, 1914. The reason for neutrality was that many people believed that the US could stay out of the situation and remain unaffected. Although some felt the United States should stay out of European affairs, many others sympathized with the allied cause.

Within the first few months, it became apparent that the United States was forced to take action. Great Britain began an illegal naval blockade and began seizing American ships carrying goods to European nations. Wilson surrendered and gave control of the sea over to Great Britain. Due to this, trade with the Central Powers almost stopped and trade with Allies more than tripled. The United States also began to loan enormous amounts of money to Allied powers.

America had now started to move away from neutrality and towards the Allies. In response to Great Britain's naval blockade, Germany announced a U-Boat blockade of the British Isles. Germany then announced that they would fire upon even neutral ships. A month after the U-Boat blockade, Germany sank a British liner killing 103 people. One month later on May 7, 1915, Germany sank the Lusitania n, killing 1,200 people, 128 of which were Americans.

The final event that led America to war was the Zimmerman Note. This was an intercepted telegram from the German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German minister in Mexico. The note told the German minister in Mexico that if war broke out, he was to offer Mexico it had lost to the United States in 1848. In return, Mexico would have to join the war as a Central power. This was released to the public on March 1, 1997.

Many American's demanded war on Germany, but it was not declared until April 2, 1917, after Germany sank five American ships. Wilson's 14 points aimed to create peace between all nations. His points freed nations and settled national boundaries. Many of his points were accepted into the peace treaty, but not all. He was forced to agree that Germany should pay reparations, lose much of its oil and coal rich territory and admit guilty for the cause of the war. On June 28, 1919, the Versailles Treaty was signed ending World War I. There were many terms in the treaty, and most aimed at punishing Germany.

The peacemakers carved the new countries of Austria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia, created from Austria-Hungary Empire. In addition to this, several other new countries were created. At the end of the war, Germany left with nothing, suffered an enormous war debt, and the country quickly moved into depression. Germany was also forced to pay $56 billion, to Allied nations, which in Germany's view, made it less of a peace treaty and more of Germany's punishment.

Germany's African colonies had been divided among the Allies and key parts of German land were given away. Due to the terms specified in the treaty, resentment would brew within Germany, leading to the next world war. The US also demonstrated its role as a peacekeeper by trying to bring peace between the battling nations. We even see that today as the US continues its role and keep peace in the world with incidents like Kosovo and the Persian Gulf. World War I occurred because of a European incident, the terrorist assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Nevertheless, it brought America right up to the front lines.

Because of that, America changed its role internationally and as a world power.