ww1 and ww2

Following a detailed review of different ideas from various fields of study, several fascinating topics were listed for consideration. However, after thorough thought, this article was created to carry out an effective comparison and contrast between two of the most important incidents in history, including World War One and World War Two.

World War One

World War One is now regarded as one of history’s most significant incidents. As a result, historians and numerous economic researchers all over the world continue to study it. The war began in 1914 and lasted until 1918. That is, the conflict lasted four years. The war was the first-ever full-scale warfare in the world involving almost all the nations of the world. There have been several factors that have been attributed to be the cause of the war such elements include nationalism, imperialism, and militarism; however, the assassination of Francis Ferdinand in 1914 has been regarded as the primary trigger of the war. The major conflicting parties of the First World War were the central power i.e. turkey, Austria-Hungarian, and Germans. Other allied power including Japan, Italy Russian Britain; however, the United States made an entrance into the war from 1917, (Maier, 2015).

World War Two

The Second World War was also a significant history event which took place from 1939 to 1945. The war was the second full-scale warfare that was experienced world history, and it lasted for six years. There have also been several factors attributed to being the cause of the war such factors include massive political and economic instability experience during the period and the indiscriminate conditions attached to the Treaty of Versailles which saw the rise of Adolf Hitler of Germany to power. The conflicting parties in the Second World War were the group known as the Axis power that is the Italians, the Japanese, and the Germans. The group was confronted and fought against by the Allied forces which were made up of the Soviet Union, The United States, The Great Britain, China, and France, (Foot and Dear, 2001).

Method of Warfare and Number of Causalities

The first world war was prosecuted in an era of little advancement in warfare technologies hence the war was characterized by the use of old combat techniques such as the use of supported artilleries, old machine guns of limited functionalities, infantry assaults, poisonous gasses old tanks and early airplanes. The aircraft used during this war has been described to have been built with limited in features; the planes had limited navigation system and depended on the pilot’s knowledge of landscapes and the availability of favorable weather conditions for efficient navigation. The planes were prone to fire attacks, and due to the small sizes of the aircraft, it was impossible for fighter pilots to travel with parachutes hence most pilots had standby pistols which they use on themselves in the event of uncontrollable fire incidence. The war also recorded a significant number of causalities; records have shown that 10 million people were estimated to have died. About 7 million civilian deaths and over 21 million people were reported to have been wounded, and 7.7 million people were either missing or imprisoned, (Maier, 2015).

The sound world war, on the other hand, was carried with a higher level of precision regarding the uses of technological warfare. The advancement was due to the increase in the degree of the technology and sophistication at the time. The primary method adopted for the war include the uses of high precision airplanes, the use of well-coordinated submarines, the use of ballistic missiles, well-encrypted communication systems and the use of nuclear power. The planes used in the Second World War were of advanced functionalities, they had been developed with adequate navigations system, and they were also designed with the ability to drop ballistic missiles on specific targets. Base on the increase in the level of sophistication of the warfare method adopted in the Second World War, the war recorded a higher number of causalities when compared with the First World War. Over 60 million people were estimated to have died as a result of the war. The war also recorded close about 35 to 55 million civilian deaths, and about 13-20 million people were recorded to have died from diseases and famine, (Foot and Dear, 2001).

The Results

The end of the world war one resulted in a huge proportion of political, social, and economic change in the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia and even in areas that were not directly involved in the combats. A couple of empires were defeated during the war, and they collapsed, some old countries were abolished, and some new ones were formed. States boundaries had to be redrawn, and new international organizations were formed. The particular result of the war was the defeats of the then Russian, Ottoman, German and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the rejection of their proposed ideologies. The war saw the demise of the Ottoman and the Hungarian empire. The war also resulted in the creation of the League of Nations with a hope of preventing another world war, (Maier, 2015).

The Second World War was put to an end in 1945 after two ballistic nuclear missiles were shot to Japan by the United States. The missiles were directed at Nagasaki and Hiroshima resulting in substantial deaths and causalities. The war was said to have ended on a good note which saw the defeat of Japan, Germany, and the rest of their allies. As a result of the role played by the United States in the world war two the country was named a superpower and was given the world policing role. The end of the war saw the creation of the United Nations an organization that is saddled with the responsibility of preventing any other global war, (Foot and Dear, 2001).

Conclusion

World War one and two are one most significant event in the world, although the wars were prosecuted at different times, with different warfare techniques and for slightly different reasons. They both had the similarities regard massive disruption of social, political, and economic events. Each war resulted in a massive number of deaths of both civilian and military personnel. They both resulted in the development of organizations that was provided the duty of ensuring world peace i.e. the League of Nations and the United Nations. An important feature of these wars was they helped in resorting world order. Lastly, they provided the society with great lessons as regarding the effects of war and ever since all hands have been on deck to ensure that there is peace in the world at all times.

Reference

Foot, M. R. D., & Dear, I. C. B. (2001). The Oxford companion to world war II. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

Maier, C. S. (2015). Recasting bourgeois Europe: stabilization in France, Germany, and Italy in

the decade after World War I. Princeton University Press.