Causes of War

Leadup to WWII

arms races: Naval Race between Britain and Germany
Alliances for nonagression and mutual defence:
- Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
- Triple Entente: England, France, Russia . Germany viewed this as a "plot to encircle" them.
Russia has called itself "protector of the Southern Slavs" -- needed access to the Mediterranean
- the Balkans are a 'powder keg'.
Germany: militarism and nationalism in the German Confederation since 1814
- Bismarck: unites Germany, increases army. He enacts the biggest peacetime military increase in history: 30%

September: assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Serajevo.
- "spark in the powder keg" of the Balkans.
Francis Joseph I of Austria-Hungary asks Kaiser Willhelm II of Germany for support in case of war with Serbia
- support granted: Francis Joseph sends an unacceptable ultimatum sent to Serbia, war begins
- why did Kaiser Willhelm II grant support? some historians say he underestimated Russia's dedication to the Balkans (and thought that Russia might not retaliate -> no world war), others thought he believed war was inevitable.
Culpin&Henig, Modern World History: German generals agreed that the threat from the Entente made war inevitable: war 'the sooner the better'

Mostly deadlocked trench warfare
Rudimentary tanks
air power (early dogfighting in the air; Germans had dirigibles)
Mustard gas used with mixed results
- effective against ground troops, however
- if the wind blew the wrong direction, the people releasing the gas could be maimed or killed.

Blitzkrieg('lightning war') used by Hitler, especially to invade Poland.
- A combination of tanks, air power, artillery and infantry to overwhelm the enemy
Total War
- Civilians targeted, especially with bombing
Carpet-bombing and firebombing (with napalm)
- HUGE portions of Japanese cities were burned (more info)
Better tanks could effectively overcome the deadlock of trench warfare
Atomic bomb