What Started it All

SOURCE: https://ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com

According to History.com, both World Wars were started by Germany getting into conflict with other countries.

World War I

1. There was a chain of events that started the war. However, the thing that really sparked the war was the murder of Franz Ferdinand .

I didn't know that that there was more than one reason why the first world war was started. I just thought that it was only because countries were invading other countries. Also, I was surprised that the death of archduke Franz Ferdinand was what really just set off the war. It's known as the, "spark that set it on fire."

2. The reason why U.S. got involved was Germany sank Lusitania, a ship with U.S. passengers on them.

I found this really interesting, because I didn't know that U.S. got involved because they thought Germany was targeting them. I thought U.S. got involved because Britain wanted to ally with them.

3. The Battle of the Frontiers was the first major battle between Britain and Germany.

British and German forces were face to face on the western front. However, Britain were allies and against Germany. Over the period of one day 27,000 French soldiers had been killed. For one day, that is many, many soldiers and that was just the first battle. Lanrezac, a french commander, called for a general retreat. He did that because the 5th army was barely holding their ground and all of the other armies were either captured or were too having just as much trouble, he said that “we have been beaten. But the evil is reparable. As long as the 5th army lives, France is not lost.” Meaning that they could get other soldiers, but if the 5th army were to be captured or dead, then France would have a greater challenge ahead of them.

4. Four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia and Germany declared war on each other.

I found it really interesting how most of Europe was in war. Serbia and Austria-Hungary were in a war with each other and Russia and Germany were in a different war. But soon after it would have just become one gigantic war.

5. A lot of people in the countries were happy about the fighting.

The citizens of the countries were happy because they were so convinced that the war would last no more than a few months. They were also convinced that their country would win the war. However, the war took four years long which is most definitely not just a few months.

World War II

1. The start of World  War One was when Hitler invaded Poland.

Hitler invaded Poland by using lightning war or blitzkreig. Blitzkrieg was using tanks in battle. Hitler had invaded many countries before Poland. The reason why he got away with it was propaganda and excuses. Hitler lied and said that Poland was persecuting German soldiers across the border.

2. In 1939, Britain,  France, and Soviet Union formed an alliance against German forces.

However, this all fell apart when Poland refused to let Soviet Union enter into Poland. I found that really surprising because Soviet Union would be helping Poland. However, Britain and France still defended Poland, against Germany.

3. On September 3rd Britain and France declared war on Germany.

Even though Britain and France were the ones to declare war Germany was more prepared. Germany had advanced to the outskirts of Warsaw by september 8th. I found this almost ironic because Germany was almost ready for the war to begin and it kind of seemed like they wanted a war.

For further research, I am going to study how did Germany got so much power?