Germany
Germany was involved in many troubles during certain periods in time, mainly in the XX Century. Some of this events were the Imperialism, the World War I, and the Russian Revolution. However, after all this events that happened to the world, Germany had a full-recover and nowadays is the biggest economic power in Europe. But behind that economic stability is a big story to tell.
Aproximately from the end of latest XIX's and early XX's, Germany participated in the stage of Imperialism. One of the main reasons it entered was its propaganda, which made their Nationalism increase and became stronger by time. Later on, some countries began to feel humiliated and inferior. This caused a lot of tension and controversy. In the other hand, the owning of many colonies in Africa caused rivalries and problems among European countries.Most of the modern writers use the world imperialism in the sense of control over other territories, especially in Asia and Africa. In other words imperialism is when a country conquest new lands and rules them as they want. Germans had a short duration overseas colonial empire (from the 1880s to the end of the First World War). They ruled over many territories in Africa as well as some Pacific Islands, they were uncertain if their colonies should serve as white settlement areas or for economic exploitation.
Modern Statistical studies of overseas investment in the period of 1914 have shown that only a certain proportion of the money was invested in the subtropical territories in Asia and Africa. Germans invested just 2 percent in their colonies. With the increasing of industrialization the countries needed new markets so the amount to territories governed by Britain and France increased rivalry with Germany, who by the way entered lately to the ‘scramble to acquire colonies’ and only had small territory of Africa. The major powers that had interest in the scramble and partition of East Africa were: Britain, Germany, France, Belgium and Italy.
In the stage of World War I, one of the principal causes was the strong military forces and armies built by Germany during the Armed Peace (1871-1914). After the stroke in Autria-Hungary, Germany supported them became a member of the Triple Alliance along with Italy.
The War became official when Great Britain declares war to Germany on August 4 1914, when Germany declared war on France, saying that they were upon Germany’s territory. But before all of this, on June 22 1914 Gavrilo Princip killed the Archeduke Francis Ferdinand and his Wife Sophie, Austria got very angry with the Serbian’s because of the Death of Ferdinand, so they wanted to fight them. Austria declared that they would go against Yugoslavia but they hesitated a lot because Yugoslavia held a defensive treaty with Russia. Austria had a defensive treaty with Germany, Germany told Austria to begin the war and if became a big conflict, Germany would help. Germany wanted this to happen because if Austria declined Germany offer, they would have a lot of enemies. Also Germany thought that Russia was going to back down and they would win. Germany allied with Turkey and both said that they could defeat any European country and Germany also had the help of England, England wouldn’t enter war if Russia was the aggressor.
The battle of Tannenberg was caused when 2 Russian Armies Invaded German East Prussia in August 1914. One army was under General P.K Rennenkampf and the 2nd was under A.V Samsonov. German Commanders Paul Von Hindenburg and Eric Ludendorff, use the a plan devised by Lieutenant Max Hoffman, they threw all their strength to Samsonov’s army near Uzdowo, he lost half of his army, and on August 29 he commit suicide. This was a crushing defeat to Russia and a Victory to Germany.
At the end of August the 3 armies of Germany were seeping south towards Paris. The French 5th and 6th armies and Brithis Expeditionary Force were in retreat. Joffre the commander in Chief of French army planned to attack Germany on September 6th the commander of the Brithis Army agreed to join the attack on the German Forces. On September 9th General Helmuth Von Moltke German commander to Germany retreat. By September 10th the Battle of Marne was over.
German General Erich Von Falkenhayn developed a battle plan for attacking Verdun, France a city protected of underground forts, This began in mid February 1916 and ended in December, this battle symbolized the French the strength of their armed forced and the solidarity of their nation.
Germany Came with the Schlieffen Plan. The plan basically called for quick, encircling movements that would surround and destroy the enemy. This plan was use for Attacking, it was Germany’s wish to end this war quickly by attacking France immediately and before Russia had the chance. The plan involved attacking Belgium and the go to South into France. The Belgians fought back, making it hard for Germany to carry the plan.
The treaty of Versailles affected a lot Germany, Germany was to blame for all the causes and damages that occurred, Had to pay for damages, had to give some of its lands, even their weapons. Their Dept was of 3500 million dollars and they were being observed by the allies.
Countries started to collapsed, so on November 11 an armistice was signed, this was when the world war 1 came to an end, years after suffering.
When talking about the Russian Revolution, we may think that Germany had nothing to do with it, but that’s not true. During the great War, Lenin was in neutral Switzerland, but he needed to get back to Russia. But to get there, he had to pass through a big fighting country: Germany. Given that the Germans at that time hated communism, Lenin thought they wouldn't let him pass.
The German government hoped that sending Lenin to Russia would destabilize Russia further and force it to stop hostilities with Germany, so they did it. As soon as he arrived on April 16, 1917, he was greeted by a cheering crowd of followers. Soon, he became the leader of the Bolshevik movement. later on was “October Revolution" and one of his first acts, once in power, was to end Russia’s involvement in the war, so Russia asked Germany for peace. in the other hand, Germany left Russia with no choice than giving up their territories to step down the war.
On March 3, 1918, Russia gave up its claims to its lost territory in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This left Germany able to concentrate more on its Western Front against France and Great Britain. Unfortunately, it was too late for Germany. Maybe the October Revolution would have helped the Germans more if it had come sooner. However, by 1918, Germany’s ability to make war had been greatly reduced and it was only a matter of time before it would have to gave up.
As a conclusion, we must say that Germany had a really big influence in the World and made a lot of changes mainly in Europe. Germans by nature feel superior and always want more and more than they have. Also, they work hardly to improve their country and be the greatest. But this beliefs also brought awful consequences to its country and many others.
Bibliography
Sociberty. 21 December 2007. 10 February 2011 <http://socyberty.com/history/germanys-involvement-in-russias-communist-revolution/>.
Frontline. Great War. 9 February 2011 <http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/maps_verdun.html>.
Korsmo, Joseph and Giddings Owen. First World War. 9 February 2011 <http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/germanyduringww1.htm>.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. World History Modern Times. Columbus: McGrawHill, 2008.
Lowe, John. «Imperialism.» Lowe, John. The great powers, imperialism, and the German problem, 1865-1925. USA & Canada: Routledge, 1994.
Gabriela Rivera A01175709.
Valeria Lopez A01175851.
Carolina Garza A01175854.
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