Ethan

What are the comparisons and contrasts of World War One and World War Two?

I am going to find out what the comparisons and contrasts of both world wars are by breaking each paragraph down into sections. These sections are Social/cultral and economic, political, military where I have divided it into sections of land, sea and air, and diplomatic. I will seek and find out what the comparisons and contrasts are for each. During and after the first and second world war there were many constrasts and comparisons. My notes have been split up into five groups; Social, economic, political, military and diplomatic.

In the social cultural area there is comparisons and contrasts. In both World War One and World War Two Germany was known as the “the agressor” since following the Schlieffen plan she attacked Belgium in order to reach France. This gave Germany and propaganda disadvantage, it made her look evil which gave Britain the morale high ground. In World War Two she attacked Poland following Hitler’s foreign policies, This was different from WWI because Hitler hated to Poles, and wanted to destroy them. After the Versailles Conference, Poland was created as a new state with the only intention of hurting and dividing Germany, for this reason, Hitler highly disliked them. In addition, German advance over the Polish territory could have been or was justified because of the “lebensborn” program (space for breading) giving them again very bad propaganda. In addition, Britain used posters in both wars. She used personification in both wars as a propaganda technique with Kitchener in WW1 “Your country needs YOU!” and Churchill in WW2 “Let us go forward together”, both of the posters were used to raise people’s spirits and rally support. In both wars, there was also emphasis on encouraging people to grown more food and preserve their food supplies instead of waste which is shown with “Kitchen is the Key to Victory WW1” and Potato Pete in WW2 with slogans such as “I Make good Soup” and “I’m an energy food” which were designed to educate people in a fun way. The woman’s land army and the munitionettes were the main reason why women were mobilized so effectively in the work force during both wars. However after both of these wars it went back to old ways because men came home from battle and needed their jobs back so women were forced into their home by society. The film hope and glory shows the pressures of the home front. The film provides you with what the home-front was actually like for the people during WW2. Normally, the war is focused on the soldiers fighting on the front-line, but as this film shows, the families left at home were also at a great risk – especially in cities such as London and Coventry. There is no real evidence of unreliability about it, I think that it offers a very good visual and emotional view to people on the home front. Also the film boy in the stripped pyjamas shows how women and children and civilians back home. Also shows its suggests that most German people do not know what the SS officers were up to, very controversial.

Social economically, Germany’s recovery after both wars was largely due to American help. In world war one The Dawes Plan, which saw the reparations of Germany being heavily reduced, the treaty also saw allied troops leaving Germany’s industrial area of the Ruhr. The Dawes plan lowered Germany’s reparation bill from 6.6billion to 2billion marks. And in world war two there was the marshall aid. Both of these strategies were motivated to prevent a spread of communism. Marshall Aide was introduced by George Marshall in 1947. He aimed to help rebuild europe with $12,500,000,000 most of the money was shared between France and Britain and then Germany had a small sum. However German recovery could not have happened unless they failed. They firstly failed to economically prepare for world war one as she had gambled on a short war; therefore shortages (such as the K-Bread, Turnip Winter, where 700,000 civilians died) and deprivation. However Hitler planned for world war two much better with his 4-Year Plan. Germany only superficially recovered after WW1 due to the Dawes plan, and when it was called in Germany collapsed because of hyperinflation, printed too much money and prices went up, people would burn the money for fuel. After world war two the recovery in West Germany was stronger. Marshall Aid was provided with no strings attached and it was also spread across Europe. There were very similar impacts on Britain too. Economic bankruptcy meant the the homes for heros campagne failed because Britain could simply not afford a new home for every hero. Also they responded similarly in both wars for example; rationing, growning their own vegetables. In world war one they used the woman’s land army and in world war two they used “dig for victory”. This enocurange families to grow their own crops.

Politicaly the comparisions in both wars were that Russia initially suffered a great deal due to German invasions in both, Tannenburg in world war one. War lead to dratstic changes in the party system. After both wars Germany was torn between, Barbarossa in world war two. In contrast In WW1 Russia continued to collapse, Russia lost Urkraine and Baltic States. In world war two however the USSE was able to turn the situation around and emerge more powerful. The USSE gained control of Eeastern Europe. World war One destroyed the liberals as a political force which was divided between lloyd george and asquith. George dangerfield called this “the strange death of liberal england”.This led to interwar. Conservative dominance. After world war two, the labour party emerged as a dominant politiacal force and it had remained this way ever since. It was a two party system. After world war one the country was in a chronological sense very democratic in the short term, but then turned into a dictatorship. After world war two the west part of the country was geographically divided into democracy and a dictatorship in the east. Militarily the contrasts were world war one was Stagnation which resulted from a technology being the master rather than the servant, confusing and bewildering the generals. Churchill said“fighting machine guns with the breasts of brave young ment” World war two was more movement which resulted from Hitler being the master of the new technology rather than its servant by using BlitzKreig, Stuka Bombers, Panzers. World war one was a defensive strategy. Whereas world war two was an offensive strategy which was, codebreaking. Enigma was a codebreak which broke codes at Bletchy park, which helped outgun and outman the enemy in the Battle of the Atlantic. Planes were unsed in world war one in an non-aggressive manner, for intelegence gathering. However in world war two planes were used as a direct military tool for example, Blitz of London, Dresden in Germany, Pearl Harbor, V1/V2 rockets where the planes just dropped thousands and thousands of bombs on there areas. In comparison technology dictated the nature of the conflict. In both wars there was a convoy system which was successfully developed by the UK. In both wars Planes were used for the first time for bombing enemy targets which were Scarborough in world war one and London and Coverntry in world war two. Diplomatically the comparisons were after both wars there were new countries in Europe. In both wars colonies were mobilized in defence of the empire. Both wars saw international organizations emerge to prevent war – e.g. League of Nations, United Nations. In contrast WW1- new countries created as democracies. WW2 – same countries re-established as dictatorship. Plus Germany was divided after WW2. WW1- coloniql troops not treated with respect; Germany’s colonies became mandates; other colonies remained as before. WW2-colonial troops treated better;after the war colonies quickly gain their independence (e.g. India from the British Empire, Algeria from the French) – WHY? Mentalities, ideas had changes, attitudes had changed. Power of the USA over the west had increased. Diplomatically, UN was much stronger than the league after WW2 – e.g. military sanctions feasible, USA (as was USSR). Economically, After WW2, there were OTHER international organistations too- ECSC>EEC>EU (idea that economic unity was just as important if not moreso than a military alliance). Military, NATO and Warsaw Pact – two opposing military superblocs.

The new countries in Europe were democracies after world war one they were communist satellites and after world war two partly as a result of the Marshall Plan, the European economy came roaring back and most of Europe was saved from the grasp of communist Russia. Russia and its communists satellites, on the other hand, went downhill economically until the whole communist system fell apart. Germany remained a unitary state after world war one and it was divided after world war two. The main terms of the Versailles Treaty were: (1) the surrender of all German colonies as League of Nations mandates; (2) the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France; (3) cession of Eupen-Malmedy to Belgium, Memel to Lithuania, the Hultschin district to Czechoslovakia, (4) Poznania, parts of East Prussia and Upper Silesia to Poland; (5) Danzig to become a free city; (6) plebiscites to be held in northern Schleswig to settle the Danish-German frontier; (7) occupation and special status for the Saar under French control; (8) demilitarization and a fifteen-year occupation of the Rhineland; (9) German reparations of £6,600 million; (10) a ban on the union of Germany and Austria; (11) an acceptance of Germany's guilt in causing the war; (11) provision for the trial of the former Kaiser and other war leaders; (12) limitation of Germany's army to 100,000 men with no conscription, no tanks, no heavy artillery, no poison-gas supplies, no aircraft and no airships; (13) the limitation of the German Navy to vessels under 100,000 tons, with no submarines; Comparisons: There were new countries in Europe. These maps prove this. Before WW1 After WW1

1939 1945

During both wars, soldiers from the colonies of Britain, France and Germany were used as infantry, for example the first Allied soldiers to enter Paris were British African colonist soldiers. However, the state of the colonies themselves was changed differently with each war. After world war one, the major Empires of Britain and France were given “mandates” by the League of Nations. The colonies given by Germany included Kamerun (Cameroon), Tanganyika (Rwanda/Burundi/Tanzania) and Togoland (Togo). After world war two these Empires rapidly dissolved due to nationalism now being mature as a concept and the increased pressure of the USA upon old Europe to decolonise. India gained independence from the British Empire 1947 and Algeria gained independence from the French in 1962.

Both wars saw international organizations emerge to prevent war: the League of Nations after world war one and the United Nations after world war two. However, the contrast was that The United Nations, which was set up after world war two, was much more powerful than the League had been. The League had huge organizational problems within itself, one of the main reasons being that it didn’t have its own army. After world war two there were also organizations established on an economic basis (ECSC > EEC > EU, COMECON for the USSR) and on a military basis: one between Britain and their allies (NATO) and one between the USSR and their allies. The Warsaw Pact was a treaty between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. It was signed in Poland in 1955 and was called 'The Treaty of Friendship’.