Outline for Essay on World War 1

Outline for Essay on World War 1

Full Outline

I: Introduction
A: Thesis statement
B: Background information
1: Causes of World War
1 a: Imperialism
(“The Scramble for Africa”)
b: Alliances (“The Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance”)
2: Impact of World War 1 on Europe
a: The Treaty of Versailles (“The League of Nations and the Treaty of Versailles”)
b: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (“The Russia Civil War and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk”)


II:
A: Impact of World War 1 on Europe
B: Impact of World War 1 on the United States
C: Impact of World War 1 on Africa

III: Conclusion
A: Thesis statement
B: Summary of impact of World War 1
c: Impact on today

Notes:

Introduction

World War 1 (often abbreviated as WW1 or WWI), also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as “the war to end all wars”, it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide. A network of inter-governmental organisations, including the Paris Peace Conference, established an organisation for peace after the war ended. This organisation was called The League of Nations. The League’s goals included upholding democracy and rule of law. There were other groups working for international co-operation and peace but they were not as successful as The League.

Background:

On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip during a visit to Sarajevo where he was received by local dignitaries including Mayor Fehim Curcic. Princip was one of seven assassins (six Serbs and one Bosniak) organised by Danilo Ilić, a Bosnian Serb and a member of the Black Hand secret society. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary’s South Slav provinces, which the assassins thought would lead to independence for the South Slavs. The assassination triggered a chain of events that resulted in Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, launching a series of events that led to war between most European states, tied together in two opposing alliances: the Allies (centred on the Triple Entente) and the Central Powers. The Serbian government in response to Austria-Hungary’s actions declared war on their opponent on 28 July 1914.

Key Figures:

When the First World War broke out most people thought it would be over very quickly with an easy victory for one side or another. This was not to be as both sides soon realised that they were being dragged into a war which would be long with no clear winner. The Allied Powers were made up of France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy and Japan with many other countries joining later on including Belgium, Greece, Romania and Serbia. They were fighting against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey known as The Central Powers due to them being centred around Germany. The power of Germany was strong with Kaiser Wilhelm along with Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg who had led Germany through its success in World War 1 until his retirement in 1916 when he was replaced by Erich Ludendorff. 

Impact of World War 1:

The impact of World War 1 was very great with many countries losing many men and money. Germany lost the war due to the Treaty of Versailles which brought many problems to Germany. It was made to pay huge amounts of money in reparations to France and Belgium, give up certain areas of land, had its army limited in size and was not allowed to join any military alliance. This later act of the Treaty made Germany feel that they had been hard done by and that they had been betrayed by The Allies. This anger led them to look for a leader who would help them get revenge on those who they felt were responsible for their problems. This man was Adolf Hitler who promised the German people a better future and a way for them to get back at those whom he believed had wronged them. He started by breaking the Treaty of Versailles but this drew attention from other countries so he decided that it would be better for him to invade countries without anyone noticing or stopping him as he’d have a better chance of success this way. This happened when Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia, Austria, Poland and France without anyone realising he was doing it until it was too late.