The And Intensification Of World War One - 1218 Words

The Prolongation and Intensification of World War One by Its Belligerents. The First World War started from a minor conflict. However, poor decisions and lack of logical thinking by various belligerents, especially Germans, caused the minor conflict to become ‘The Great War’. Although, the German contribution to intensify the war was greater, all other belligerents who were influenced by the Germans in making decisions during the war were inclined to mistakes, leading to the disastrous outcome of the war. The First World War began as a minor conflict between Austria and Serbia. The conflict rose after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the emperor of Austria-Hungary. Soon, the conflict turned into a European War when the†¦show more content†¦The Germans’ purpose for fighting was to attain the status of world power. They were not satisfied with simply to preserving Germany (Howard 9). â€Å"They claimed for Germany the status, not only of a Great Power, but of a World Power, Weltmacht† (Howard 10). Such a great ambition drove them to make rationally wrong decisions during the war. â€Å"There was certainly no logic in the decision by the German General Staff that, in order to support the Austrians in a conflict with Russia over Spain, Germany should attack France and do so by invading Belgium†(Howard 23). It was certainly a mistake to attack Belgium who was promised protection by the Germans themselves. Immediately after the invasion of Bel gium, previously neutral Britain was provoked into joining the war, spreading the war zone to the west. This decision increased the damage to each county as well as the number of countries affected. As bigger and more powerful countries entered the war, the battlefield expanded and so did the number of those who died. Perhaps the unprecedented catastrophic events were due to the fact that several more poor decisions were made by the German commanders in addition to the one above. Another German mistake was the usage of violent and destructive methods in an attempt to win the war. Their actions displayed inhumanity. â€Å"Seeing saboteurs and francs-tireurs even when they did not exist, German troops took and shot an