Causes of war

A war between organised groups inside the same country fighting for control of the state — e.g. the Spanish Civil War (1936–39).

A war in which small, mobile fighters use ambushes, sabotage and hit-and-run raids instead of open battle, usually against a stronger regular army.

A war fought for restricted aims with restricted means, deliberately not using full power — e.g. the Korean War (1950–53).

A war in which a state mobilises its entire society — economy, industry, civilians, propaganda — and targets the enemy's whole population, as in WWII.

Economic, Ideological, Political, Territorial and Religious causes.

The Great Depression, which fuelled aggression by Germany and Japan and drove the hunt for resources and markets in the 1930s.

Long-term (underlying) causes build over years and make war likely; short-term (immediate) causes are the final events that set it off.

A cause is a reason the war happened; a catalyst (trigger) is merely the spark that set it off — e.g. the 1939 invasion of Poland.

It sparked the declarations of war, but the real causes were the Treaty of Versailles, the Depression, Nazi ideology and failed appeasement.

They judge the relative importance of causes — naming which mattered most and explaining why it outweighs the others, rather than just listing them.

Thematically: each paragraph takes one theme and discusses both wars together, so the essay genuinely compares — better than war-by-war.

'Why then?' (the trigger explains timing) and 'why at all?' (the deep long-term causes explain the war itself).

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism — the four long-term causes of WWI.

The belief that a country should build strong armed forces and be ready to use them to get what it wants.

Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy. Triple Entente: France, Russia, Britain.

Germany seized Alsace-Lorraine after defeating France in 1871, and France wanted revenge (revanche).

A rivalry where Germany built Dreadnought battleships to challenge British sea power, and Britain built even faster in response.

The idea that all Slavic peoples should unite, with Russia acting as their protector and leader.

Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, shot him in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 — the short-term trigger of WWI.

Germany's unconditional promise of support for whatever Austria-Hungary decided to do to Serbia after the assassination.

Blank cheque → Austrian ultimatum to Serbia → Russian mobilisation → German declarations of war on Russia and France.

Germany's plan to defeat France quickly by invading through neutral Belgium, then turn east against Russia.

Germany invaded neutral Belgium on 4 August 1914, and Britain had pledged in 1839 to defend Belgian neutrality.

A weighed judgement: assess how far one factor is responsible against other causes, then reach a supported conclusion.

The harsh peace that blamed Germany, took its land and colonies, limited its army and demanded reparations. Germans called it a 'diktat', and the anger fuelled Hitler's rise.

It had no army, the USA never joined, and it only talked when Japan took Manchuria (1931) and Italy took Abyssinia (1935) — teaching dictators that aggression paid.

The post-1929 slump destroyed jobs and trust in democracy, helped Hitler take power in 1933, and left Britain and France too weak and inward-looking to confront the dictators.

'Living space' — Hitler's plan to conquer land in Eastern Europe, especially Poland and the USSR, for German settlers.

Nazi expansionism (Lebensraum), Italian Fascism (a new Roman Empire), and Japanese militarism (an Asian empire).

Hitler sent troops into the demilitarised Rhineland, breaking Versailles. Britain and France did nothing.

The forbidden union of Germany and Austria, achieved when German troops marched in and Hitler annexed Austria unopposed.

Britain and France handed Hitler the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to avoid war. Chamberlain called it 'peace for our time' — the peak of appeasement.

Giving a dictator what he demands, hoping each concession will be the last — the policy Britain and France used towards Hitler in the 1930s.

Germany and the USSR agreed not to fight and secretly divided Poland, freeing Hitler to invade Poland without a two-front war.

Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939; Britain and France declared war on 3 September 1939.

Japanese expansion in Asia and the Pacific and the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 brought in the USA and merged the European and Asian wars.