LIKE A PLAGUE UPON THE EARTH: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1894-1898
By James Anderson
By James Anderson
The War that broke out in April of 1894 cost thousands if not millions of lives. The economy of Europe, North America, Asia, and practically the entire world was vastly altered in those four years of bloodshed. Some countries saw their economies ruined while others benfited from the war. It saw the introduction of drigables, the first widespread use of machine guns, not to mention modern rifles. Land and Naval warfare were forever changed. New state of the art warships, such as the battleship and the use of submarines became dominant at sea. It was the last war to see the use of cavarly. On the more sinister side, it also saw the use of chemical warfare(namely gas), the destruction of cities, widespread killing of civilians and unfortuantly, the first of what would latter be called 'death camps'.
The War that raged for four years saw the rise of world powers that would dominate the world for the next 50 years. Politics were also changed. In some countries monarchs gave way to democracy, while others gave way to anarchy and dictators. Nothing was quite the same after. Many people agree that although a world war was inevitable (at least for another 20+ years), the aftermath of this war would unleash 3 more wars like it. By the time a peace finally settled over the world in 2000, so many people had died that many wonder how the hell the world survived total destruction.
There were many causes that sparked this war, from alliances being formed and broken, an arms race that saw the development of weapons that would bring so much calamity upon the world, to politics, to the people in general, many agree that one event led to the war, although many did not see it at the time. This event altered the world in such a way that countries that became enemies would have ended up friends had the event went the other way. That event was the Union defeat during the American Civil War. Because of this, many generations of people suffered for the next 136 years.
The War that raged for four years saw the rise of world powers that would dominate the world for the next 50 years. Politics were also changed. In some countries monarchs gave way to democracy, while others gave way to anarchy and dictators. Nothing was quite the same after. Many people agree that although a world war was inevitable (at least for another 20+ years), the aftermath of this war would unleash 3 more wars like it. By the time a peace finally settled over the world in 2000, so many people had died that many wonder how the hell the world survived total destruction.
There were many causes that sparked this war, from alliances being formed and broken, an arms race that saw the development of weapons that would bring so much calamity upon the world, to politics, to the people in general, many agree that one event led to the war, although many did not see it at the time. This event altered the world in such a way that countries that became enemies would have ended up friends had the event went the other way. That event was the Union defeat during the American Civil War. Because of this, many generations of people suffered for the next 136 years.