World Wars I and II Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

World Wars I and II - Research Paper Example In the Second World War, there was the Allies on one side and the Axis on the other side. Thus, there are a myriad of differences and similarities characterizing the two wars. This paper compares and contrasts the two wars with regards to their origins. The First World War began on July 28, 1914 and came to an end on November 11, 1918. The war was majorly fought in Europe and it incorporated the world’s greatest powers which had formed two major alliances opposing each other. On one hand, there was the Allies which was based on the Triple Entebbe of the United Kingdom, Russia and France (Dowswell, Brocklehurst, and Brook 57-59). On the other hand, there was the Central powers which consisted of the Tipple Alliance of Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary. Even so, the alliances were not inclined to the six countries exclusively. With time, more and more nations joined the war expanding the alliances even further. Also, the alliances reorganized themselves as time went by. In the final analysis, there war attracted over 20 million soldiers across the world with Europeans constituting a larger percentage (Duffy). The origins of this war can be attributed to a myriad of both long-term and short-term causes in the world history. As such, the long-term factors include a variety of conflicts and hostilities that had marred the European nations prior to the war. This includes the imperialist foreign polices that had dominated the European great powers including the Russian empire, the French Republic, the Austro-Hungarian empire, the British Empire as well as the Italy. However, the most immediate cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was an heir to the Austria-Hungary throne. According to Duffy, the assassination occurred on June 28, 1914. Following this tragic assassination, a series of wars were triggered. To begin with, there was a Habsburg ultimatum against Serbia. Consequently, the alliances which had been