The great war

The great war




Historical Essay America and the Great War

Jenna Sherry



United States History
HIST 405





Historical Essay America and the Great War
Nationalism of the 19th century was a successful political force, it emerged from two “sources” ("First World War: Nationalism, Militarism, Imperialism," n.d.). At the time, these two sources were the Romantic exaltation of "feeling" and "identity" and the Liberal requirement based on a "people". There are two ways to exemplify these sources of nationalism. The French method, which is essentially that anyone who accepted loyalty to the civil French state, was a "citizen" which is also called the “inclusion” method; the German method, which required by political circumstances, used ethnic terms to define the people. The German ethnic identity in practice came down to speaking German and in some cases having a German name.
Initially much of the Great War was due to the people of Slavic Descent in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These people Slavic Descent no longer wanted to be part of Austria-Hungary, but to be part of Serbia (Kelly, n.d.). Although in a more general way, it was the nationalism of all the various countries in Europe, which contributed to the beginning, as well as the extension of the war. With each country trying to prove, their dominance and power, as well as the mutual defense alliances that were in place prior to the war.
Imperialism of the late 19th to early 20th century stemmed from the fact that Africa and even some parts of Asia were rich in raw materials (Kelly, n.d.). These materials created a contention in much of the European countries. The countries involved attempted to increase their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their national flag. Due to the increase of countries attempting to bring more territories under their control, increased confrontations that helped push the European powers into the Great War in July of 1914. This in turn brought them back to...

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