WWI and WW2
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Total war is mainly characterized by the lack of distinction between fighting lawful combatants and civilians. The need to defeat the enemy by all means such going to the extent of attacking even the supply of food, the families of the enemy, paralyzing both the economy and killing the civilians, was defined by total war. Warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combatant needs. Total war called the entire nation into action rather than just its military.
Comparison between world war 1and 11
Similarities
Both World War 1 and 2 involved in total war.
Economic impact
In both wars, the economy of a government is very important as that is what circulates the money in the country. Attacking the economy ensure that the private organizations lack work to do as there are no tenders. Attack on food saw many people sleep hungry. World War I was a total war that involved the governments, economies and populations of participating nations. Economic production, allocation of manpower and nationalization of factories were done by the ministers who were in charge. All the military resources such the ships, trains and the vehicles preserved for military purposes. The government that was formed during the war acted to protect the security of the nation. The government imposed curfews and censorship to ensure that people stayed inside are war continued (Harrison, 1998).
In Germany, an allied naval blockade caused food shortages. Walter Rathenau, who has skills in the production of raw materials helped to promote food industry. There was department that was put in place to oversee the transport and labor sectors as the enemies would attack from all sides. In the late 1916, the auxiliary service law that was passed empowered the government. It employed any male adult to provide labor to the different sectors.
In France, the national economy was mobilized to ensure that the needs of the war were met and satisfied. Here, the government was less involved in planning the war. Privately-owned companies were given the authority to produce the weapons to be used during the war time. Through government orders, the private companies produced the weapons for the government.
The British government formed departments that controlled labor, transport and food. Here food security became the priority as it was possible that the enemies could frustrate people through food shortage.
Social similarities
The population were punished through execution and some suspected hostiles population were deported. The civilians together with the prisoners were forced to provide labor. In an example, both Germany and japan used forced laborers from other nations during the World War 2. Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn’t fit the image of the ‘perfect’ German. The men provided labor for the government. Civilians back home had to make major adjustments to their lifestyles: women took over for men in industry, food rationing came into effect, and business owners changed or adjusted their products to support the war.
Politics
In both wars, countries wanted to rule over the other, even if it meant killing both the civilians and the military people.
Differences
Politics
WWI was fought in the trenches and used machine guns and poisonous gas while WWII was fought using modern artillery and machines utilizing more airplanes, ships, tanks, and submarines.
The WWI were the Allied Powers and the Central Powers while the WWII were The Allies and The Axis powers.
The assassination of the archduke of Austria-Hungary caused world war 1 while WWII came by as an outcome of WWI which was used by Adolf Hitler to lead Germany to war.
Social differences
Around 350,000 American women served in the U.S. military during World War II while women took over for men in industry, food rationing came into effect, and business owners changed or adjusted their products to support the war.
Economy differences
It is estimated that the Allies spent $147 billion on the war and the Central Powers only $61 billion.
Decolonization and cold war
Cogley and Sargent, (2001), say the decolonization marks the end of colonialism in which nations took back their domination on overseas territories. Cold war can be defined as a long period of tension between the communist countries of Eastern Europe and the democracies of the western world. The Eastern Europe was led by Soviet Union while the Western side was led by the United States. Vietnam was one of the countries that fought the cold war under the protection of the Soviet Union. They struggled to ensure that there was the spread of communism in the East Asia while the US was solely against the communism. The aim was to prevent Communist domination of South-East Asia.
The process of decolonization was peaceful in other areas and in other countries decolonization was achieved through protracted revolution. Some countries achieved stable countries almost immediately while some nations were ruled by dictatorship. Decolonization was often affected by superpower competition, and had a definite impact on the evolution of that competition. During imperialism, Europe viewed the African and Asian continents as reservoirs of raw materials, labor, and territory for future settlement. The European loved settling in these areas. Following this move, the European exploited the labor and natural resources from the two continents.
The Vietnam War became so long costly and divisive. The communist government of North Vietnam went against the South Vietnam who supported the United States. The cold war intensified the conflict. Many of the people who were killed during the cold war in Vietnam were the Vietnam civilians. Due to the death of the many civilians, the US withdrew forces from e war and the war ended only when the North Vietnam seized control over the South Vietnam. Vietnams was colonized by the French and during the world war 2, the Japanese invaded Vietnam but the French inspired the Vietnam to be independent.
The 1945 defeat in World War 2, made Japan to withdraw forces from Vietnam however, the French attempted to be in control of Vietnam. But the Vietnam rose up when they saw an opportunity to seize the control. On seeing this, France sought to regain control of the region by making Saigon city as its capital. Both countries wanted a unified Vietnam.
The role of French, US and Vietnam
According to Taylor, (1996), when French was defeated in the Vietnam, the country got divided into two. The south and the North. The Americans supported the South while the North became communists. The south also supported the Korea. When the south failed to hold elections, the US became increasingly involved. Following the assassination of Diem, who was the president of the south, the south lost war against the communists. The US withdrew from the war and Vietnam regained independence.
References
Taylor, A. J. P. (1996). Origin of the second world war. Simon and Schuster.
Cogley, T., & Sargent, T. J. (2001). Evolving post-world war II US inflation dynamics. NBER macroeconomics annual, 16, 331-373.
Harrison, M. (1998). The economics of World War II: an overview. The economics of World War II: Six great powers in international comparison, 1-42.