First and Second World War

First and second world war

index

01 World War I: alliances

02 The causes

03 The conflict

04 The end of the Wolrd War I

05 World War II: alliances

06 The causes

07 The conflict

08 The end of the World War II

01

World War i: alliances

World war I

World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 which involved most of the assembled in two opposing alliances.

The two alliances in the WWI were:

• The Allies;
• The Central Powers.

More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. More than 15 million people were killed. making it one of the deadliest conflicts in history.

02

The causes

The causes

The assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is seen as the immediate trigger of the war, though long-term causes, such as imperialistic foreign policy, played a major role. Ferdinand's assassination at the hands of Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip resulted in demands against the Kingdom of Serbia. Several alliances that had been formed over the past decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war; with all having colonies, the conflict soon spread around the world.

03

the conflict

The conflict

The conflict opened with the German invasion of Belgium, Luxembourg and France; the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia and a Russian attack against Prussia. After the German march on Paris was stopped, the western front settled into a static battle with a trench line that changed little until 1917. In the East, the Russian army successfully fought against the Austro-Hungarian forces but were forced back by the German army. Additional fronts opened with Turkey joining the war in 1914, Italy in 1915 and Romania in 1916. German knocked Russia out of the war in 1917. After a 1918 German offensive along the western front, American forces entered the trenches and the German armies were driven back in a series of successfully allied offensives. Germany finally surrendered on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918.

04

the end of world war i

the end of world war i

Four of the major imperial powers (the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires) had been militarily and politically defeated, with the last two ceasing to exist. The revolutionised Soviet Union emerged from the Russian Empire, while the map of central Europe was redrawn into smaller states. The League of Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The European nationalism spawned after the war. The consequences of Germany's defeat, and of the Treaty of Versailles would eventually lead to the beginning of World War II in 1939.

05

World war ii: alliances

The two big alliances in World War II were:

• The Axis;
• The Allies.

world war ii: alliances

06

The causes

The causes

The first step to the start of the second World War, was the demands of Adolf Hitler for some Poland's territories, but Great Britain and France that were allied with Poland , didn't give way to these demands and resisted to the imposition of the Führer. So on 1st of September 1939, after the invasion of the German troops in Poland, Great Britain and France declared war to Germany.

07

the conflict

the conflict

the persecution of the Jews

The persecution of the Jews can be divided into three phases:

• 1933-1935: violence propaganda was started;
• 1935: the persecution was legalized and in 1938 the windows of Jewish shops were destroyed;
• 1941: the decision about Jewish extermination was made and in 1942 the deportation to concentration camps started

08

the end of world war ii

the end of world war ii

The allied Forces fought in Europe and in the Pacific the new atomic bombs destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima to induce Japan to surrender. The terrible World War ended in 1945 ,but a very high price had been paid : millions of Jews, soldiers and civilians were killed . The second World War was the bloodiest war of the history.After the end of WWII, the Europe was divided in two big blocks: the socialist one and the capitalistic one. Berlin was divided in 2 big parts (East and West), and the cold war started, ending in 1989.

Thanks fot the attention

By Grieco Riccardo Yuri