Was WW1 pointless?

It was a sad, pointless war, for which we're still paying a price. A hard-hearted peace treaty and a ravaged economy produced a “lost generation” of young Germans and led directly to the rise of Hitler and an even uglier worldwide conflagration.

Why was WW1 a pointless war?

World War I has been called unnecessary because the original dispute that triggered the conflict was limited, yet it triggered a massive, global war.

What was the most pointless war?

The War of Jenkins' Ear

For good measure and no reason, they also cut off his ear. Eight years later, the British were looking for an excuse to force Spain out of the Caribbean and South America, so they launched a war that saw 25,000 dead or wounded and nearly 5,000 ships lost to avenge that ear.

Did WW1 achieve anything?

World War I was one of the great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical history. It led to the fall of four great imperial dynasties (in Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey), resulted in the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and, in its destabilization of European society, laid the groundwork for World War II.

Is WW1 the worst war in history?

The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was about 40 million: estimates range from around 15 to 22 million deaths and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.

The First World War Was NOT Pointless

What were the odds of dying in WW1?

About one to every 10,000 men. With one exception – I'll speak about that later – there has been no widespread disease among the armies on the western front. This is a splendid record. In our previous wars thousands of soldiers died in hospitals without ever seeing action.

What historical event killed the most humans?

Table ranking "History's Most Deadly Events": Influenza pandemic (1918-19) 20-40 million deaths; black death/plague (1348-50), 20-25 million deaths, AIDS pandemic (through 2000) 21.8 million deaths, World War II (1937-45), 15.9 million deaths, and World War I (1914-18) 9.2 million deaths.

Why should the US join WW1?

Germany's resumption of submarine attacks on passenger and merchant ships in 1917 became the primary motivation behind Wilson's decision to lead the United States into World War I.

How important was the US in WW1?

The American Expeditionary Forces arrived in Europe in 1917 and helped turn the tide in favor of Britain and France, leading to an Allied victory over Germany and Austria in November 1918. By the time of the armistice, more than four million Americans had served in the armed forces and 116,708 had lost their lives.

What if WW1 had not ended?

Germany would have become an economic, scientific and cultural powerhouse. The United States would have remained more isolated, less intertwined with the rest of the world, and also less tolerant of the rights of women, blacks, Jews and other minority groups.

What war lasted 38 minutes?

The little known Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 is generally considered to be the shortest war in history, lasting for a grand total of 38 minutes. The story begins with the signing of the Heligoland-Zanzibar treaty between Britain and Germany in 1890.

Who never defeated in the war?

In antiquity, no one stands taller than Alexander the Great - the young military genius who never once lost a battle and established a vast empire that heralded a new historical era.

How bad was WW1 for soldiers?

Casualties were extremely high, with many men killed and wounded: attackers often suffered higher casualties than defenders. Wounded men were carried or escorted back to field hospitals for treatment, while the dead could only be buried if there was a suitable break in the fighting.

Why did men not want to fight in WW1?

Around 16,000 men refused to take up arms or fight during the First World War for any number of religious, moral, ethical or political reasons. They were known as conscientious objectors. Godfrey Buxton found that some of his fellow Christians questioned the war from the outset.

What did soldiers say was so wrong with the trenches?

Disease and 'shell shock' were rampant in the trenches.

Trench mouth, a type of gum infection, was also problematic and is thought to be associated with the stress of nonstop bombardment.

Who would have won WW1 without America?

It must be baldly stated: Germany would have won World War I had the U.S. Army not intervened in France in 1918. The French and British were barely hanging on in 1918. By year-end 1917, France had lost 3 million men in the war, Britain 2 million.

What would have happened if the US didn't enter WW1?

Without the backing of American weaponry, munitions and loans, the Allies would have been forced to abandon their goal of the knockout blow. The war might have ended in 1915 or 1916 with a negotiated peace based on the mutual admission that the conflict had become a stalemate.

How did the US feel about WW1?

When WWI began in Europe in 1914, many Americans wanted the United States to stay out of the conflict, supporting President Woodrow Wilson's policy of strict and impartial neutrality. “The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name during these days that are to try men's souls.

Did the US matter in WW1?

The entry of the United States was the turning point of the war, because it made the eventual defeat of Germany possible. It had been foreseen in 1916 that if the United States went to war, the Allies' military effort against Germany would be upheld by U.S. supplies and by enormous extensions of credit.

What were the 3 reasons the US entered WW1?

What would have happened if America didn't join ww2?

Without the US in WWII, the western Allies would have had no resources or manpower to defeat Germany. Russia was able to turn back Germany largely on the strength of money and materials that the US provided. In the Pacific, no power would have effectively resisted, let alone defeated, Japan.

What is the bloodiest day in history?

The bloodiest single day in the history of the United States military was June 6, 1944, with 2,500 soldiers killed during the Invasion of Normandy on D-Day. The second-highest single-day toll was the Battle of Antietam with 2,108 dead.

What was the deadliest day in world history?

The heaviest loss of life for a single day occurred on July 1, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, when the British Army suffered 57,470 casualties.

Who killed the most humans in the US?

Samuel Little, the United States' most prolific serial killer according to the FBI, died in California aged 80 on Wednesday. He confessed to 93 murders -- mostly of women -- carried out between 1970 and 2005.