Governments and their Flaws

During the 20th century many wars were waged that had devastating impacts on history as we know it. If we look back at wars such as World War I and World War II we can see that both were inflamed by the failures of governments to peacefully negotiate. Before World War I there was a surge of nationalism among the European countries, and as a result many believed their own country to be the very best and viewed other countries with distaste. According to the book World War II: A Short History by Michael J. Lyons "Governments were willing to go to the brink of war or beyond to safeguard what they considered to be national interests or to avenge supposed insults to national honor." Lyons also states that the nationalism at the time was "of a narrow, selfish, and strident type." This evidence shows that the governments of the time were more concerned with building themselves up to be the best, rather than to keep the peace between themselves. Countries soon began to take sides against one another, and soon you had the Triple Alliance consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy staring right into the eyes of a counter alliance known as the Triple Entente consisting of France, England, and Russia. Before the war had even started governments had already begun to take sides and mobilize their military without any honest attempt at a peaceful negotiation. As soon as Germany began to build up their navy England had to do the same, as soon as one alliance was formed another had to be formed to counter it, and so paranoia and lack of political negotiation had set the stage for war. Governments were also using propaganda to boost nationalism within its own country and raise support for a potential war effort. When war finally broke out young men were eager to enlist and fight. Thanks to the government's propaganda they believed that serving in the war would be a grand adventure, and fighting for their country would be a great honor. It was only soon after the troops discovered the lifestyle of trench warfare that the illusion of grandeur began to fade. The world had broken out into total war, with men fighting and dying for small patches of land in a savage war of attrition. It was only after the fighting began that men began to see the faults of their pride. Soon the war began to lose its popularity, and countries were faced with overwhelming death tolls. Many would believe that after the war the leaders of countries would have learned their lesson about the dangers of pride and crooked nationalism, but that was not the case. During peace negotiations after the war a treaty was drafted know as the Treaty of Versailles. Although at the end of the war no one was willing to take responsibility for causing it, however in the Treaty of Versailles Germany was given sole responsibility for causing the war. Because of this "War Guilt" clause Germany was forced to account for all war damages and to pay a massive war debt. Germany was also robbed of some of its territories and forced to demilitarize, leaving many Germans seething with hatred. Also during the peace treaty the Allies all had their own objectives, leaving one to believe that they were more concerned with obtaining spoils than with making peace and preventing war. In the end the Treaty of Versailles was fairly unsuccessful, failing to prevent World War II and leaving many compromises between the Allies with no one really having obtained everything they desired from the treaty. Coupled with that was an enraged Germany, whose people had been so engrossed in propaganda from the government that they had no idea they had even lost the war. In conclusion the governments had failed to communicate with each other regarding international relations, and they had failed to be honest with their own people. Governments were too intoxicated with pride before and after World War I and as a result the Earth was soon after introduced to the greatest and most destructive armed conflict in history, the dawning of World War II. Had governments been more concerned with finding a path to peace than with a path to greatness, who knows how many lives would have been saved.