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World War One and World War Two affected all the countries involved greatly. In this compare and contrast WW1 and WW2 essay, both of them are similar in some ways but majorly different in many ways. Both of these wars were more or less the same in the causation, the conclusion, and the propaganda. However, the differences between ww1 and ww2 were significant. For instance, the number of fatalities, cost of wars, and military strategies were highly different.
To compare WWI and WWII, presenting it through examples is the best method, as it assists readers to understand its crux and eventually get their attention. Starting after the murder of Archduke Frances Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914, world war 1 erupted. However, this was not the same case with world war 2. Because of Germany’s political and economic instability, the country went to war, but that was not all. The unfavorable terms of the treaty of Versailles also added to the causes of World War 2. The Germans were very displeased with the treaty of Versailles because they were required to pay handsome amounts of money for the things affected by the war. They also had to give up the lands they lost to the invaders, which infuriated them even more. Besides, the Germans unwillingly agreed to this treaty as they had no other choice. However, when the great depression came, it became impossible for Germans to pay for the reparations. Apart from that, World War 1 was entirely centered on imperialism, while World War 2 was a consequence of conflict on a set of ideas.
The first war was mainly fought to take over lands, while the second was a fight between fascism and communism. However, one of the main similarities of both wars was that each country wanted more power from the next one. In world war one, germans had the idea that they deserved more power than they already did. The thought of Germans getting more power frightened France, England, and Russia, for which they went to war against Germans. By the time of world war, two Germany and Japan were driven by the same motive, of gaining more power than they already had. The Germans wanted first to rebuild their strength which they lost in the first war. As for Japan, they wanted to increase their kingdom, ultimately building it to the enormous power. Because of such intentions, their allies turned against them as they wanted the optimal balance of power among all the significant countries. In World War I, Hitler decided to accept his defeat and call for a cease-fire. It was one of the essential differences, as in World War II, Hitler agreed that it was a do-or-die situation. So, Hitler fought to the very end, and when all was lost, he committed suicide in an underground bunker in Berlin by swallowing a cyanide capsule and later shooting himself in the head. This act of Hitler had significant repercussions as it led to mass destruction in the end. The casualties in World War One and World War Two were different to a great extent.
After World War One ended, people analyzed the number of dead, wounded, imprisoned, or missing persons. There was ten million dead in the first war, twenty-one million wounded, and seven-point seven million were not found anywhere or imprisoned. On the other hand, there was a total of fifty-five million civil and military deaths in World War Two. WWII was based on a larger scale than WWI. For instance, there were seven times more casualties, more depreciation of infrastructure, and several other things than in World War I. Also, because world war two was based on a larger scale, it included the whole world. While in World War Two, the fight primarily took place in parts of Europe. What shocked everybody incredibly was the difference in the monetary cost when World War I and World War 2 compare and contrast are made. The people already knew that the number of fatalities in World War II would be greater than in World War I. However, they were surprised when they calculated and compared both the war’s costs. Approximately the first war had a total cost of three hundred and eighty billion dollars; on the other hand, the second world war incurred a price of forty-two thousand billion dollars. So, even if the cost factor is considered, anyone can immediately conclude that world war one was significantly different from World War II. One of the exciting things in the differences between both these wars was the way they were fought. In World War I, warfare was quite different and traditional. During the first war, soldiers would fight face-to-face with the enemy in trenches. They would use different types of artillery like sub-machine guns, light machine guns, conventional aircraft, and gases known to be fatal. However, this was not the case in WW II. The method of fighting changed to advanced warfare in this war. World War Two was fought using nuclear weapons such as missiles and bombs. In the second war, more submarines and land-dwelling war machines were used. The subs were mainly used for transferring secret encrypted codes and messages. These same submarines were also used to decode the enemy encrypted codes and messages. Landline telephones were used in World War One, while till the time of the second war, radios had been invented.
One of the significant similarities in both of these wars was the propaganda or misleading information. The propaganda was a thing that both the wars were remarkably dependant upon. This misleading information was used to create nationalism by supporting the winning and the losing side of the war. A great example of propaganda was that Uncle sam was hesitant to participate in the war at first. However, when the united states joined in, the propaganda automatically showed up. Now, men showed patriotism for their motherland and convinced other men to join with them in fighting. Just like this, there was the same propaganda for the second world war.
The propaganda, in the end, brought the whole country together to support the fight. Thus, World War I and World War II seem to be very similar and different. Conclusively, If an individual looks at both the wars economic-wise, they were different, but they had significant differences if it is evaluated from a military perspective.