Compare and contrast the causes of World War I and World War II?

Question:How would you compare them...

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: How would you compare them...

The thing you don't want to do here is fall into the "they were both Germany's fault" trap. If this is an assigned essay question, that might be what your teacher is pushing for. Or maybe not. In any event, avoid it. It's a far more complicated picture than that. I would say that the First World War had roots in the late 19th century. The Schlieffen Plan was written in resonse to the experiences of the time, which were very different than the world in 1914. It seems to me that the First World War was a series of bad coincidences and poor planning. Germany mobilized in response to Austria's military need, Britain was unclear how committed it was to defending Belgium, Russia's infrastructure had improved in the intervening years between 1906 (the last modification of the Schlieffen Plan) and 1914 so troops were on the German border sooner than expected. Also, it's been argued that WWI was primarily a conflict between Britain and Germany. People in both countries had been pushing for a war between the two most powerful European nations since at least the 1890s. And there is something to be said for the rather over-used argument that people simply did not expect such a protracted, bloody disaster and therefore public opinion was in favor of war. As for the Second World War, it really was a war of aggression on the German side. Perhaps there are some apologists or revisionists who would disagree and I would like to hear their arguments, but everything I've ever read really does lay the blame firmly at Germany's (Hitler's) door. Most people wanted to avoid a conflict because the experience in 1914-18 had been so awful. The "war to end all wars" was not meant to imply that there would be no one left to fight another war because of the devastation. It was actually meant to imply that people would desire peace and harmony so war would become nothing but a memory, a much more positive vision. So long story short, perhaps I'd say that the First World War was a defensive war on ALL sides, including Germany, while the Second World War was a war of aggression perpetrated by Germany.