Causes of Conflicts in The 20th Century

Causes of Conflicts in the 20th Century

World War 1

·         Assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. He was the heir to the throne.

·         Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia had a treaty with Serbia and mobilised their army against Austria-Hungary.

·         Germany had a treaty with Austria-Hungary and then declared war against Russia.

·         France had a treaty with Russia and then declared war on Germany.

·         Britain was allied to France and had a loose treaty and declared war on Germany.

·         This brought in commonwealth nations such as Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa.

·         USA entered the war because German submarines were affecting supply routes to England.

World War 2

·         Invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939.

·         Invasion of China by Japan in 1937.

Vietnam War

·         In 1945 Vietnam was declared independent but Britain and China helped the French to return.

·         In 1954 the Viet Minh attack French forces. Peace talks were held and the country was divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

·         The USA was then worried about the spread of communism so sent troops to Vietnam.

Korean War

·         North Korea wanted to unite the country and be a communist nation while the South wanted to resist communism. Russia also wanted to spread communism and helped the North.

The Gulf War

·         Saddam Hussain had a big debt left over from the Iraq-Iran War and needed some way of coming up with the money. He thought oil was the best way so he attacked their southern neighbours Kuwait.

·         Kuwait then asked the US for help to get rid of the Iraqis.