Can someone please explain in one post why WWI began, why WWII

>WW1
Competition between European powers boiled over, too expensive not to have a war, as the only alternative was deescalation.

>WW2
Germany got blamed for WW2 and was punished heavily by the allies to set them back, destroying their economy. Italy had been an ally but got fucked in the aftermath of WW1. Separately, Japan wanted to be an empire. Germany lashed out, Italy followed them in the hopes of receiving their gibs, and the Japanese just went nuts in Asia.

>>3098922
Oh, and ended:

>WW1
Mass slaughter all round, Germany surrendered. Allies completely fuck it in the Treaty of Versaille.

>WW2
Allies invade Germany, detonate two nuclear weapons in Japan. Germany is temporarily partitioned between the allies, but this partly remains for the duration of the Cold War. Nippon rebuilds and becomes Anime land

>>3098922
*Germany got blamed for WW1

Isn't this question literally just one google search away? I understand theres already lots of shit threads, but that doesn't mean you should add to the pile of shit.

>>3099002
Actually it is not one Google search away. There are only massive books and huge articles written on this topic, which take too much time to read. I wanted just a simple informative post

>WWI
A product of the European alliance system pitting one half against the other, as well as Wilhelm II's complete inability to maintain the fragile order of things that von Bismarck had maintained for decades and making an enemy out of Russia. Franz Ferdinand's assassination was the spark in the powderkeg, where Serbia called in Russia (who called in France & England), and Austria called in Germany, Bulgaria, & the Ottomans. America got involved in 1917 due to perceived threats to its sovereignty (Zimmerman telegram, Lusitania) and helped break the stalemate enough to make Germany sue for peace.

Russia had meanwhile fallen to a communist revolution due to its massive losses and the Tsar's unpopularity. They had surrendered in 1917, ceding vast amounts of territory to Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Most of this land was invaded by the Soviets in the following years, with the notable exception of Poland. In the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was defined as the main aggressor in the war guilt clause (this is important later). All their colonies were divided up among the victorious powers, various territories full of ethnic minorities were given to their respective countries (Alsace-Lorraine to France, northern Slesvig to Denmark, Danzig corridor to Poland, etc.), their military's size was restricted, and the monarchy was dissolved. Austria-Hungary was similarly broken up into its constituent ethnic nations and the monarchy dissolved, while the Ottomans lost their non-Turkish territoires (their monarchy was dissolved from within by Ataturk).

>>3099008
This is a great answer, thank you

>>3099008

>WWII
World War II was essentially a reaction to the outcome of World War I. Italian fascism rose because of feelings that their sacrifices during the war were ignored by the Allies. German fascism rose because they felt that their defeat was undeserved because (((someone))) had stabbed their nation in the back, the Versailles Treaty was unfair and demonized them (remember the war guilt clause?), and the new democratic government wasn't doing enough to help alleviate the economy during the Depression. The Nazis were up-and-coming, and Hitler was made chancellor in hopes that they'd stop violently fighting in the streets. He later used the Reichstag fire decree to seize power after Hindenburg died, and then launched into the rhetoric about living space, the dual threats of Judaism and communism, restoring German dignity, etc.
Japan was mostly following a trend of colonial conquest and expansionism that preceded the war. They had conquered Korea in 1910, seized Germany's Pacific colonies during WWI, and were trying to put the Chinese mainland under puppet governments. The US wasn't liking it and cut off oil shipments, and it was starting to hurt their economy & military. The plan with Pearl Harbor was to cripple US involvement in the Pacific long enough for them to entrench themselves, but they underestimated American determination to fuck over people they hate.

After the war, all Axis nations involved unconditionally surrendered. Germany (and for a while, Austria) were split between the main Allied powers, and Japan was put under a (somewhat) more democratic government to create a quick US ally against communism. This essentially removed fascism as an ideological possibility, leading to a bilateral Cold War between capitalist & communist nations.

Sure, I did it in two posts, but close enough.

>>3099059
Thank you - the two posts were much enjoyed. There are actual non-losers on 4chan

>>3099059
Were the nukes on Japan due to the fear that Japan would continue the attack, or just to retaliate in massive fashion?

>>3098874
>WWI
Tug-of-war between Empires, ended with Austria-Hungary, Russia, and the Ottomans in shambles, and Germany was humiliated

>WWII
Germany nationalized its central bank which angered international banking conglomerates. UK/France declared war on Germany after the Russo-German partition of Poland. It ended with Germany and the rest of Europe in smoldering ruins, 60 million dead, and a Jewish state in Palestine

File: If you touch me now.jpg (95KB, 736x622px) Image search: [Google]

95KB, 736x622px

As technology advanced, the balance of power among the nations of Europe shifted and they set up a system of alliances to compensate. No country could back down for fear of looking weak or allow the enemy to use "salami tactics", all expected the next war to be fought like the last one and didn't anticipate the huge cost. Like a chain reaction, when "one guy was assassinated", Austria attacked Serbia, Russia defended Serbia, Germany attacked Russia, etcetera... After a war of attrition, Germany faced internal political problems and backed down, however rapid changes were still taking place and soon Germany was a power again.

The great depression and Germany's authoritarian political culture allowed a demagogue to rise to power with a desire to risk war. Similarly Japanese militarists gained influence and pushed for a risky war in China. Germany's invasion of France beat all expectations due to a perhaps unintentional concentration of forces and combined arms tactics and the same tactics allowed them to push far into Russia, however again it soon became a war of logistics and attrition with Japan joining the war due to the USA's oil boycott.

>>3099093
It was a combination of many factors.

In the first place, even by that point it was not a matter of 'continuing the attack,' but rather 'continuing the defense.' The fear was that Japan would be so galvanized against an invading force that their entire population would be pressed into the same suicidal tactics which had made the Pacific campaign so protracted and withering for the Allied forces. The potential casualties were considered so tremendous (nearly a million for the Allies, and a massive portion of Japan's entire population, a majority of which would be civilian) that by comparison the atomic bombings were far more palatable.

In addition, although the Soviet Union had no real way to reach mainland Japan when they swept across Manchuria, it would hardly have been long before they'd produced such a capacity, and given the enormity of the proposed invasion campaign, it was well within the realm of possibility, though perhaps not high probability, that they would be able to launch a second invasion and split Japan with the Allies as they had done with Germany.

>>3098874
do your own homework you little teenage fuck
and take your jewbook memes back to jewbook

>>3099235
Thanks buddy. I consider this homework, hearing from people who know the history and know how to condense into good explanations. But you took time to post stupid shit like most people on 4chan. Because you're an ignorant teen virgin

>>3099247
>durr write my essay for me virgin virgin virgin
at least try to hide the fact that you're in high school. Now genuinely fuck off and read Wikipedia or something, or go back to plebbit where you're obviously from if you want to demand spoonfeeding like a toddler.

>>3099264
I'm not in high school. I'm 34 with a PhD, and a postdoc at Harvard. I'm just learning how to use 4chan and thought this would be a good thread. Plus I never could understand WW1/2 by internet searches and don't want to read a textbook

>>3099284
Yeah and my dad works at nintendo faggot