by Lincoln Hay

Created on: August 24, 2010

"In war-time the word patriotism means suppression of truth." - Siegfried Sassoon.  From 1914 to 1918, Lieutenant Sassoon witnessed one of the most horrific battles of all time: World War 1.  About 16 million people died during the war and another 21 million were wounded on European soil.  The causes of the battle started to escalade in 1815.  This war was caused mainly by three equally important ideas: imperialism, nationalism and militarism.

In 1815, Britain gained the Cape of Good Hope in the south of Africa.  Dutch farmers in Africa, known as Boers, had earlier migrated to the south to escape religious persecution. Tensions between the Boers and the British became so large that in 1837, the Boers split into two settlements, the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State.  In these new areas, the Boers later discovered gold and diamonds.  These discoveries made Britain envious, so on October 11, 1899, the British and the Boers went to war.  This battle is known as the Boer War.  Jealous of the Boers’ resources, Britain tried to extend their territory to acquire more resources, but failed due to the Boers practice of guerilla warfare.  Using the land to their advantage, they were able to hold their ground until the British kidnapped their women and children.  For fear of the hostages being killed, they surrendered on May 2, 1902.  

This war acted as a wake-up call to the British, who’s army of 500 000 was militarily dominated by 30 000 farmers.  For many years, Britain held the belief of “splendid isolation”, in which they would not make allies.  This was to protect their national identity as if to say, “we are strong enough on our own, who needs allies?”  After struggling in the Boer War; however, Britain felt vulnerable and abolished the idea.  If they could be beaten by a fraction of the size of their own army, they feared what a larger army could do, so in 1904, the Entente Cordiale with France was made, since the Germans were sympathetic to the Boers and were part of the Triple Alliance formed in 1882 with Austria-Hungary and Italy.  A similar case is that of the Russo-Japanese War from 1904 to 1905.  Russia, a country with a navy nearly three times the size of Japan’s, fought the Japanese which ended in a humiliating defeat for the Russians, as the Japanese only had forces of 150 000 ready to mobilize.  Russia then

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