Declaration Of War Dbq Essay

In response to Russian Empire’s and Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against each other after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. Three days later, the German Reichstag declared Burgfrieden or “civil peace” which declared for people to set aside their conflicts aside and unite to defend the country. Most Germans expecting a rapid victory, enthusiastically supported the war. Their views, however, shifted from ebullience to one of detest. Opinions toward war all varied to each person. Some supported the war through the end, while some changed their view and wanted the war to end. In another perspective, some saw the war as an economic opportunity. Wars were series of repetitious events that occurred throughout the history of mankind. No matter how horrid they
It was nothing new to those who realized the cost of the war in the beginning as S. Jobs, a columnist, noted. Among the rush of enthusiasm among the Berlin population, there were “a quiet, serious, even shaken group of people.” (Doc. 5) Both solemn and enthusiastic attitudes grew into frustration. A military administrator of a rural province reported to his superiors, which was formal and accurate, that one woman voiced her displeasure and refused to work for the government stating, “I can’t take it any more.” (Doc 9) Evelyn Blucher von Wahlstatt accounted in her diary—which was unbiased because of the private information in the diary—that she heard the complaints of women in the streets. Those women were starving and lost their husbands in the war; loss of their husband also meant the loss of income to support the family. (Doc 8) Those who had enough of the war formed a radical labor party. They made a list of demands to the government to end the war and to ease the burden of their economic problems according to a police report in