world wor 1 and 2

[oliviamegan]

why did the first and second  world wor start

[brachiopod]

I WAS GOING TO SAY THAT !!!

Except I couldn't remember the exact quote, spent ages googling for it, and then decided not to bother in the end.

Still, nice one, ansteyg !!

[bernardo]

(1) The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Bosnian Serb nationalist in Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia) was perceived by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to be a provocative act of aggression inspired or ordered by the Serbian government in pursuance of the nationalist/ secessionist/ irredentist aspirations of the Serbs within the Empire and in Serbia itself; the resulting diplomatic conflict between Serbia and Austro-Hungary was exacerbated by the network of international alliances whereby Russia supported Serbia, Britain and France supported Russia, and Germany and Turkey supported Austria-Hungary.

(2) The gradual aggression and expansion by Nazi Germany into neighbouring territories (Saar, Rhineland, Austria, Sudetenland, Moravia, Czechoslovakia, the Polish corridor and Poland) was met by acquiescence and appeasement by Britain and France, neutralist isolationism by the USA and disregard by the USSR, leading to the emboldening of the Nazi regime to further conquests and acts of aggresssion, accompanied by a rapid growth in the militarisation of German forces, until the other countries were too late and too weak to prevent further expansion by diplomatic means alone, and a war became inevitable in order to prevent further unrestricted aggressive expansion by Germany.

[bernardo]

The rules of synchrography mean that a more detailed and therefore more accurate answer tends to play second fiddle to the less detailed and thuis more amusing epigrams such as those above.

[bernardo]

Or:

(1) Because Archduke Ferdinand got killed

(2) Because Hitler invaded Poland

(3) Because Mrs Trellis from North Wales cut her next-door neighbour's seven-year-old daughter's pet armadillo in half with a scythe

[Yeah Bee]

Of course Bernardo writes a essay about it. I know the name of the assasin: Gavrilo Princip.

You can also say that the second ww started because of the first. The germans were very angry because of the peace terms. The american president wanted to go leanient on the fritz but the brits and the frogeaters went mediviel on the fritz

[bernardo]

There is one school of thought that says that the Second World War was from 1914 to 1945 (with a brief period of readjustment from 1918 to 1939) and that the First World War was 1798 to 1815 (the Napoleonic Wars).

[Bangkok]

WW1 was probably a disaster waiting to happen.  Large wars have happened roughly every 40 years for a number of reasons (enough men to fight, forgetting the stupidity, attempts to regain what was lost).  Tension in Europe was increasing alarmingly and if Princip has not contributed to the chain of events, someone else would have done in a different way. 

There are lots of books on this, the most recent one I have read and enjoyed was John Keegan's World War One

[Yeah Bee]

Gavrilo Princip wasen't even they chosen assasin, he really got lucky cuz the car with the archduke took a wrong turn

[Texas Yank]

The numbered response that gives the reasons for WWI and WWII is a very good answer except it errs in implying Russian/Soviet indifference and excludes militaristic actions in Asia and Africa.  The Soviets seized Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.  Invaded Poland from the East as agreed with Nazi Germany and defeated Finland to secure territorial concessions.  The communist were not GOOD Guys in WWII.  The Japanese were allowed to seize Manchuria in 1931 and invaded China in 1937.  The Italians seized Ethiopia in 1935.  The Russians, Italians, and Germans all meddle in the Spanish Civil War.  The Russians, Germans and Japanese meddle in the Chinese Civil War.   All of this aggression around the world going unchecked emboldened the Madmen in control of countries like Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Communist Russia, and Japan embark on reckless military adventures without regard to consequences.