Writing Assignment Compare and Contrast World Wars I & II

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Compare and Contrast World Wars I and II. Be sure to focus on the causes of each conflict, major nations involved and their leaders, and the overall impact on world history.
The First and Second World Wars represent the largest military conflicts in the history of mankind. There has never been wars or conflicts that have matched the magnitude and destruction that these two wars brought. The two wars share some similarities especially when one considers the participants. However, there are also some major and notable differences which help to explain the intricacies of each war further.
The first difference between these two wars is the number of years each took as well as the time in history that each war happened. The First World War was fought from 1914 to 1918 while the Second World War was fought from 1939 to 1945. The former lasted for four years while the latter lasted for six years.
Aside from the period and duration of each war, the causes of the war were also different. The First World War was caused by a number of things whose rippling effects led to the war. These include the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914, nationalism, militarism, imperialism, as well as alliance system. On the other hand, the Second World War was triggered or caused by the internal situation in Germany. The political and economic turmoil in Germany was indeed a major cause of the war because it led to the ascension of Adolf Hitler to power. Hitler was mainly concerned with the unfair conditions of the Treaty of Versailles and therefore, moved to form an alliance with both Japan and Italy.
The nations involved is also another difference between the two wars. In the First World War, the conflict was between the Central powers which encompassed countries like Germany, Turkey, Austria, and Hungary and the Allied powers which included countries like Japan, France, Britain, Italy, Russia, and subtly the US. The Second World War saw countries like Japan and Italy switching their loyalty and opting to fight alongside Germany. It was a conflict between the Allied forces encompassing the U.S., Britain, France, China, and the Soviet Union and the Axis powers which was made up of Italy, Germany, and Japan.
While the above points highlight the differences between the two wars, it is essential to acknowledge that there were some notable similarities. For example the economic implications of each war as well as the loss of people and property. Each war led to devastating results with people losing their lives and property worth millions getting destroyed. However, one of saddest similarity involves two genocides one by the Ottoman Empire on Armenians and the other by the German Nazis against the Jews, people with disabilit...