To what Extent was Imperial Germany the Main Reason for the Outbreak Literature review

To what Extent was Imperial Germany the Main Reason for the Outbreak of WWI - Literature review Example Austria-Hungary announced war on Russia as France and Great Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary six days later. Historians and academicians understand the origins of the First World War, or â€Å"the Great War† as it is known, as complex, intense and intricate. This write-up presents a literature review on the causes of World War 1 and particularly Imperial Germany’s role in it. The scale of the war was vast as European powers increased their military spending by more than 300% during the war. Overall, thirty-two nations participated in the war, twenty-eight of which were Allied and Associated Powers, whose principal belligerents were the British Empire, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, and the United States of America. The Central Powers opposing them were Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire. 2. Causes of World War I One of the initial writings concerning the causes of war, the summarized revisionist history, â€Å"Origins of World War I†, by Sidney Bradshaw Fay discusses the Immediate and Underlying Causes of the war (Fay, 1966). Fay suggests five key reasons behind World War 1: the system of secret alliances, militarism, nationalism, economic imperialism and the newspaper press. Other academicians (Weikart, 1993) have also added social Darwinism to one of the underlying causes of War. Scholars, however, give different weightages to different causes, based on the importance they place on each of the above factors. Author S.R. Williamson takes on a pragmatist perspective by emphasizing that, in the period immediately leading up to World War I, there was a â€Å"militarization of attitudes† all across Europe (Samuel R. Williamson, 1988). â€Å"Militarism† and â€Å"imperialism† were key motivating forces in majority of the European countries to attack each other. Williamson, in his study, however singles out Austria-Hungry as the distruptive force amongst all other nations. The Austria-Hungry Em pire was on a verge of disintegration and hence was preparing a realiatory attack on Serbia for the assasination of the archduke. Historian N. Ferguson, in his book, The Pity of War, elaborates further on the â€Å"Imperialistic virtues† of Europe, and that all European powers were preparing for the war within the confines of their empires. A naval arms race was gaining momentum between Germany and Britain and both countries wanted to demonstrate their strength as world’s greatest imperial powers (Ferguson, 1999). Each European country was also facing fears and threats to their existence and to their expansion plans. The Austrians dreaded the collapse of their multi-racial Empire if they did not challenge the danger of Serb nationalism and Panslavism. The Germans feared the fall of their closest and only reliable ally, Austria that in turn would have weakened their stance in Europe. The Russians were threatened of a humilating defeat to Austria and their failure to pro tect Slavs. The French felt the threat of their German neighbours as Germany increased its might in population, economy and military strength. France's primary defence against the threat of German invasion was its alliance with Russia. This it was essential to protect. The British were vulnerable as well, as their global empire was exposed to hostile forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary with modern navy and war

Human Resource Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Human Resource Management - Case Study Example This paper has a recommendation on the best strategy that the business organization needs to employ in China, for purposes of achieving success. In trying to analyze the market performance of Dairy Queen, this paper looks at three management theories; namely contingency, systems and chaos theories. This paper analyzes the marketing department of Dairy Queen, for it is the one which is responsible for the sales that occur in China. Dairy Queen is a chain of fast food restaurants that are under the ownership of International Dairy Queen Inclusive (Douglas, 2012). The company began its operations in 1940 in the state of Illinois. By 1947, the company had over 100 stores, and as of 2010, Dairy Queen has more than 5700 stores all over the world. The largest store of the company is found in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while the store that records the highest sales is found in Canada. The company is a pioneer of fast food franchising, and it believes in the exploitation of the emerging markets (B enner and Nelson, 2012). China is an example of such an emerging market. On this basis therefore, this paper tries to explore its marketing strategies in China, and examine the reasons as to why they failed. The Story: On 10th of February 2012, Dairy Queen opened its 500th store in Hu Dong, the financial capital of Shanghai. Dairy Queen first joined the Chinese market in 1991 by opening a branch in Beijing. Ever since entering the Chinese market, the company has experienced growth in terms of its profitability, and market share. China presents the largest market for its ice cream products. The company charged with the responsibility of operating Dairy Queen Franchise products is referred to as Shanghai Shida Catering and Management Company (Benner and Nelson, 2012). On this basis therefore, Dairy Queen operates in China as a franchise. In regard to this therefore, in order to penetrate the Chinese market, Dairy Queen resorted to building strategic alliances with local company. An ex ample is the Shanghai Catering Company. John Gainor, the President of Dairy Queen international agrees with this position, and denotes that it is the major contributor of its successes in the Chinese market (Douglas, 2012). However, it is important to denote that despite the successes of Dairy Queen in capturing a segment of the Chinese market, it is not the number one ice cream consumption company in China. Dairy Queen faces stiff competition from companies such as Nestle, Walls, Haagen Daz, and Baskin Robbins. It is important to denote that Haagen Daz is one of the biggest ice cream consuming companies in China (Lewis and Packard, 2012). Dairy Queen also fails to compete effectively with the Chinese domestic companies in the low end market areas. The Ice Cream consumption habits of the Chinese are dependent on their ability to afford consuming them at luxurious cafes (Aoki, 2012). Majority of the Chinese cannot afford to buy these products at such luxurious cafes, and hence their desire for ice cream products from their local companies. This is because they are affordable, and tailored to meet their needs. On this basis, if Dairy Queen needs to capture this market, which is the largest, then it has to revise its marketing strategies (Kotler and Keller, 2012). It has to develop products that satisfy the needs of both the high end, and the low end consumers. The Three Theories: There are three main theories that will