The game played in class can be directly related to World War I. The objective of the game was to grow your GNP and end with the highest amount or be apart of the entente with the highest amount. To do this alliances had to be carefully agreed upon with attacks coming at the right times. The buildup of military was also an essential factor in either the successful attack on a country or alliance or the prevention of your country losing during an attack. Europe during the time of the Great War was almost identical to those situations in the game. The concepts of multi-polarity, deterrence, and arms race, which were used in the game, demonstrate a similarity to the background causes of World War I.
Multi-polarity was shown throughout the game. This is a concept in which many countries have equal strength when it comes to their armies and resources. At the beginning of the game each country had an relatively equal military power; however, this was unknown to the countries, who all kept their numbers secret. In order to gain power it was thought that alliances had to be formed. The class eventually became two separate factions. The Bordeaux, New Castle, Budapest alliance versus the Munich, Yalta, Sicily alliance. Through much of the game these alliances were fairly equal in troops but this was unknown and all three attacks were thwarted. This sounds a lot like the situation before WWI. The Triple Entente including Britain, France, and Russia and Triple Alliance including Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were formed. These two groups of enemies finally found their reason to go at it when on the 28th of June in 1914 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated. Each side wanted to gain power, yet neither was dominant enough to have a complete victory until the United States became involved the war. .
Another concept similar in the game and the causes of WWI is deterrence.
