Essay WW1 Consequences PDF

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World War One Impacts

As Chris Hedges stated, “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” World War 1 was the first of many wars to embrace the idea of war being a drug. It was a conflict not limited to armies, putting entire societies against each other in mortal struggle. Involving 32 nations, WW1 set the world under a paradigm shift. War ended on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. However, the end of the war didn’t necessarily mean the end to all problems. After the war, nations were left traumatized which led the inevitable change in the country’s structure. It lead humanity to change its system of politics, economics and societal thought. The impacts of WW1 were broad. The centralized target of impact was on Germany. The short term economic impact she had, involved downfall in currency, food shortages and hyperinflation; and the long term social impact of the war on Germany included traumas, death and inability to accept loss. In addition to this there was the short term impact originating from the League of Nations and the long term impact from the rise in extreme political ideologies. Short term impacts are referred to as events that were prevalent for a specific period of time that is considered short in the context of history while as long term impact is considered as extensive in the context of history.

Germany was in a state of economic disorder during the interwar period for a good deal of time; food sources were depleted and a considerable percentage of the workforce had been killed or wounded between WW1. The returning militants demanded jobs that weren’t available. The Treaty of Versailles which led to the formation of Weimar Republic plunged Germany into political instability. Germany gave up 13% of her territory, 600000000 subjects, ¾ of iron production, ¼ coal productions and 15% arable land. Furthermore, approximately a sum of £7,000,000 had to be paid for reparations. This intensified inflation problems as Weimar governments started overprinting money to meet debts. Hyperinflation triggered the market’s price to increase, individuals lost savings, the standard of living diminished, wages didn’t have any real value and unemployment was protuberant. However, the Dawes Plan extended reparation payments and gave Germany a loan of 800,000,000 Gold Marks. This engendered a time of economic stability.

Defeat in The First World War had a colossal psychological impact on the citizens and army of Germany. They were disillusioned because they were repetitively told they were winning by the government and media. After people experienced the brutality of warfare, the positivity the Germans adopted previously had been abandoned and an austere outlook on life was repentantly established. Fuelled by propaganda, the hatred had built up. It impeded reconciliation and many Germans found it difficult to accept that they had in fact inexplicably lost the war. There was a strange, unprecedented vibe of grief, anger, loss, relief, exaltation and a furious desire for revenge. There was an extensive effect on civilizations and soldiers. Some veterans couldn’t get back to their old lifestyles and joined a Freikorps group. Some of the people that were left salty from the war joined up in an effort to put down communist uprisings such as the Spartacist uprising. The loss of loved ones on the battlefield was particularly distressing, furthermore there was bonding between men via suffering loss. Militants and civilians alike suffered from psychological traumas and there was a change in the way of expression through art and literature. To add to this, the outbreak of Spanish influenza killed 5 million subjects. Subsequently, the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles enraged Germans and numerous directed their resentment at the Republic – although there was no other option than agreeing. Many Germans, especially the militants were disillusioned and claimed that Germany would have won the war had the negotiations not been done. There was outrage at being used as fodder. Ebert and the party members of the SPD became known as the infamous ‘November Criminals’ after the signing. The treaty immediately made the politicians in Germany that signed it appear incompetent while in the background Weimar government tried bureaucratic means to solve the problems of Versailles. The territorial settlement at Versailles caused the greatest resentment in Germany as there was a lack of union with Austria and Poland had to be treated as a great power and some of her territory had to be taken away. The open resentment and seething feelings of retaliation displayed by Germany foreshadowed the start of World War 2.

After the first total war, greater number of countries began to adopt more extreme political ideologies. WW1 had put Italy on the wrong foot economically. Excess amounts of resources were lost due to war. The Treaty of Versailles insulted them which prompted a vulnerable situation of nationalism for Benito Mussolini to exploit and run the country eventually. Mussolini directed the Fascist regime in Italy. Similarly, Germany felt the conditions of the Treaty were too harsh. German nationalism increased and hyperinflation destroyed the economy. Hitler took advantage of these conditions to bring together a general population behind his concept of a "Third Reich" and lead the continent to war under the name of Nazism. Communism was an issue for the Americans. That is why the US made selective decisions at the Peace Conference in the future as the goal in mind was to curtail communist expansion (as the upper class and the middle class feared this). Poverty caused the masses to become attracted to the communist ideology. Communism had become a trustable substitute to the political ideology of democracy. To further enhance the progression, communist parties became established in many areas of the US and Europe, Mao Zedong was leading a communist revolution in China and WW1 became the leading cause to the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas (ll). This was due to the disappointment of the Russinas from the result of the war. The Bolsheviks soon came into power hence WW1 aided the communist victory in Russia.

The League of Nations was formed in 1919 by the Allied Powers (mainly Britain, France, US {although they didn’t join the project as the country wanted to become more isolated}). This was an idealistic scheme as many countries were horrified by the amount of bloodshed caused during the conflict and the world made a resolution to never repeat this massacre. It was intended to execute the Treaty of Versailles effectively and other treaties and peace agreements amid the interwar stage. It had the purpose of settling international disputes with open diplomacy and peaceful negotiating. Some notable successes were in Greece and Bulgaria (1925), the Aaland Islands and Memel. However, these attempts only had short-term success. Some efforts made created a negative effect between the relationships of countries causing aggressiveness to escalate again. Therefore, the peace initiatives ensuing The First World War were impactful to a limited degree. The United Nations (UN) is today’s version of the League of Nations however it is proven to be more successful as previous mistakes that lead to the failure of the League haven’t been repeated.

WW1 had a pronounced impact and made a new mark on world history. The unsettled period after the war called for a re-evaluation of the political, economic and social system The consequences of WW1 such as the psychological impact on Germany and the rise of extreme political ideology have had an impact up to this day. A living example of history in repetition is Trump. His identity matches with the Fascist Hitler. Other short term and long term implications include the formation of the League of Nations and the economic downfall in Germany. I am so done with this.

Un-Bibliographied Links Professor Miletti (1800BC – 2016 AD) – Notes and lectures http://www.slideshare.net/llfrye11/outcome-of-world-war-i?next_slideshow=1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/eastern_front_01.shtml http://ibatpv.org/projects/great_war/effects.htm http://catalogue.pearsoned.ca/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0136032532.pdf http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/league-of-nations/ http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/weimar-germany/impact-ofworld-war-one-on-the-weimar-republic/ Weimar School Book...