EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR ONE



EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR ONEIB HL HISTORYGSISHow did WWI reshape the world?To what extent was Wilson’s vision for a new world order established?To what extent did the aftermath of WWI led to tensions that contributed to WWII?How did the effects of WWI contribute with the effects of WWII?The effects of World War—on this type of question, you must definitely include more than the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles is important; however, a question such as this demands a much deeper answer.CONCEPT OF WAR -- TOTAL WARTechnological developments such as poison gas, submarines, machine guns not only made battlefield killing easier; it also increasingly civilians into wartime targets. As the Armenian genocide suggested, governments considered it to be a legitimate objective to kill “enemies,” even if those were citizens of their own nation. Characteristics of total war included:all-encompassingSevere in naturetotal mobilization of a nation’s resourcesthe undermining of a society’s social and political institutionsenormous social traumaThe fact that citizens became wartime targets increases anti-war feelings after the war. It made have also made countries such as France and Britain less likely to stand up to Hitler in the 1930s.END OF OLD EMPIRES AND CREATION OF NEW NATIONSMuch of Europe is devastated, not only economically, but also politically and psychologically. Several of the great European monarchal empires collapse under the weight of war, such as the Germany, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire as well. Many new republics are created throughout Europe as a spirit of national self determination sweeps across Europe, inspired in large measure by Wilson’s 14 Points. Poland was recreated out of German and Russian territory; Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were also established as new nations. However, many of these new nations were inherently unstable. Several of them—Czechoslovakia, for example—contained large ethnic minorities—the Germans in the Sudetenland. So, even though Europe is carved up into new states, many of these new states were not ethnically homogenous. So, it seems—ironically enough—that the old multiethnic empires of Europe were being replaced by new states which themselves were hardly homogenous in terms of ethnic composition.Of course, the non-European colonies were aspired for national independence were largely ignored at the Paris Peace Conference were largely ignored. Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese nationalist went to the Conference as did Kim Gyu Sik, a leading Korean nationalist. Both were ignored by the major powers with regard to their pleas for their respective nations’ independence.GERMANY—TREATY OF VERSAILLESThe Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles are different. The Paris Peace Conference is the conference held by the Allied Powers following the November 11, 1918 armistice to determine not only the fate of the defeated Central Powers, but also, to create a blueprint of sorts for a new world order inspired—at least in part—by Wilson’s Fourteen Points and his concept of “peace without victory.” Wilson’s idealism, however, became subsumed by realpolitik.For Germany, this Treaty was the so-called Diktat. Germany felt disillusioned, especially with the US and Wilson because Germany did not believe that it would be treated as a defeated nation. But France in particular wanted Germany to punish Germany for the war and, as a result, several conditions were placed on Germany. Wilson apparently acquiesced to this in return for a promise to establish the League of Nations. Provisions of the Treaty of Versailles included:-Article 231-War Guilt Clause-loss of Alsace-Lorraine to France-demilitarization of the Rhineland-loss of the Polish Corridor-the German city of Danzig becomes a free city-Anchluss with Austria prohibited-army limited to 100,000-no air force permitted-navy limited to a very few ships-Saar becomes a League of Nations Mandate—reunited with Germany after a plebiscite there in the 1930s-Reparations—about 30 billion German marks. The imposition of these reparations would lead to an economic crisis in Germany and contribute significantly to the weakness of the Weimar Republic.-Germany loses all of its colonies, including those in Africa—these become League of Nations mandatesGermans felt that these provisions were excessively harsh; many would claim that they this resentment was one of the factors that led to the rise of Hitler in the 1930s. John Maynard Keynes suggested that Versailles was a Carthaginian Peace. In other words, he felt that the punishment handed out to Germany was excessively harsh. However, other historians disagree. AJP Taylor suggested that the Treaty was harsh enough to create German resentment, but not harsh enough to keep Germany down. TREATIES WITH OTHER NATIONSSeparate peace treaties were signed by Allies and the other former Central Powers. These included:Treaty of Ste Germain—AustriaTreaty of Trianon—HungaryTreaty of Neuilly—BulgariaTreaty of Sevres—Ottoman EmpireLooking more closely at the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France had actually made an agreement prior to the end of the war to divide up most of the Ottoman empire in the Middle East between themselves. This agreement, known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, alienated Arab nations who made hoped to gain their independence after WWI. Also, the Balfour Declaration led to the establishment of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine, which would ultimately result in the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.The Treaty of Sevres stripped the Ottoman Empire not only stripped the Ottoman Empire of its territories outside of Turkey, but also, Turkey itself was dismembered to some extent—with some territory around the Port of Smyrna on the West Coast given to Greece and additional territories also set aside for the establishment of Armenian 9note also the Armenian Genocide that happened during WWI) and Kurdish homelands. Turkish nationalists, led by Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atarturk) responded by overthrowing the ruling sultan, Mehmet VI, and establishing the Republic of Turkey. Ultimately, they ended up regaining large portions of Turkish territory back; in 1923, a new territory, the Treaty of London, was signed between Turkey and the Allied Powers.JAPANESE ALIENATIONAlthough Japan was originally considered one of the five big powers at the Paris Peace Conference, Japan’s role in the final decisions that come out of the conference were minimal. Japan did gain control of some German colonies in China and the Pacific-Shandong in China, for example. However, Japanese aspirations to include a racial equality clause in the Covenant of the League of Nations failed because it was opposed by western nations, particularly Australia, on racial grounds. Wilson was also afraid that he would not get the support of Western Senators in the US for the League of Nations if he agreed to this racial equality clausePOLITICAL INSTABILITY/FEAR OF COMMUNISMThere was significant political instability in Europe following the end of WWI. In reality, it was feared that the example of the Bolsheviks in Russia would be repeated in other countries. There was a short-lived Communist regime established in Hungary by Bela Kun. There was also an attempted Communist takeover in Germany by the Sparticists.SOVIET ANIMOSITYThe Bolsheviks established the USSR as the first communist state as a result of the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Some suggest that this also represents, in some sense, the roots of the future Cold War between the United States and the USSR after WWII because it laid the foundation for two ideologies—Communism and Wilsonian Internationalism—to compete with each other for world domination.Certainly, the aftermath of the WWI left the Soviets suspicious of the West. Western nations, angry that the Bolsheviks had made a separate peace treaty with Germany—the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk—invaded the USSR to help the anticommunist forces fight against the communists during the Russian Civil War. Although the West ultimately removed its forces, this intrusion on Soviet soil created an enduring suspicion of the West and its intensions with regard to the USSR.RESHIFTING OF ECONOMIC POWERThe United States comes out of WWI as the world’s dominant economic power. It is also the world’s leading creditor nation. In fact, the Allied powers—whose economies had been destroyed by the war--had depended on the United States to continue their war effort. These loans, of course, will become an increasing source of concerns throughout the 1920s and will lead to the establishment of the Dawes Plan as a means by which the US will try to stabilize Europe’s financial situation. Of course, the advent of the Great Depression will ultimately mean that most of these loans will never be repaid.DISILLUSIONMENTA real sense of disillusionment spreads across Europe following the end of WWI. A strong pacifist and antiwar sentiment spreads across the continent, as characterized by Remarque’s classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front.There was also a sense of disillusionment in the United States during the aftermath of the war. This disillusionment led the US Senate to reject the League of Nations and somewhat back to a period of isolationism.In some sense, this disillusionment with war manifested itself in a series of treaties during the 1920s that tried to either the size of military—ie The 1923 Washington Naval Agreement—or promote worldwide peace—1929 Kellogg Briand Treaty.LEAGUE OF NATIONSThe League of Nations was created despite the fact that neither the United States, Germany, nor the Soviet Union were members. The League, which, of course, was Woodrow Wilson’s inspiration, was designed to promote peace through collective security as well as encourage international cooperation in social and economic matters. Along with the establishment of the League, the International Court of Justice was also created at this time.The US chose not to join because of Article X of the Covenant of the League of Nations. Republicans in the US Senate rejected this provision because they felt that it would force the United States into a war beyond its will. On the other hand, Germany was prohibited to join as was the Soviet Union. In the case of the USSR, there was a fear of communism; also, however, the Soviets were punished for signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany prior to the end of the war. I will talk more about the League of Nations in my notes dealing with the causes of WWII.RED SCARE IN THE USFollowing the end of WWI, there was a real fear in the US that the Bolsheviks were trying to overthrow the US government. These fears were exacerbated by a number of social tensions that were occurring in the county. First, there was a huge increase in labor unrest following the end of WWI—the 1919 Seattle Steel Strike, for example. Also, there was a racial riots in several urban areas. Also, on May 1, 1919, there were several bombs delivered by mail to government officials and leading societal figures, as well as a threat against Wall Street later that year. All of these happenings suggested that US democracy was under assault by Communists. These events caused the US government to go on the offensive against anyone who was perceived to be a radical. Led by Attorney General A Mitchell Palmer, the US government carried out a series of raids, known as the Palmer Raids, the government arrested thousands of alleged subversives under the provisions of the Sedition Acts. ................
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