Posted: May 12th, 2015

Impact ofThe First World War

Impact of The First World War

It is generally argued that, the first word war which occurred in 1914 is probably more of a break from the history of the world compared to the Second World War characterized by unprecedented mass annihilation. The First World War signified the dramatic commencement of the end of dominance propagated by European government over the world which had existed for more than centuries.

While most of the European nations were preoccupied in a murderous struggle, other nations from Africa, Australia, Asia, and North and South American continents began to exploit the absence of imports from the European nations which reduced their dependence on European products and technical knowledge. As a result, new economic powers in business and new world superpowers emerged beyond Europe’sborders and Europe has never reestablished its authority if these fields to date.

For once, the United States was able to harness its enormous industrial capacity and made interventions beyond the American continent. Towards the end of the conflict, radical socialist movements seized political power in Russia and began to transform the society into entirely new forms, resulting in a prolonged and usually painful system whose effects are currently being felt up to date (Rendle, pp.50-52). To facilitate more than four years of political and industrial conflict, most European governmentswere faced with the enormous tasks of unprecedented nature and magnitude. They had to guarantee industrial production to fuel the war, while able bodied males consisting of hundreds of millions who had attained the age of 18 years and below the age of 55 years were forced to enlist in the military. The government had to ensure constant food supply, while at the same time building morale at home as well as the battle front lines. New administrative positions and offices were formulated which extended state bureaucracy to its highest peaks. All these effects of the conflict were only partially rectified after the end of world war one in 1918.

At the end of the First World War all nations that participated in the war either gained or lost sovereignty and jurisdiction over political boundaries. For example Austria which was a major ally of the Germans, after conceding defeat, ceded a large proportion of its empire which included the Balkan territories and Hungary. This reduced Austria to a fraction of what it once was. On the other hand allies on the winning side such as Francewere able to regain territories they had initially lost to the Germans such as the land along the Rhine and some German colonies in Africa.

Before the First World War England was the world’s largest creditor, England offered shipping and insurance facilities to all the nations in the world. But the cost of waging war took a big toll on the finances of the British Empire. During the conflict England was faced with the huge cost of financing and sustaining the war that it was forced to consume most of its credits and eventually become heavily indebted to its ally and business partner the United States of America (Killblane, pp.10-12). Before and during the war the demands for the rights of women to vote echoed all over Europe, and when the war finally came to an end, women finally acquired the right to vote in most European nations (Braybon, pp.139-140). The United States which was cushioned by the oceans form the core of the war emerged as a superpower after the war.