Impact of World War I

Impact of World War I

Introduction

The main purpose of this paper is to take a comprehensive look on the impacts of the two great world wars which brought a record destruction and changes in the world. In this paper, I will describe firstly the impact of World War I on America. World War I was not based on America but it had a great impact on America. The reasons for this will be explored in the paper. Having reviewed the impacts of first World War on America, I will compare those impacts with that of the second World War. In the end, I will summarize both the impacts which will give a clear picture of what had happened?

Impact of World War I

Despite the fact the war was fought in Europe and U.S. casualties and property loss were far less than that of the allies, the war had a significant impact economically, politically, and socially on the United States.

The war brought great economic prosperity to the country through the production of wartime goods, but during the postwar era there was widespread unemployment, increased labor strife, racial hatred, and poverty. Propaganda campaigns, designed to create support for the war effort, resulted in strong anti-foreign and anti-Communist feelings, which led to violence and the violation of civil rights for many Americans. Politically, the postwar period resulted in the return to the political philosophy of the late nineteenth century.

Politically, also, many of the leaders started thinking that world war is a destructive action. And economically and politically, many of the countries got into troubles and to stand them, it took many years. Governments took on many new powers in order to fight the total war. War governments fought opposition by increasing police power. Authoritarian regimes like tsarist Russia had always depended on the threat of force, but now even parliamentary governments felt the necessity to expand police powers and control public opinion. The economic impact of the war was very disproportioned. At one end there were those who profited from the war and at the other end were those who suffered under the effects of inflation.

The result in the end of war was Europe, which was virtually devastated by the war, and the United States came out of it as a major world power. Germany had entered World War I as the greatest power, Defeat in war was a profound shock, and coupled with economic privation and collapse, was more than the German people could accept. France also suffered untold property damage since most of the war on the western front was fought on French soil. Austria-Hungary collapsed during the war, torn apart by its multi-national divisions. Both the Austrian and the Ottoman Empires had been destroyed without their being any stable alternative. In Russia, the war led to the Russian Revolution and a civil war, which continued the conflict for three years beyond World War I.

Thousands of soldiers got killed in that war, and so it created a negative ...