The Great War not only affected Europe but also had a tremendous impact on America's economy, it was one of the factors that inflicted with the Great Depression. Furthermore the biggest consequence of World War I, was Word War II the most destructive war that the modern world has ever seen.
- Truman, Harry S. The Truman Doctrine. Online. Available from http:// longman/awl.com/nash.primarysource_27_1.htm. Accessed 11 March 1999.
Germans felt like they had suffered as much as everyone else during WWI and could not accept that they were being blamed for the war. The Treaty of Versailles was also responsible for the destabilization of the German economy. “The burdensome reparations, coupled with a general inflationary period in Europe in the 1920s, caused spiraling hyperinflation of the German Reichsmark by 1923”. Combined with the effects of the Great Depression, this period of hyperinflation undermined the stability of the German economy and caused massive unemployment. So, when political parties made promises to restore German territory and power after such a
World War II was a bloody and tragic battle between the Allied and Axis powers that lasted for six years. The causes of the wars, the major events, and the results each contributed to the Allied victory in 1945. The war lead to massive destruction, a downfall in economy, and millions of people died. The bravery of the leaders and the soldiers made the war bigger and stronger. Works Cited Avevedo, Nelson.
The Causes of World War I World War I was the result of certain countries aggression towards others and by the rising nationalism of the European nations. Economic and imperial competition and fear of war triggered military alliances and an arms race, which further escalated the tension contributing to the outbreak of war. At the settlement of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the idea of nationalism was ignored to preserve the peace. Germany and Italy were divided into states but nationalist changes and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871. Another result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was that France was left furious over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, and revenge was a goal of the French.
4). This plunged Europe into World War I, and eventually pitted two unified forces against each other. The Allied Powers consisted of Great Britain, France, Russia and the United States of America. The Central Powers consisted of Germany, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire (“World War I: Beginnings and the Aftermath”, 2007, para. 1).
It was a peace agreement between the countries of the Allied Powers and ended Germany’s in... ... middle of paper ... ...Republic was marked by failure. The inflation in 1923, caused in part by the Versailles settlement, drove people away from democracy and towards Nazism. Socially, the Nazi movement had taken root with many conservatives as a way to unify and oppose the treaty. Books and literature written by Nazi leaders such as Hitler himself were propaganda to the movement and allowed for the party to solidify its goals. Politically, the republic was fractured and messy allowing for many parties to rise and fall out of favor.
Smith, Denis Mack. "Benito Mussolini" http://gi.grolier.com/wwii.wwii_mussolini.html Grolier Online Publishing (March 3, 2000) 10. See Villari 11. See Villari
There were a number of heavy restrictions placed on Germany by the treaty; in particular the economic effects as a result of the reparations caused huge turmoil for the German people. John Maynard Keynes states “The reparations part of the Treaty of Versailles caused the collapse of currency and inflation in Germany and with these two events the German people’s savings were wiped out.” (Keynes, 1995, p. 73) The effects were further exacerbated by the Depression of the 1930s during which there was huge “unemployment, poverty and famine.” (Mayer, 1967, p.766) Consequently, the German people became tired of their weakness and suffering and began to strive towards power. The failure of the Weimar Republic to address the Treaty of Versailles became the main cause for the problems they were experiencing. “Many Germans, especially German nationalists, went as far as referring to the acceptance of the treaty as treasonous.” (Grunberger, 1964, p.59) Thus, Hitler offered promises that the current government failed to amend which were extremely appealing to the German people, stating “The German people liked Hitler’s Four Year Plan that called for slum clearance, housing programs, land reclamation, and construction of roads many problems that had been created by the Treaty of Versailles.”
Stock Market Crashes, Bank Failures and a lot more, left the governments ineffective and this lead the global economy to what we call today- ‘’Great Depression’’.(Rockoff). As for the cause and what lead to Great Depression, the issue is still in debate among eminent economists, but the crux provides evidence that the worst ever depression ever expereinced by Global Economy stemed from multiple causes which are as follows: Stock Market Crash: Post the era of World War I, of all the countries it was only USA which was in win win situation. Both during and post war times, US economy has seen a boom in their income with massive trade between Europe and Germany. As a result, the 1920’s turned out to be a prosperous decade for Americans and this led to birth of mass investments in stock markets. With increased income after the war, a lot of investors purchased stocks on margins and with US Stock Exchange going manifold from 1921 to 1929, investors earned hefty returns during this time epriod which created a stock market bubble in USA.