The Consequences of the First World War for British People

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The Consequences of the First World War for British People

Britain changed significantly between 1900 and 1918, there are many potential reasons for this however World War One is seen as the biggest. The whole world order changed as the old empires of Russia, Austria - Hungary and the Ottoman Empire collapsed, Germany was recreated as the Weimar Republic and France and Britain were significantly weakened. The USA became the most powerful country in fields such as the industrial economy and trade. The internal factors that affected Britain most were the role of state, women, political parties and the class structure. After the First World War Britain remained still with an empire and the largest navy force in the world, however the changes internally in Britain effected people of all statures and classes socially, economically and politically. Changes such as greater government intervention and control, the rise in unemployment by around 1.5 million and the advancement of democratic progress, all effected the British population.

At the beginning of the war in 1914 the British Empire was globally spread (Appendix 1) and was large in comparison to those of Russia, USA and France, this therefore enabled Britain to cover a large surface area in comparison to the other empires. The British Empire included areas of large population and land area such as Canada and Australia, therefore Britain was enabling itself to emerge as one of the worlds superpowers by claiming that "under the rule of English Offices the Empire is becoming greater and stronger" (Daily Mail article, 1897). This materialization of Britain as a superpower had an effect on the British people as due to the fact that the Empire now covered approximately 20 million sq. miles, the British people were no longer contained to ‘Great Britain' but had expanded across the world and so therefore were seen as a superior race. However the First World War showed how strong other countries were around the world such as the USA.

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