World War 1 lasted from 1914-1918. On July 28,1914 it began as a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. When war was declared against Russia on August 1,1914 the conflict turned into a war in Europe. It eventually involved thirty-two nations.
The main causes of the war in Europe were the powerful nationalism spirit in Europe in the 19th and 20th century and political and economic rivalry among nations. After 1871, the establishment and maintenance of armaments and two military alliances in Europe was also a cause.
Even after World War 1 was over the effects of it continued for years. the war changed teh way teh world looked at things such as politics, economics and public opinion.
Altogether, nearly ten million soldiers died in World War 1. Twenty-one million were wounded. Germany, France and Russia each suffered over a million deaths. Some people believe that as many civilians died as soldiers.
Along with killing people, the war destroyed much of the land in farms and villages. It also wrecked things such as bridges and railroad tracks. The damage was worst in France and Belgium.
World War 1 caused the nations $337 billion dollars. The money was raised to pay for damages by raising taxes, and the governments also borrowed from citizens by selling war bonds. Most of the governments printed extra money but this caused inflation and the money that was borrowed caused huge debts.
During World War 1, Europe lost a lot of property and money. Europe had been very generous with it's money and because of this, by 1918, it was in debt. The Germans were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. This meant that they took responsibility for causing the war and they would pay for it. In forcing the Germans to sign this treaty, the Allies were trying to reduce their debt. This didn't help or may even have worsened the problems. Therefore, Germany was hit the hardest with war reparations.
The war also caused businesses to close. A lot of the ones that didn't close down started to make materials for the war. In Europe, many markets for exports were lost while they were producing war materials. In many European countries, the soldiers that did come home could not find jobs.
World War 1 affected several governments. Some new countries were created and some gave up land to others. An example would be when Russia and Germany gave property to Poland. Austria-Hungary ended up forming Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia as well as parts of Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland and Italy. In the Ottoman Empire, after World War 1, most Arab lands were controlled by France and Britain.
After World War 1 many people chose not to resume their old way of life. A lot of the people chose to settle in cities instead of going back to their farms, This is why more of the urban areas grew. When the men went to war many of the women had to get jobs. When the war was over they did not want to quit them.
Before the war, upper classes were very high above the lower classes in society. After the war, the upper classes had lost some of their power. Men from all classes risked their lives for their country. This meant that whether they were lower classes or not they demanded a say in running it.
Europeans once felt that their culture should be forced upon the world. The war caused them to lose their confidence in doing this. All the destruction caused by the war also forced them to change their beliefs.
One of the positive things that happened after the war was the boost in technology. Production of things such as automobiles, airplanes and radios increased. This stimulated the economy because machinery was then used for human labour tasks.
After the war, a peace treaty was signed. It was called the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on June 28,1919. It was signed between Germany and the Allies at the end of World War 1. Represented in this treaty were the U.S., Great Britain, France and Italy. It was negotiated during a Paris Peace Conference held in Versailles which began on January 18,1919. In the first section was the covenant of the League of Nations.
The League of Nations was started after World War One. The League of Nations was developed so that another war would not happen. It would work out disagreements as they happened.
The League of Nations was based in Geneva. Switzerland. The reason for it being there was because Switzerland was a neutral country and did not fight in World War 1.
When a disagreement happened the League of Nations could do three different things. These things were known as sanctions.
The first sanctions were verbal sanctions. The League's Assembly would listen to arguments and figure out what to do. If one nation seemed to be causing the problem, that would be when they would use the verbal sanctions. This meant they would warn the nation that if they did not stop what they were doing, they would have to face the consequences.
If the verbal sanctions did not work they would resort to economic sanctions. The League's Council would take charge of these. The purpose of economic sanctions was to push the nation that was causing the trouble toward bankruptcy. When this happened the people of the nation would force the government to accept the League's decision. The League could force members of the League not to do any trading with the disturbing nation.
If these economic sanctions did not work the League could start physical sanctions. A physical sanction meant that in order to correct the problem, military force would be used. The League of Nations could not carry out any threats and many countries were aware of this. The reason that they could not carry out these threats was because they did not have a military force. In the whole League there were only two countries that could have provided any military power. These countries were Britain and France. Because of World War 1, both Britain and France decreased in strength and neither could afford to pay for an expanded army. Neither of these countries could provide the League with the help it needed.
The League of Nations also had several other problems. One of the biggest problems was that America refused to join the League. The reason that this affected the League so much was that America was the world's most powerful nation.
In 1919, Germany was not allowed to join the League. Germany started the war and according to the Treaty of Versailles, it could not be a member of the international community. Russia was not allowed to join in 1917 either. Therefore, no part was played in supporting the League by three of the world's most powerful nations.
The only way to determine whether the League was successful or not was to see whether a fight was avoided and an agreement was made between two disagreeing nations. An example of one of the biggest successes of the League of Nations was in Upper Silesia.
In Upper Silesia, the Treaty of Versailles had given the people the choice whether they wanted to be part of Germany or Poland. What happened was 700 thousand people voted for Germany and 500 thousand voted for Poland. Because the results of the votes were so close, it caused problems between the two different types of voters. This was a problem that the League was supposed to solve. After six weeks, the League decided to split Upper Silesia between both Germany and Poland. Germany, Poland and Upper Silesia all agreed with this decision.
One of the failures of the League of Nations occurred in Vilna in 1920. Before 1920, Vilna had been taken over by Russia. Vilna had once been the capital of Lithuania, when the state existed. After World War One, Lithuania had been re-established and Vilna seemed liked the obvious choice for it's capital.
In 1920, Poland seized Vilna. At this time, thirty percent of the population were from Poland and only two percent were from Lithuania. When the seizure happened, Lithuania asked for help from the League. They could not make the Poles leave the city. Poland ran Vilna until World War Two started.
Because of the League of Nations was unsuccessful at the political level, it is often forgotten how it succeeded at a social level. A lot of the groups now working for the United Nations grew out of what was established by the League. Teams were sent to the Third World to dig fresh water wells. In the Third World, work was also done to improve the status of women and to get rid of child slave labour.
Informing the world of the problems that existed and that something should be done about them was the biggest social success of the League. Even if a lot of the problems still exist, they could still be considered a success because they were being investigated by the League and taken on by the United Nations.