Short-term Consequences of WW1

The Consequences:

Revolutions

Treaty of Versailles

League of Nations

Collapse of the Ottoman Empire & Austria-Hungary

Social & Economic Cost

Geopolitical Rearrangement

Growth of Socialism & Fascism

Revolutions after WWI

Communist Revolutions:Russia

Central Europe

USA

China

Non- Communist Revolutions:Greece

Ireland

Mexico

The Russian Revolution (1917)

February Revolution:Abdication of Czar Nicholas II; collapse of Imperial Russia and end of Romanov dynasty.The Russian Provisional Government took over.The formation of the Petrograd Soviet by the socialists.Dual power.

October Revolution (Bolshevik Revolution): The Bolsheviks took over after the Russian Provisional Government failed.Caused the Russian Civil War.

Revolutions Throughout the World

Communistic Revolutions:Germany

The German Revolution (Nov 1919 – Aug 1918): the communistic revolutionaries tried to take over the government (as the Bolsheviks did in Russia), but failed.

USAAfter the war and the Russian Revolution, USA had its first red scare.

ChinaThe nationalist party, Kuomintang, joined with the Chinese Communist Party to fight for a reunification of China (1923).

The Treaty of Versailles (28th of June

1919)A peace treaty at the end of World War I in Versailles, it ended the war state between Germany and the Allied War Powers.

Germany had to accept full responsibility for causing the war. She also had to pay war reparations of a total of 132 billion marks ($385 billion today).

Territorial Changes.

Establishment of the League of Nations.

League of NationsLeague of nations was founded in order to maintain the peace in Europe and make sure another war didn’t break out after world war 1.

American president Woodrow Wilson was appalled by the behavior, which took place during the war; the gruesome killings. To make sure such a thing did not happen again, he felt that the only thing to do was to create an international body, which

would only have the purpose of maintaining world peace.

If an international dispute were to take place, the League of Nations would sort them out, and avoid any further violence and war.

The world (especially Europe) was so devastated after World War 1, so getting the peoples support for this idea wasn’t hard.

The Collapse of the Ottoman EmpireThe Turkish Was of Independence (1919-1923)The Treaty of Sèvres (10th of August 1920).France, Britain, and Italy divided the Empire into territories, which where under their command.Internal Degeneration & External Pressure.Many new countries were created.

The Collapse of Austria-Hungary

The monarchy collapsed due to the German loss on the western front.

The leftist and liberal movements in Vienna and Budapest supported the separation of ethnic minorities.

Economic CostsTechnology grew drastically; production of cars, planes, radios etc. skyrocketed.

The United States economy grew quickly with the use of mass production, thus producing goods without using human labor and producing it much quicker and cheaper.

Europe's overall economy suffered loss in landscapes, physical property and finances

Europes economy was weakening while The United states was growing into a global economic power.

In 1914, Europe was seen as a reliable money-lender, but after WW1, all of Europe was greatly in debt (10 billion US dollars) to allies.

In order to pay back debts, countries in Europe began to print large amounts of money; leading they countries into a long period of inflationPeople who had earlier enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle in the middleclass, were now financially in a rocky state.

Germany was struggling the most; with war damages and reparations to pay created a great inflation in Germany. German mark jumped from 4.6 millions to one dollar, to 4.6 trillion to one dollar in 3 months.

Social CostsDeath and destruction, war killed 10-13 million people, families suffered and the optimistic spirited people of the past had now lost all hope

Many people were angered as they did not see why the war had taken place

Pain and suffering; this generation is called the Lost Generation as so many died during the war.

Growing sense of mistrust towards the leaders and government officials, after witnessing the horror of the war and felt that the Government didn’t have their best interests in mind.

Political ChangesSpreading of fascism and socialism (Germany, Austria, Britain, France).

Republic government gains influence: before war Europe contained 19 monarchies and 3 republics, after war there were 13 monarchies, 14 republics and 2 regencies

The government (Weimar) which was set up in Germany, wasn’t liked by the people and didn’t do much for controlling Germany.

Geographical ChangesNations that gained territory after WWI:

Yugoslavia

Romania– Greece– France– Italy– Denmark– Belgium– Poland– Estonia– Latvia– Lithuania– UK (League of Nations mandates)– Japan

• Nations that lost territory after the WWI:– China– Bolshevist Russia– Weimar Germany– Austria– Hungary– Turkey– Bulgaria– UK (most of Ireland)

Geographical Changes

• With the formation of new small states in especially eastern Europe, there were many ethnic minorities wanting to be united with other countries where their ethnicity dominated.

• The border changes among with political changes, resulted in a large number of refugees

Growth of Socialism & Fascism

• Fascism:– The Fascist Manifesto, 1919.– In 1920, Mussolini and the Fascists allied

themselves with industrial businesses and started attacking workers and peasants in order to preserve order internal peace in Italy

• Socialism: – Revolutions throughout Europe and the rest

of the world.