Without a question, all wars have a profoundly negative social, economic, and political effect on the nations that are involved. The US, Germany, Russia, France, Britain, Australia, Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and many other countries participated in this conflict. According to Robert Wilde (2017), the war featured more than a hundred nations between 1914 and 1918, with the majority coming from Europe, Africa, America, Australia, and Asia. More so, Wilde (2017) contends that while some nations (particularly African nations) were used as reserves and sources of labor by their previous political masters, others merely declared war on adversaries and offered moral support in the form of coalitions. The general feeling as a result of the war was not what many people thought it would be like.
It is noted that unlike some countries in Europe, factories in the US remained intact. In fact, the period saw the rapid growth of manufacturing industries which provided supplies for the American troops. As a result, there was massive employment as the government called for every able-bodied people to either volunteer to join the troops or work in the industries. Apparently, the US emerged as a world economic powerhouse with increasing industrial profits. However, inflation was also consistently on the rise forcing some companies to lay off workers in large numbers to control the costs of operation. Consequently, this move led to massive workers strike across the nation.
Furthermore, it is noted that the war resulted in a change in the roles of women in the society. As more men volunteered to fight for the US, women took over the roles of men in manufacturing industries. In fact, the expectations and influence of women and their roles in the society increased. It was a pivotal season that saw more girls pursue technical courses and take on technical jobs that were initially handled by men only. The period also saw the massive movement of populations of African Americans to the north, marking the beginning of the problem of urbanization in the US.
As a result of the changing roles of women, the Congress passed the 19th Amendment to address women suffrage and allow them to participate in the electoral process (Mintz, n.d.). More so, WWI led to the fall of four great monarchies in Russia, Germany, Hungary, and Austria. Still, the war resulted in the rise of revolts in the Middle East, the rise of Bolshevik to power in Russia and consequently the fall of fascism in Italy (Mintz, n.d.).
Question 2
It is worth noting that Russia was one of the countries which were greatly affected by the WW1. The massive losses of the state are attributed to the untrained soldiers, inadequate suppliers, and financial woes that threatened to swallow the economy of the country as a result of their involvement in the conflicts. With the overthrow of the provisional government by the Bolsheviks, the country made major leaps towards embracing socialism. The Bolsheviks pushed for an end with Germany and Austria, as well as demanded redistribution of Aristocratic land to the peasant farmers and former soldiers who had deserted the war. Apparently, the Bolsheviks primary was to change the country from capitalism to communism. However, there were major strategic failures which led to discontent and internal resistance from members of the group. Particularly, its policies on grain acquisition and land distribution led to a famine that saw over five million people lose their lives.
Consequently, the fall of Bolshevik led to the establishment of the New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1921 which aimed to salvage the economy of the country by reverting to capitalism (Trueman, 2015). It is noted that the NEP greatly revitalized agriculture and the country witnessed massive harvests in what came to be known as the “golden age of the Russian peasantry.” When Lenin died, Joseph Stalin took over only to become on the country’s most notorious dictators. He enacted policies that rendered most of the farmers homeless as they were forced to the unproductive north and their lands divided and given to officials who played to Stalin’s tune. However, they were given tools to mechanize their new farms (Siegelbaum, n.d.).
Threatened by the notion of falling behind the West, Stalin devised strategies to increase industrialization of the nation and total collectivization of agriculture. It is noted that Stalin directed his officials to begin collecting grains from Siberia and Urals. More so, peasant farmers were forced and forced into collective farms (Trueman, 2015). As a matter of fact, collectivization provided the much-needed resources of Stalin’s “revolution from above” strategy.
Furthermore, in what came to be known as the Five-Year Plan from 1928-1932, Stalin propelled the nation to the most stunning industrialization process of the century (Siegelbaum, n.d.). Steel companies in the Soviet Union rivaled anything that the West were producing. It is noted that Stalin’s collectivization resulted in rapid urbanization and changes in population landscape. Specifically, there was a significant rise in the production of oil, steel, and coal. Seemingly, it transformed the nation from an agrarian economy to global industrial powerhouse. Additionally, the standards of education and health were higher during his reign.
Question 3
It is worth noting that one of the provisions for end of the first world war was for Germany to take responsibility for fueling the Great War. The harsh restrictions imposed on Germany at the end of the war forced the Germany president to step down thus paving the way for Hitler to rise to power as the leader of the Nazis (Shen, n.d.). Notably, the fascism ideology was first founded by Italy’s Benito Mussolini. As a matter of fact, Mussolini wanted to recreate the Roman empire in Italy by use of military power to control cities. (Shen, n.d.) With the looming WW2, Hitler and Mussolini signed what came to be known as the “Pact of Steel” with the aim of strengthening their alliance in the face of an imminent Second World War. The pact lost anyway, forcing some members to disassemble.
It is noted that when Hitler made Germany a fascist nation, he declared that Germans were a superior race, stronger, and more intelligent than any other race in the world. Apparently, other groups, particularly the Romans and Jews were considered as an inferior race. In fact, Hitler held the belief that German could thrive if they get rid of the weaker races (Johnson, 1999). In the upcoming wars, Hitler took advantage of the already stale situation to execute the Jews; a situation that led to the death of about six million German Jews. Hitler’s aggressive invasion of other nations with the aim of conquering them, and apparently killing the Jews, led to the Second World War.
After they had deemed as racial superiority, the German Nazis embarked on a mission to cleanse Germany in what had come to be known as racial hygiene by eliminating all the races that they believed were weak. Specifically, the Nazis enacted policies designed to eliminate the Jews through “compulsory sterilization” in a bid to reduce their populations (Johnson, 1999). It is noted that in the early times of the Nazi rule in Germany, the aim was to eliminate the Jews through elimination. However, they grew impatient with this and enacted strict policies to exterminate them for every minor reason. For instance, the Nuremberg Law of 1935 was aimed to restrict any sexual relationship between Germans and Jews as well as any other race perceived as inferior (Johnson, 1999). Additionally, the Jews were deprived of the rights to participate in the electoral process. As a matter of fact, this move led to the emigration of about 100,000 German Jews who fled to other countries to avoid persecution (Johnson, 1999).
Question 4
It is important to understand that both Germany and Japan were ruled by empires which solely drafted policies and standards for the followers irrespective of their preferences. While the Germany got involved in War to revenge for the losses they suffered during the first world war, Japan got to war to increase the size of their monarchies and resources (Townsend, 2011). More so, the Germans believed that the only weaknesses among them were the “impure” races which were perceived to be weak and thus blamed their every failure on these people. Seemingly, this explains their aggression towards the Jews. For Japan, their main concern and reason for collecting resources were the US whom they had perceived as a deadly enemy.
Furthermore, it is noted that Germany was composed of people from different races in the surrounding region. As a matter of fact, their armies were made of people from various races. On the other hand, the Japanese armies were entirely drawn from home.
Still, both the Japanese and the Germans believed that they were the superior race, specifically the Aryan race of Germany. While the Germans committed war crimes against the Jews, in a similar fashion Japan was very hostile towards the Japanese.
Furthermore, the Germany leadership heavily relied on propaganda and threats to control people. For instance, the people were made to believe that other races were weak and thus deserved to be enslaved and exterminated. On the other hand, the Japanese empires were intolerant critics, and any offense against the empire was punishable by death. Apparently, both dynasties successfully raised dictators who were ready to take lives of thousands of people to achieve their objectives (Townsend, 2011).
References
CSUN. Russian Revolution of 1917, Communism, Cold War. Csun.edu. Retrieved from http://www.csun.edu/~kaddison/kraus.htm.
Johnson, E. (1999). Nazi terror (1st ed.). New York: Basic Books.
Mintz, S. The Global Effect of World War I | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Gilderlehrman.org. Retrieved from https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/world-war-i/resources/global-effect-world-war-i.
Shen, C. The Aftermath of WWI: The Rise of Fascism in Germany and Italy | Guided History. Blogs.bu.edu. Retrieved from http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/moderneurope/catherine-shen/.
Siegelbaum, L. Collectivization. Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. Retrieved from http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1929-2/collectivization/.
Townsend, S. (2011). World Wars: Japan's Quest for Empire. Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/japan_quest_empire_01.shtml.
Trueman, C. (2015). New Economic Policy. History Learning Site. Retrieved from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/russia-1900-to-1939/new-economic-policy/.
Wilde, R. (2017). The Countries Involved in World War 1. ThoughtCo. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/countries-involved-in-world-war-1-1222074.
