WWI+-+After+the+War

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__Economic__
· During and after the war, food shortages and a sluggish economy characterized each of the nation states of the late Austria-Hungary. The war caused great economic disruption and the end of the Austro-Hungarian customs union (customs union—agreement between nations to have one set tariff for all goods from all countries in the agreement) caused extensive destitution in many areas. · Especially during the post WWI global depression, the nation states were, like the rest of the world, hit hard by economic woes. Because each of these small countries were so weak both militarily and economically, it would be easy for someone to invade/take over such areas, someone like Hitler (possible cause of WWII?).
 * Austria**
 * Rampant capitalism and rapid, uneven economic growth centered around cities.
 * Agriculture in the east inside. Hungary
 * Industrialism in the west inside Austria.


 * Russia**
 * Russia post-war economy

Lenin (leader of the communist party/Russia) have to pulled Russia out of the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk singed in March 1918.
 * By 1918, Russian was taken over my the communist party due to the Bolshevik Revolution
 * However, this cause Russia to go into a civil war. Reds (communists) vs, Whites (Oppose the communist). The only problem was Russia was still in WWI
 * Was a cruel treat between the Germany and Russia
 * Russia have to give a great deal of land which included 60 million people
 * The land also have 25% of Russia farming land, 75% of her iron and coal deposit
 * Economy went down, but the Treaty got Russia out of the war and allowed Lenin time to focus on home front issues.

After the civil war, Lenin managed to get Russia under his control, and to avoid another war, the government took complete of factories, and everything become harder
 * Managers were stricter
 * Food was rationed
 * Workers and soldier receive more
 * Civil servants received a little

In the countryside, solider were sent out to take food from the peasant farmers
 * Anyone who are found keeping food from others were shot
 * The result was the peasants only produce food for themselves = shorter amount of food than before

The civil war (WWI) devastated Russia’s economy.
 * People survived on what they have
 * Increase in robberies and law and order were breaking down
 * Agriculture ruined by the war and in 1921


 * Germany**


 * Britain**
 * Spent 15-25% of its wealth during the war
 * In massive debt from borrowing from U.S.
 * Sold overseas assets so didn't have that income
 * Germans began selling coal to France for reparations and France used to be a major coal buyer from Britain
 * Didn't produce exports during the war so old buyers set up their own markets or new ones


 * France**
 * economic burden from Franco-German War had been overcome
 * growing colonial period
 * rapid industrial growth
 * iron and crude steel production increased
 * railway network extended
 * banks invested in Transiberian Railroad

**__Politics__**

 * Austria**

 · Following the war’s conclusion, Austria-Hungarian territory was divided in the following manner:  · Establishment of __the__ [|Republic of German Austria]  and __the__ [|Hungarian Democratic Republic]  · The new republic of Austria maintained control over most of the mostly German-dominated areas, but lost various other German majority lands in what was the [|Austrian Empire] __. __ <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Bohemia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Moravia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Opava Silesia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and the western part of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Duchy of Cieszyn] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Slovakia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Carpathian Ruthenia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> formed the new <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|Czechoslovakia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · [|Bosnia and Herzegovina]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Croatia-Slavonia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Dalmatia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Slovenia], and <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Vojvodina] were joined with <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Serbia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> to form the [|Kingdom of the SerbS, Croats and Slovenes]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, later <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|Yugoslavia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Transferred areas: <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> o <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Galicia] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, eastern part of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Duchy of Cieszyn] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, northern <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|County of Orava] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and northern <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Spisz] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> was transferred to <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|Poland] __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. __ <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> o <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Bolzano-Bozen] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> and <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Trieste] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> were granted to <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|Italy] __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. __ <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> o <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Transylvania] and <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;">[|Bukovina] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> became parts of <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|Romania] __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. __

<span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · These divisions were made without regard to ethnic groups, so the hope that the war’s end would mark a new era of peace among nationalities and peoples was of course never realized (more on this under ‘Society’).

Russia was in the hands of the Bolsheviks. Since the Treaty of Brent Litovsk, which was agreed to so the government could work on domestic problems, support for Lenin flowewd and ebbed. Lenin controlled just a strip of land that ran form Petrograd to Moscow. He did not control any other area in this vast country. There were also many people who hated the thought of communists having control over them and wanted the tsar back in power. All the groups that opposed Lenin were called the Whites. these forces against Lenin in the civil war were never a united group. Each had its own reason for fighting the communists and the groups that fought the Reds never united into one large army. As such, the Red Army lead by Trotsky, could pick them off one by one. Any civilian problems were dealt with by the Cheka - the feared communist secret police. They had used what was known as the Red Terror during the civil war to keep people in order. In the factories, the government took complete control. The workers who had been given to right to run factories, had that right taken away. Managers ran them and discipline was strict. Food was rationed. I n the countryside, the Cheka was sent out to take food from the peasant farmers. Anybody found keeping food from others was shot. The peasants responded by producing food only for themselves and so the cities were more short of food than before. By 1921, opposition to Lenin had grown. The country was in a disastrous stare when compared to the state it had been in under the tsar. Workers formed themselves into Workers’ Opposition demanding a) higher wages b) more food and c) the return of workers control of industry.Lenin changed the economic plan after this to appease the workers
 * Russia**


 * Germany**
 * This is the most obvious area of change. The war led to the kaiser being forced into abdication. This left a power vacuum that was filled by the Weimar Republic. However there were other political consequences of the war that may be less obvious. The food shortages across Germany led to a radicalisation of peoples views. As a result extremist views, such as communism, became widely supported, particularly in the industrial cities. In 1919 there were several Left Wing uprisings; the Spartacists' attempting a revolution in Berlin and a short lived Soviet Republic was formed in Bavaria. The implications of these uprisings are great. The government was forced to make use of a body called the Freikorps This group was made up of disillusioned soldiers, who were right wing in their beliefs. Some historians argue that the methods employed by the government at this early stage of its existence, led partially to the governments fall 14 years later.
 * Germany was extremely isolated at the end of the war. Trade was hard to come by as most of her previous trading partners now sunned Germany, preferring to do Business with the victorious Allies. Likewise the germans struggled diplomatically, most notoriously their views were ignored at the Peace conference at Versailles.


 * Britain**
 * Warring conservative and liberal parties formed a coalition that included Labour Representation
 * Government began to encroach on individual life because the country was in disarray
 * The government passed legislation that allowed itself to seize land from civilians whenever it seemed necessary


 * France**
 * annexed Independent Republic of Alsace-Lorraine
 * At 1919 Peace Con., Prime Minister made sure that Germany wouldn't seek revenge
 * Field Marshall Foch assured this by establishing the Rhine River as the border between France and Germany
 * when troops returned, they were treated as second class citizens

__Social__
<span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · The people of Austria-Hungary were demoralized from the war’s outcome, and even during the war, they had lost faith in their government entirely. As the authority and power of the central government diminished, the people found themselves without a form of government, yet with many problems to be resolved, like the wave of food shortages and failing economy (See Economy section). <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · Various political parties (for example, communists, social-democrats, and nationalists) all attempted to take power and set up their own governments, further complicating matters. This was one of many reasons why Austria-Hungary was divided without consideration for the races living therein—each of the allies needed to appeased, and with seemingly no possibility of pacifying all of the many different factions and de facto governments in the nation, it was simply divided. <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · This meant that in many nations, there were huge numbers of minority groups. Suddenly the Germans found themselves as a minority, and one third of the ethnic Hungarians were outside the Hungarian Democratic Republic. Conditions worsened as governments refused to acknowledge these differences and encouraged the people to conform to the ideals of each new nation. <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · Jews were especially the brunt of persecution. Nationalists did not trust them because they did not lie within a set ‘national community’. This prejudice would have great bearing on the next world war to come.
 * Austria**

After WWI, Russia was pretty much destroyed by a civil war that left more than 5.5 million people dead and large areas of the country devastated. During the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent Russian Civil War, many non-Russian nations gained brief or longer lasting periods of independence. After World War I, the Soviet Union was fortunate that Germany had lost the war as it was able to reject the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
 * Russia**


 * Germany**
 * During the war the percentage of women in the workforce had risen to 37%, a massive rise. At the end of the war this figure did not fall dramatically, meaning that from now on women had a significant role to play in the german economy.
 * Many of the former soldiers were of the opinion that they had not lost the war, they believed that the army had been cheated. (Hitler later phrased this as 'The Stab in the back'). As a consequence of this many Germans looked for people to blame. Some lay the blame in the hands of the Kaiser. Others, many others, looked to the new Government. They had immediately sued for peace and accepted the terms of the Armistice. For many Germans this showed that they were largely to blame. Other theories that were popular amongst the former soldiers were that it was the result of Communists or Jews. So in the immediate Post War era, there is a mass of suspicion within Germany. Combined with these factors is the potential threat to the social order.
 * Under the Kaiser the armed forces and aristocratic Prussian elite had privileges,but they now had to try and reestablish their authority. In a democracy this is difficult and can lead to further tension. The first President of the Weimar republic, Ebert, worked hard to try and win the support of the elite groups because he wanted their support in order to maximize the stability of the new republic. He also had to work hard to gain the support of the army, who in return needed his support if they were to survive as a significant political power in the years following the peace settlement.


 * Britain**
 * Women were expected to return jobs to men
 * Women became flappers (crazier lifestyle, partying, wearing looser clothes and very wild dancing)
 * Women got right to vote
 * The number of women working in the industries was lower after the war then before the war


 * France**


 * dramatic drop in birth rate
 * $ spent to take care of wounded soliders
 * alteration of public transportation systems
 * mental wards filled with soliders; shocked with aspects of war
 * thousands of kids became orphans