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The fighting in World War I ended when an armistice took effect at 11:00 hours on November 11, 1918. In the aftermath of World War I the political, cultural, and social order of the world was drastically changed in many places, even outside the areas directly involved in the war. New countries were formed, old ones were altered, international organizations were established, and many new and old ideas took a firm hold in people's minds.

Blockade of Germany

Throughout the armistice the Allies maintained the naval blockade of Germany begun during the war. This blockade is estimated to have caused the death of 800,000 German civilians from malnutrition during the final two years of the war. The continuation of the blockade after the fighting ended, as Leckie wrote in Delivered From Evil, would "torment the Germans… driving them with the fury of despair into the arms of the devil". Some historians have since argued that the harsh post-war treatment was one of the primary causes of World War II; others have advocated the Allies should have been even harder on Germany. Winston Churchill referred to the blockade during his March 3, 1919, speech to the British House of Commons: "We are holding all our means of coercion in full operation… we are enforcing the blockade with vigour… Germany is very near starvation. The evidence I have received… shows… the great danger of a collapse of the entire structure of German social and national life, under the pressure of hunger and malnutrition." The blockade was not lifted until June of 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles was signed by most of the combatant nations.

Treaty of Versailles

After the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28 1919 officially ended the war. Included in the 440 articles of the treaty were the demands that Germany officially accept responsibility for starting the war and pay heavy economic reparations. The treaty also included a clause to create the League of Nations. The US Senate never ratified this treaty and the US did not join the League, despite President Wilson's active campaigning in support of the League. The United States negotiated a separate peace with Germany, finalised in August 1921.

An indirect action of the treaty, the division of Germany’s colonies throughout Africa and Asia, would not be seen for decades. America, while not happy with the terms of the treaty, pressed European nations that were accepting Germany’s old colonies to have the native citizens there treated with the same respect they got when Germany was there. This was not the case, especially in French Indochina (the future Vietnam) and would lead to future conflict.

Influenza pandemic

A separate but related event was the great influenza pandemic. A virulent new strain of the flu, originating in the United States but misleadingly known as "Spanish Flu", was accidentally carried to Europe by infected American forces personnel. The disease spread rapidly through both the continental U.S. and Europe, eventually reaching around the globe. One in every four Americans had contracted the influenza virus. The exact number of deaths is unknown but between 20 and 40 million people are estimated to have died from the flu worldwide. In 2005, a study found that, "The 1918 virus strain developed in birds and was similar to the 'bird flu' that today has spurred fears of another worldwide epidemic" *

Geopolitical and economic consequences

Revolutions

Perhaps the single most important event precipitated by the privations of the war was the Russian Revolution of 1917. Socialist and explicitly Communist uprisings also occurred in many other European countries from 1917 onwards, notably in Germany and Hungary.

As a result of the Bolsheviks' failure to cede territory, German and Austrian forces defeated the Russian armies, and the new communist government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918. In that treaty, Russia renounced all claims to Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (specifically, the formerly Russian-controlled Congress Poland of 1815) and Ukraine, and it was left to Germany and Austria-Hungary "to determine the future status of these territories in agreement with their population." Later on, Lenin's government renounced also the Partition of Poland treaty, making it possible for Poland to claim its 1772 borders. However, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was rendered obsolete when Germany was defeated later in 1918, leaving the status of much of eastern Europe in an uncertain position.

Germany

See: German Revolution

Russia

Russia, already suffering socially and economically, was torn by a deadly civil war that killed more than 15 million people in one way or another and devastated large areas of the country. During the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war, many non-Russian nations gained brief or longer lasting periods of independence. Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia gained relatively permanent independence, although the Baltic states were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939.

Romania, initially formed from the union of Wallachia and Moldova retrieved the Bessarabia from Russia. Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan states were established in Caucasus region. In 1922 all these countries were invaded by Soviets and proclaimed Soviet Republics. Similar events happened in Central Asia. However, the Soviet Union, the successor of the Russian Empire, was lucky that Germany lost the war against the Western Allies because it was able to reject the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. That treaty would have taken huge portions of rich territory and population from them.

Austro-Hungarian Empire

With the war having turned decisively against the Central Powers, the peoples of the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost faith in it, and even before the armistice in November, radical nationalism had already led to several declarations of independence in September and October 1918. Originally the Allies had hoped to maintain Austria-Hungary (although reduced) as a counterbalance to German power in central Europe and had interpreted the Woodrow Wilson's 14 points within the framework of a federal Austria-Hungary. However, due to progress of the war and lobbying by separatists from within and outside the Empire the Allied powers slowly began to recognise its nations as distinct entities.

The resolution of borders and governments in south-central Europe in the time after November 1918 was not easy. As the central government had ceased to operate in vast areas, these regions found themselves without a government and many new groups attempted to fill the void. During this same period, the population was facing food shortages and was, for the most part, demoralized by the losses incurred during the war. Various political parties, ranging from ardent nationalists, to social-democrats, to communists attempted to set up governments in the names of the different nationalities. In other areas, existing nation states such as Romania engaged regions that they considered to be theirs. These moves created de-facto governments that complicated life for diplomats, idealists, and the western allies.

The western allies were officially supposed to occupy the old Empire, but rarely had enough troops to do so effectively. They had to deal with local authorities who had their own agenda to fulfill. At the peace conference in Paris the diplomats had to reconcile these authorities with the competing demands of the nationalists who had turned to them for help during the war, the strategic or political desires of the Western allies themselves, and other agendas such as a desire to implement the spirit of the 14 points.

For example, in order to live up to the ideal of self determination laid out in the 14 points, Germans, whether Austrian or German, should be able to decide their own future and government. However, the French especially were concerned that an expanded Germany would be a huge security risk. Further complicating the situation, delegations such as the Czechs and Slovenians made strong claims on some German-speaking territories.

The result was treaties that compromised many ideals, offended many allies, and set up an entirely new order in the area. Many people hoped that the new nation states would allow for a new era of prosperity and peace in the region, free from the bitter quarelling between nationalities that had marked the preceding fifty years. This hope proved far too optimistic. Changes in territorial configuration after World War I included:

  • Establishment of the new republics of Austria and Hungary, disavowing any continuity with the empire and exiling the Habsburg family in perpetuity.
  • Borders of newly independent Hungary did not include two-thirds of the lands of the former Kingdom of Hungary, though it did include most of the areas where the ethnic Magyars were in a majority. The new republic of Austria maintained control over most of the mostly German-dominated areas, but lost various other lands.

Österreich-Ungarns Ende.png|right|thumb|300px|Division of Austria-Hungary after WW1

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These changes were recognised in, but not caused by, the Treaty of Versailles. They were subsequently further elaborated in the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the Treaty of Trianon.

The new states of eastern Europe nearly all had large national minorities. Hundreds of thousands of Germans found themselves in the newly created countries as minorities. A quarter of ethnic Hungarians found themselves living outside of Hungary. Many of these national minorities found themselves in bad situations because the modern governments were intent on defining the national character of the countries, often at the expense of the other nationalities.

The interwar years were hard for the Jews of the region. Most nationalists distrusted them because they were not fully integrated into 'national communities.' In contrast to times under the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Jews were often ostracized and discriminated against. Although anti-semitism had been widespread during Habsburg rule, Jews faced no official discrimination because they were, for the most part, ardent supporters of the multi-national state and the monarchy. Jews had feared the rise of ardent nationalism and nation states, because they foresaw the difficulties that would arise.

The economic disruption of the war and the end of the Austro-Hungarian customs union created great hardship in many areas. Although many states were set up as democracies after the war, one by one, they reverted to some form of authoritarian rule. Many quarelled amongst themselves but were too weak to compete effectively. Later, when Germany rearmed, the nation states of south- central Europe were unable to resist its attacks, and fell under German domination to a much greater extent than had ever existed in Austria-Hungary. After the Second World War German domination was exchanged for a Soviet one.

Ottoman Empire

At the end of the war the Ottoman government collapsed completely and the Ottoman Empire was divided amongst the victorious powers with the signing of the Treaty of Sèvres on August 10, 1920. France and Britain got most of the Middle East, and the British were given the Mandate of Palestine under the League of Nations. Italy and Greece were given much of Anatolia. But Treaty of Sèvres was never applied and Turkish resistance forced out the Greeks while the Italians were unable to establish themselves. An autonomous Kurdish area was also created, but attempts to become independent in the 1920s were suppressed by the Turkish revolutionaries.

After Turkish resistance led by Kemal Atatürk had developed control over the Anatolia and pushed the allies out, a new treaty was needed as the conditions of the Treaty of Sèvres was inapplicable. The Treaty of Lausanne formally ended all hostilities and led to the creation of the modern Turkish republic. Before the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey and the Soviet Union had already signed the Treaty of Kars, which already brought the peace on the eastern border of Turkey.

The Treaty of Kars was ratified in Yerevan on September 11, 1922 after the First Republic of Armenia became part of Soviet Union

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, funding the war had a huge economic cost. From being the world's largest overseas investor, it became one of its biggest debtors with interest payments forming around 40% of all government spending. Inflation more than doubled between 1914 and its peak in 1920, while the value of the Pound Sterling (consumer expenditure *) fell by 61.2%. Reparations in the form of free German coal depressed the local industry, precipitating the 1926 General Strike.

Less concrete changes include the growing assertiveness of Commonwealth nations. Battles such as Gallipoli for Australia and New Zealand, and Vimy Ridge for Canada led to increased national pride and a greater reluctance to remain subordinate to Britain, leading to the growth of diplomatic autonomy in the 1920s. Traditionally loyal dominions such as Newfoundland were deeply disillusioned by Britain's apparent disregard for their soldiers, eventually leading to the unification of Newfoundland into the Confederation of Canada. Colonies such as India and Nigeria also became increasingly assertive because of their participation in the war. The populations in these countries became increasingly aware of their own power and Britain's fragility.

In Ireland the delay in finding a resolution to the home rule issue, partly caused by the war, as well as the 1916 Easter Rising and a failed attempt to introduce conscription in Ireland, increased support for separatist radicals, and led indirectly to the outbreak of the Anglo-Irish War in 1919.

United States

In the USA, disillusioned by the failure of the war to achieve the high ideals promised by President Woodrow Wilson, the American people chose isolationism and, after an initial recession enjoyed several years of unbalanced prosperity until the 1929 Stock Market crash. However, American commercial interests did finance Germany's rebuilding and reparations efforts, at least until the onset of the Great Depression. The close relationships between American and German businesses became somewhat of an embarrassment after the Nazis took over Germany in 1933.

France

For France, the end of the War seemed to finally mark the end of Prussian-German domination which had lasted since the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.

However the Chief commander of the Allied forces, Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch, had demanded that for the future protection of France the Rhine river should now form the border between France and Germany. Based on history, he was convinced that Germany would again become a threat, and, on hearing the terms of the Treaty of Versailles that had left Germany substantially intact, he observed with great accuracy that "This is not Peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years." After this critical statement, Foch was amazed to see himself rise in power.

Also extremely important in the War was the participation of French colonial troops from Indochina, North Africa, and Madagascar without whom France might well have fallen. When these soldiers returned to their homelands and continued to be treated as second class citizens, many became the nucleus of pro-independence groups

Italy

After the war, Italy failed to annex Dalmatia, and this led several Italian politicians to speak of a "mutilated victory". Actually, such a stance only showed the Italian leaders' incompetence and lack of understanding in matters of foreign policy.

Indeed, it should not have been difficult to see how, among the Allied Powers, Italy had been the one which benefited the most from the outcome of the war. Whereas Britain and France still faced a Germany which had kept about 80 percent of her industrial and economic potential and thus could attempt a revanche in a matter of years, Italy had definitively gotten ridden of her century-old enemy: instead of the Austro-Hungarian Empire there were now a number of smaller States none of which could pose a credible threat, and some of them could even fall within the Italian sphere of influence.

With the annexation of Trento, Triest, South Tyrol, Friuli, Istria, Zara and several Dalmatian islands, Italy had completed her territorial expansion and could now rely on secure borders. Furthermore, Italian sovereignty over Rhodes and the Dodecanese had been officially recognized, as well as the Italian special interests in Albania, and with a little more competence by her envoys at the Paris Peace Conference, Italy could also have taken part in the partition of former German colonies. However, the Italian politicians failed to perceive all this, and so the myth of the "mutilated victory" spread, fueling the Fascist propaganda and helping Mussolini seize power.

During the war, Italy had suffered fewer casualties than Britain and much fewer than France, and the social problems she was facing afterward (an inflated war industry to reconvert to civilian production, the large number of crippled people no longer able to sustain themselves, the new role of women) were common to other Allied countries which, however, did not suffer an authoritarian drift. Thus, it can be argued that the "mutilated victory" myth may have been the one element which made the difference and caused Italy to fall under the Fascist regime in 1922.

Social trauma

The experiences of the war led to a sort of collective national trauma afterwards for all the participating countries. The optimism of 1900 was entirely gone and those who fought in the war became what is known as "the Lost Generation" because they never fully recovered from their experiences. One gruesome reminder of the sacrifices of the generation was the fact that this was the first time in warfare whereby more men had died in battles than to disease, which had been the main cause of deaths in previous wars. For the next few years, much of Europe became obsessive in its mourning and memorials were erected in thousands of villages and towns.

This social trauma manifested itself in many different ways. Some people were revolted by nationalism and what it had caused and began to work toward a more internationalist world through organizations such as the League of Nations. Pacifism became increasingly popular. Others had the opposite reaction, feeling that only strength and military might could be relied on for protection in a chaotic and inhumane world that did not respect hypothetical notions of civilization. Certainly a sense of disillusionment and cynicism became pronounced. Nihilism grew in popularity. Many people believed that the war heralded the end of the world as they had known it, including the collapse of capitalism and imperialism. Communist and socialist movements around the world drew strength from this theory, enjoying a level of popularity they had never known before. These feelings were most pronounced in areas directly or particularly harshly affected by the war, such as central Europe, Russia and France.

Artists such as Otto Dix, George Grosz, Ernst Barlach, and Käthe Kollwitz represented their experiences, or those of their society, in blunt paintings and sculpture. Similarly, authors such as Erich Maria Remarque wrote grim novels detailing their experiences. These works had a strong impact on society, causing a great deal of controversy and highlighting conflicting interpretations of the war. In Germany, nationalists including the Nazis believed that much of this work was degenerate and undermined the cohesion of society as well as dishonouring the dead.

Remains of ammunition

Throughout the areas where trenches and fighting lines were located, such as the Champagne region of France, quantities of unexploded shells and other ammunition have remained, some of which remains dangerous and continues to cause injuries and occasional fatalities into the 21st century. Some are still found nowadays, for instance by farmers ploughing their fields and are called the iron harvest. Some of this ammunition contains chemical toxic products such as mustard gas. Cleanup of major battlefields is a continuing task with no end in sight for decades more. Squads remove, defuse or destroy hundreds of tons of unexploded ammunition every year in Belgium and France.

One estimate is that at the current rate, France will not be cleared of unexploded First-World-War shells for several hundred years.

War memorials

Many towns in the participating countries have war memorials dedicated to local residents who lost their lives. Those of particular importance include:

Tombs of the Unknown Soldier

Resources

The first major television documentary on the history of the war was the BBC's The Great War (1964), made in association with CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The Imperial War Museum. The series consists of 26 forty-minute episodes featuring extensive use of archive footage gathered from around the world and eyewitness interviews. Although some of the programme's conclusions have been disputed by historians it still makes compelling and often moving viewing.

See also

Main articles

External links

Aftermath of World War I | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Conseguenze della prima guerra mondiale | תוצאות מלחמת העולם הראשונה | Ettervirkningene av første verdenskrig

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Aftermath of World War I".

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