The Aftermath of World War One - Essay Example

Aftermath of World War One Aftermath of World War One The aftermath of the world war one did not achieve a new era of peace, anti-nationalism, liberal democracy, and prosperity as many imagined it would have. Ironically, it brought about issues of concern that contributed to the Second World War. The repatriations that were imposed after the First World War in addition to the inflationary period in Europe caused German hyperinflation by the year-end 1920 (Lowe, 2013). The European economy was destabilized giving rise to many right wing parties.

Political tension heightened in Europe after the world war one since great powers were increasingly discontented over acquisition of various new colonies. The race to attract the new colonies became utterly competitive. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire was decaying at a high rate. The nation that had been under the rule of Ottoman became independent resulting into change of balance in Europe. Various ethnic groups of Austria-Hungary began to fight and push for their independence. Trouble, however, came up in Weimar Germany after the Versailles treaty.

Various dissatisfactions of the treaty emerged including loss of most of the territories of German speakers. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took over power based on these dissatisfactions and came up with ideologies, which included unifying Germans to a single nation. Tension was created by the dissatisfaction and the ideologies brought about by the Nazis. As a result, Britain collaborated with France threatening to form a two-front war in Germany. Germans signed the non-aggression pact with USSR for their support thus dividing Europe into two: Nazi and Soviet influence spheres.

This sparked the Second World War in September 1939.ReferencesLowe, K. (2013). Savage continent : Europe in the aftermath of World War II. London: Viking.