Hollow Victory, On the Brink of the Revolution - Essay Example

In addition, 13 million from among the Allied powers were wounded compared to 8.3 million from among the Central Powers. The Allied powers also reported 4 million either missing or held as prisoners of war, while the Central Powers reported 3.6 million. In total the Allied powers suffered 22 million casualties altogether compared to 15 million for the Central Powers. The total death toll for the First World War was 8.5 million, and total casualties were 37 million (History Learning Site, 2012).

Human suffering during the First World War was not limited to soldiers however. According to Tucker (2005), the consequences for the First World War were “far-reaching” (p. xxix). For instance approximately 750,000 German civilians perished as “a result of the British naval blockade” (Tucker, 2005, p. xxix). World War I also marked the first case of genocide during the 20th century. This case of genocide was inflicted by the Ottoman Empire against Armenia. The Ottoman Empire murdered 1.

5 million men, women and children in Armenia (United States of America, Congressional Record, 2001). The financial consequences of the First World War were also enormous. Total war expenditures were 82 billion US Dollars which is equivalent to 209 billion US dollars today (Hardach, 1981). The high expenditure is attributed to two main reasons. First, the power struggles emerging in Europe left all European powers willing to pledge all assets in order to emerge the victors during the First World War.

Secondly, the First World War represented the first major conflict of the industrialized world. Thus, technological advances offered both sides unprecedented machinery and artillery. Naturally, both sides were compelled to invest in more sophisticated weaponry and machinery if they were to have any chance of succeeding against the enemy (Oliver & Aldcroft, 2007). According to Thompson (1983) Churchill’s eventual analysis of the First World War in the aftermath of the Second World War, was that the First World War set in motion significant cost for mankind.

As the first part of the two Great Wars, the First World War saw the political and financial destruction of Europe and can be credited with given birth to Communism in the Soviet Union. According to Thompson (1983), in looking back on the First World War, Churchill noted that: Events passed very largely outside the scope of conscious choice. Governments and individuals conformed to the rhythm of the tragedy, and swayed and staggered forward in helpless violence, slaughtering and squandering on ever-increasing scales, till injuries were wrought to the structure of human society which a century will not efface, and which may conceivable prove fatal to the present civilization (p. 195). Thus the cost of the First World War, from Churchill’s perspective was timeless and can be measured politically, socially and economically.

Assignment 2: On the Brink of Revolution Afrikistan is a country in North Africa with a disproportionately large youth population. Afrikistan’s dictator has been in power for upward of thirty years. Afrikistan’s primary source of income is derived from oil reserves which are owned by the State. Increasing literacy and access to social and news media via the internet have rendered Afrikistan’s youth profoundly aware of their diminished returns and their dictator’