Effects of World War on Europe from 1900-Present - Report Example

Effects of World War on Europe from 1900-Present This essay investigates the effects of world war on Europe from 1900to present with a focus on important historical happenings over this period. Consequently, the focus has been divided into periods that firstly cover effects experienced in the interwar period followed by the next period which is after the Second World War through to the cold war era and the present European world. Effects of World War on Europe in the interwar period Although there are a number of historical reasons that sparked the First World War, the immediate cause was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in 1914 who was to ascend to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This assassination led to a chain of event with Austria-Hungary blaming it on the Serbian government hoping to find a reason to attack Serbia with the goal being to end the problem caused by Slav nationalism. However, this war was delayed by the fact that Russia had already signed a treaty with Serbia to offer them support in case of future war ensuring Austria-Hungary needed support from German in case of entry of Russia into the conflict. The promise of German support therefore emboldened Austria-Hungary to declare war with Serbia on July 28. Consequently, Russia together with other allies such as France, Belgium and the Great Britain joined the war in support of Serbia sparking the First World War that lasted August 1st 1914 and November 11th 19181. Foremost effect of the war on Europe is the loss of its population due to military and civilian deaths. Each of the European countries that were involved in the war recorded massive losses for those in the war frontline in addition to the civilians who were attacked through bombardments. Beckett estimates the death toll to be between nine and ten million military dead on the global scale. The author further breaks down these figures to reveal a daily death toll for each country’s military Britain suffering approximately 457, Russia 1459, France 890 and German 1303 death every day2. Among the European countries that were greatly hit is Germany with about two million, France 1.3 million people while the figure was 722, 0003. Apart from the direct deaths caused by the bullets and bombs, there was also the outbreak of diseases which increased the number of death both during and after the war. Among the diseases which led to great loss of life for both the military and civilians is influenza which led to death of up to 166, 000 in France while the number of death in Britain and Germany was about 228, 000 and 174, 000 respectively. Other diseases the resulted in high number of casualties during the First World War was typhus that resulted in 135 to 160 thousand deaths in Serbia between 1914 and 1915 alone while cholera was responsible for about 1.5 million deaths in Russia up to 19204. Many of the civilians were recruited to assist in responsibilities in “the war industry” where they were used in the making of shells, guns, poisonous gases for biological warfare, bombs and airplanes5. This conscription of most of the able men in the European countries also resulted in the transformation of social roles in many European families. The period during the war and afterwards saw the transformation of traditional social roles as women shifted their responsibilities from taking care of the family to being breadwinners. Many industries were hit by loss of labor especially those that had traditionally relied on employing male employees. As most of the households were now led by women, they did not have any option but to join the labor force to be able to provide for their families while also maintaining the seriously hit economies in these countries6. The introduction of women into the workplaces previously considered as more suitable for men has led to the historical phenomenon where female employees are paid less compared to men since women are thought to be either weak or lacked the necessary qualifications compared to men. Even as there were changes in the social lives of the people, the end of the First World War also had a significant impact in the political organization of many European countries throughout subsequent years. The political impact of this war was that a number of empires that had existed for centuries were abolished and in their place new political ideologies had to develop. Such empires include the Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian as well as the German Empire that had been rapidly expanding in the past years leading to the war. The end of an era for these empires led to the creation of new countries as boundaries in Europe were revised. After the war, there were a number of treaties signed to ensure all the involving parties were appeased with the treaty of St. Germaine leading to the division of the Austro-Hungarian Empire into smaller nations7. The Russian Empire had survived years of violence within its territory due to the booming economy that had remained strong up to 1914. The cost of war in addition to a number of defeats and advances made by the German military ensured a reverse of fortunes for the empire. As the war continued the Russian empire had to deal with a mutiny as well as strikes and rioting that led to the breakout of a civil war between communists and anticommunists. By the time the Red Army who represented the communists won, the empire had disintegrated giving rise to smaller countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and Latvia. However, a major section of the territory previously occupied by the Russian empire formed a new political entity that was known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) with Russia being the dominant power8. For the Ottoman Empire, the end of the war led to the breakup of territories leading to formation of countries such as Syria, Iraq and Palestine with the territories being placed under the control of the League of Nations as the Allied forces looked to exert their influence over the region9. The although there were many negative effects of the first world war, the period before, during and after the war saw a positive development in the technological sector as new inventions were being introduced to keep up with military requirements. Great stride in technology was specifically realized in sectors such as manufacture of airplanes, automobiles communication and other production. During the war, a lot of research went into introduction of machinery that would improve the countries’ military might; however, when the war ended these technologies were still bettered resulting in improved economic performance of many countries. However, this development did not improve the overall economic performance of many European countries whose economies continued to suffer. Many European countries had borrowed heavily to finance their military operations ensuring that by the end of the war such countries had huge debts that had to be paid to allies. To finance these debts, most of the countries increased cash flow in the economy by printing more currencies the result being widespread inflation. Among the members of European population who felt the effect of this inflation are members of the middle class who lost their investments as the value of property reduced significantly. This was especially hard on Germany since the country also had to pay war reparations in addition to the debts10. Among the European countries that felt a significant effect of the First World War is Germany. The Treaty of Versailles signed after the largely blamed Germany for the war therefore imposing a number of sanctions against the country. A number of territories that the Germans had confiscated were shared among the Allies with the most significant such as Alsace and Lorraine being taken over by the French. This is in addition to Germany giving up the western bank of the Rhine and Saar basin which were import territories due to existence of natural resources such as coal11. Apart from losing important territories, further sanctions were imposed over Germany with the country expected to pay war reparations for the destructions caused over the period of the war which also included making a payment of about 132 billion gold marks in addition to being forced to give vast amounts of coal to Belgium. The signing of Versailles treaty marked the end of the First World War while also providing grounds for the establishment of the league of nation to safeguard world peace and prevent future wars. However, majority of Germans felt the treaty was hard on them as it placed all the blame on them as well as imposing economic sanctions that threatened to collapse the country’s economy. This unresolved issues following the signing of Versailles treaty made a second war a possibility as it heightened the Germans hatred against war enemies12. Even after the war had ended, Germany was forced to abide by the treaty as countries such as France continued to plunder their properties by taking over territories such as the Rhur. Feeling in Germany played a significant role in helping the Nazis to gain power in the country as they promised to revive Germany pride. This was especially experienced when the Nazis under the command of Hitler refused to abide by the Versailles treaty by sending the military into Rhineland. This was against the treaty which had barred the country from the region while also advocating for the reduction of military investment. The development in Germany took place in the context of wider European political environment where fascism which is the new age authoritarian form of rule was taking over in a number of European countries. In Italy, Benito Mussolini took over control of the country, Spain taken by Francisco Franco, and Antonio Salazar in Portugal while the Nazi under Hitler took over Austria in 193313. Effects of World War on Europe from Second World War to present It is this political development in European that provided groundwork for the eruption of Second World War as Hitler began an ambitious plan to annex territories based on his belief on the Third Reich as the heir to the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire. While Germany under Hitler continued to expand, most European countries adopted an appeasement stance hoping Hitler will take what is enough. However, Germany continued with the expansionist agenda until when it invaded Poland in September 1939. The invasion of Poland served as a wakeup call for the rest of Europe who now realized Germany was not going to slow down on its ambitions. Consequently, the Second World War began with the declaration of war by Britain and France who were supported by other member countries of the Allied Power that also included Russia, USA China while the Germans in the other hand were supported by Italy, Japan. If the First World War had a devastating effect on the European population, the Second World War had even greater impact on people in these countries due to loss of life and property during Second World War. This was more than had been experienced in any single war both in the past and in the years after the war with approximately 60 million people reportedly killed14. The immediate effect of the Second World War was the vision of Germany into four zones, which were occupied by the different powers including the Soviet Union, Britain and France that had successfully brought an end to Nazi rule. This division was also reflected in Berlin and was as a result of complaint by the Soviet Union that the other three powers did not agree to its plans for unification of Germany15. Instead of moving towards the unification, France, Britain and the US had merged the areas under their occupation to form West Germany. This led to escalation of hostility between the Soviet Union and the rest of Western Europe resulting in Berlin blockade that lasted for almost one year from 1948. During this period, the western Allies were forced to airlift supplies to West Berlin as the Soviet Union did not allow these countries to pass through East Berlin. This tension further escalated in 1949 with the western Allies forming the federal republic Germany while the soviet occupied territory became Germany democratic republic. The formation of west and East Germany was not a permanent political disintegration as the two nations were alter unified after the end of influence from Soviet Union lead to a revolution in 1989 leading to collapse of east Germany16. The Second World War had significant effect on the economy of the European countries with many of them having extensive destruction of their industries. The economic slowdown in European countries such as Britain and France led to the shift in the global balance of power with USA and the Soviet Union emerging as the two superpowers. Before the war, Britain and France had experienced high military and economic growth which positioned them as the most powerful countries along with Germany. However, the cost of the war negatively affected these countries leading to subsequent shift in power with facing challenges in it mission to improve an economy destroyed by the Nazi occupation of it territories. In addition to these economic challenges, France and Britain were also faced with further challenges in their imperial territories after the conclusion of the war. Since the initial decision was against ceding to this demands of independence European countries such as France had to encounter a traumatic and drawn out warfare in colonies such as Vietnam and Algeria as they attempted to uphold control over these colonies17. By the end of the war, Russia had also experienced massive losses with regions such as western parts of the country left to clear the remains of land combats which was primarily fought on Russian soil. However, as Russia moved towards crushing the Nazis the country continued to build a large and powerful army that was able to occupy extensive territories in Eastern Europe taking over regions ranging from the soviet boundaries extending to Germany and the Balkan region18. This development based on the vast resources and population of Russia assured that the Soviet Union emerged as a joint super power together with the US thereby creating a balance of power with political ramifications for the political ideologies of many European countries based on divergent ideologies. The ideological confrontations between the US and USSR led to the cold war which led to the split of European countries based on support for either communism or capitalism19. Each of the new superpowers wanted to be in control of the reconstruction process in Europe by influencing how these countries were organized. Europe was therefore divided into two with the communists occupying Eastern Europe while Western Europe was influenced by US democratic principles. Even with the relative peace established after the war, the Soviet Union continued to expand its influence over the greater Eastern Europe leading to concerns by most of the countries in the West about future access to markets in the region. Communist influence in these areas was also thought to have a security implication for countries in west Europe20 (Painter 17). These fears made the US reconsider the implication of Soviet Union domination leading to implementation of a foreign policy aimed at restricting further spreading of communism in Europe. Among the strategies used by the US to preserve the political and economic status of Western Europe was the announcement and later implementation of the Truman doctrine. The Truman Doctrine refers to the announcement which become USA’s foreign policy made by President Truman that the country will provide both economic and military support to any country facing threat from communism or totalitarian ideology. The announcement was made following a decision by the British Embassy in 1947 which made U.S. State Department officials aware of Great Britain’s ending her financial assistance to the Greece and Turkey governments. The American legislators had been observing the situation in Greece as the country continued to crumble due economic and political problems that were multiplied by the activities of the Communist-led revolution known as the National Liberation Front. The sanctioning of aid to Hungary and Greece by the US Congress signaled a change in US foreign policy from its longstanding policy of isolationism to USs policy of providing global leadership and terminated its enduring policy of isolationism21. However, the negative economic effects suffered by most European countries were only short lived as most of the countries began to experience a positive trend in their economic trends. The post-World War II growth in the European countries both in the West and East was precipitated by the improved productivity and output experienced in some of the countries22. Although the war had a devastating effect on the European economic, what were greatly affected were the physical structure and a section of human capital. This was not enough to completely cripple the major economical hubs in these countries. Previous economic developments in European history had been interrupted by intervals of territorial warfare therefore hampering steady growth. End of the Second World War resulted in years of prosperity that was much faster and with less interruption from warfare. It seems the countries had learned to concentrate on economic development that was based on trade and production from within their territories. Halperin highlights a number of factors that played a significant role in economic development of most European countries23. At the center of this growth is the introduction of the Marshall Plan by USA through which the USA hoped to improve the economies of its Allies in Europe and therefore prevent them from falling into communism that was supported by the USSR24. Even as the European powers such as Britain Belgium, Holland and France suffered economic losses that due to investment in wars, further losses were also incurred in the colonial territories. Many of the countries in Asia and Africa which were still under colonial powers began making calls for their independence. These European nations found it difficult to control their colonies due to stretched resources that could not cover the needs of their population as well as fund their imperial quests25. Additionally, majority of the citizens in these imperialist countries no longer supported their countries’ occupation of foreign territories. Many people argued that the world wars had been as a result of the quest to acquire more territories and therefore it did not make sense to continue with the imperialist agenda. Citizens were in opposition to different forms of racial discrimination while also advocating for self-rule and freedom. USSR and USA were also in opposition to colonialism as they wanted to instill their ideologies in these countries. Consequently, European powers had to shift their attention to trade with the former colonies instead of pursuing their imperial agenda26. Apart from the ideological differences that resulted in the super powers dividing Europe along communist and democratic nations, there was also commencement of arms race which was centered along the development of nuclear weapons27. During the Second World War, the US had successfully detonated atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki territories inside Japan28. This placed the US as the most military advanced country in the world based on the advancement of its nuclear technology. However, this perception of the US as the only country with nuclear power changed when in 1949 the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon leading to continued testing and stockpilingof nuclear weapon the territory of many European countriesover the years within. Currently, the US has strategically placed a number of nuclear weapons in European countries such as the United Kingdom, Turkey, Netherlands and Belgium29. This strategic locations of the weapons were to arm the western European countries in case they were to be attacked by the soviet union during the cold war era, however, there have been arguments against continued nuclear proliferation based on the line of thought that such threat does not exist currently since the disintegration of the soviet union. Since the end of cold war, world peace has been established based on the threat of the nuclear war as countries fear the devastation it will cause on human life and property. Cimbala argues the existence of nuclear weapons in Europe has been an important pillar in the avoidance of third world war as political tensions continued to be maintained at a relatively lower level since the Second World War through to the cold war and past soviet disintegration30. From the foregoing, Europe has gone through a number of security challenges as a result of the first and second world wars. Since Europe was at the center of the two wars, the continent was hardest hit by the aftermath of the two wars as populations and property was destroyed during the war. The loss of life was not the only impact of these wars as they also resulted in the formation of new countries as well as the shift in the global balance of power. The essay has also assessed the problem of nuclear proliferation which has continued to present years as world powers invest in technology to reduce areas of disadvantages in case of future wars. Although the Soviet Union has disintegrated there has not been improved pace in nuclear disarmament with many having the perception that the fear of nuclear warfare is what has managed to prevent another world war. Bibliography Beckett, Ian.The Great War: 1914-1918. London: Routledge, 2014. Bostdorff, Denise M. Proclaiming the Truman Doctrine: the Cold War call to arms. Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2008. Cimbala, Stephen J. Nuclear weapons and cooperative security in the 21st century: the new disorder. London: Routledge, 2009. Conradt, David P., and Eric Langenbacher.The German Polity.Lanham, Maryland:Rowman& Littlefield Publishers, 2013. Cove, Dennis, and Ian Westwell, eds. History of World War I. London: Marshall Cavendish, 2002. Diehl, Sarah J., and James Clay Moltz.Nuclear weapons and nonproliferation: a reference book. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Lewis, Paul. Latin fascist elites: the Mussolini, Franco, and Salazar regimes. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Lightbody, Bradley. The Second World War: Ambitions to Nemesis. London: Routledge, 2004. Granata,Cora and Cheryl Koos.The Human Tradition in Modern Europe, 1750 to the Present.Lanham, Maryland:Rowman& Littlefield Publishers, 2007. Hunt, Lynn, et al. Sources of the Making of the West, Volume II: Since 1500: Peoples and Cultures. Basingstoke:Macmillan Publishers, 2010. Halperin, Sandra. War and social change in modern Europe: the great transformation revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Howard, Michael, and William Roger Louis, eds. The Oxford History of Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Lualdi, Katherine. Sources of the making of the West, 2nded. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003, 2:67-71. Painter, David. The Cold War: an international history. London: Routledge, 2002. Ross, Stewart. Causes and consequences of World War I. Evans Brothers, 2003. Roberts, John Morris. Twentieth Century: A History of the World 1901-Present, Revised edition. London: Penguin Books, 2004. Read More