Longterm Impact on the Nation's Culture and Society
In post World War I Europe, tensions were at an all-time high due to the incredibly tough punishment Germany received from the allies based on the fact that they believed the start of the war was Germany's fault. While the United States did well to remain fair in its interactions with Germany (likely due to its physical distance and thus its citizens emotional distance to the conflict), both Britain and France were not so cooperative or willing to move on. While the war began with rather outdated methods such as carrier pigeons and horses, by its end modern warfare had been completely redefined by the use of water vessels such as submarines and land vessels like tanks. Airplanes had dropped bombs. Soldiers used machine guns and armies employed the use of posion gas in combat. "In 1918, the Germans fired shells containing both tear gas and lethal chlorine. The tear gas forced the British to remove their gas masks; the chlorine then scarred their faces and killed them" (Mintz). The war had lasted four years and the British Empire lost about a million troops while the French, Russians, and Hapsburg Empire each lost between 1.5-1.7 million, but none had lost as many as Germany at somewhere around two million troops lost over the duration of the war. After so much loss and divisiveness among European countries, nobody wanted to get along. With Germany losing so much territory and facing demonization and alienation from the rest of the world, the German people were vulnerable, looking for a way to bring their country back to its so-called former greatness. These hostilities played a large part in Germany's rising nationalism post World War I and the eventual rise of Adolf Hitler. Germany's anger at the allies led Hitler to rebuild his army despite the Treaty of Versailles forbidding them from doing so. This too, led to World War II. The culture of Europe would forever be changed after this.
The United States faced its own issues when the war ended. While it didn't suffer the same casualties and economic impact that the rest of the countries did, it dealt with its own issues. One major issue that many American soldiers faced returning home was the propoganda that had been spread throughout the war. Many adverts made it seem as though soldiers were not necessarily suffering or even fighting in a war overseas. In many ways, those who remained at home were disillusioned about the basics of warfare and found themselves unable to communicate with or understand what their soldiers endured in Europe. Further, inflation spiked in post World War I America and companies were left to lay off much of their workforce, which created stiff competition for available jobs. Such desperation among American workers led to their division and only added to racial tensions in the country. The implemation of prohibition further caused issues for their police as many went underground and created or joined organized criminal organizations which sought to create, sell, and distribute alcohol. Soon after, the Great Depression followed, marking one of the darkest times in modern American history.
References
- Mintz, S. (n.d.) Global Effects of World War I. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Retrieved from https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/world-war-i/resources/global-effect-world-war-i
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Credit: Christina