Question

Discuss the impact of the “inter-war” years. ?

Answer 1

• The interwar period was the period between the end of the First World War in November 1918 and the beginning of the Second World War in September 1939.
• This period represented an era of significant changes worldwide. Petroleum and associated mechanisation expanded dramatically leading to the Roaring Twenties (and the Golden Twenties), a period of economic prosperity and growth for the middle class in North America, Europe and many other parts of the world.
• Automobiles, electric lighting, radio broadcasts and more became commonplace among populations in the developed world. The indulgences of this era subsequently were followed by the Great Depression, an unprecedented worldwide economic downturn which severely damaged many of the world's largest economies.
• The interwar period of 1919 to 1939 was characterised by failures and allowances that eventually ended in the collapse of the peace. It can be argued that it was a combination of rushed decisions and lack of support from Britain, the US and France but a lot of blame can be placed on the fact that it was Hitler's ultimate aim to reclaim what he deemed as the rightful land of German as laid out in Mein Kampf.
• At the end of the First World War, you have the biggest issue of all which came in the form of the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty had in many ways been to harsh to the Germans, with reparations exceeding the millions and with a dubious question of unity between the allies the treaty was bound to fail.
• The chaos of Russia after WWI witnessed the birth of a state dedicated to the overthrow of the established order. This created fear and instability which was a factor in eroding peace.
• The West attempted to isolate Russia, and Russia fought back against this attempt. Russia signed the Treaty of Rapallo with Germany, bypassing the restrictions imposed on Germany's army by the Treaty of Versailles. The West then signed the Locarno Treaties, opening up Germany's eastern borders to revision. This secured peace for the West and further isolated Russia.
• Despite the Golden Age that Germany later went through, the Great Depression eventually destroys all of the progress made in the economic recovery of Germany and serves as the spark, causing democracies to weaken, fascism to rise and communism to strengthen.
• World War I had many drastic changes around the world from physical to economical.WWI had also done a lot of damage to the economy too, economy in Germany became destroyed and the European nations started a period of inflation due to over printing of their currencies.
• After the war Germany was divided into four temporary occupation zones, roughly based on the locations of the Allied armies. The German capital, Berlin, was also divided into four sectors: the French sector, British sector, American sector and the Soviet sector.
• The impact of the Great War on the United States saw political, economic and social changes. The United States emerged from the war as a world military and industrial leader.Manufacturing, production and efficiency had increased through necessity during the Great War.On the negative side, inflation was high and companies and corporations started the reduce wages and lay off workers to keep down operating costs. The power of the Unions had grown during the war, workers protested and 1919 saw a massive wave of strikes.