1919

The year 1919 was the end of the First World War and the conclusion of the Paris Peace settlement. This led to the changes in different countries and in different aspects such as the great loss of lives and property after the First World War. In some countries, one-party dictatorship was established and all parties other than the ruling party were banned. In the defeated nations, there were territorial losses and huge war debts after the First World War. These changed the political order in different ways. Therefore, to a large extent, the year 1919 was a turning point in the early 20th century.

Rise of totalitarianism, which attributed to the Paris Peace settlement, reshaped the international order. Before the First World War, Europe still dominated the world. Among the six major powers in Europe, Britain and Germany were the strongest and then came France and Russia. Italy and Austria-Hungary ranked the lowest. After the First World War, even the victorious powers received many benefits from the defeated countries, they also got affected by the casualties and destruction of the First World War and adopted appeasement policy. Hence, when the totalitarianism began in Italy and Germany due to dissatisfaction with the Paris Peace settlement, Britain and France could not stop the aggressions and expansions of the totalitarian states. Constantly, the totalitarian states such as Italy and Germany began stronger. It finally disrupted international order.

In addition, many colonies were under the rule of alien countries before the First World War. For example, the Balkans wanted to set up its own states which were free from the control of Austria-Hungary. After the First World War, the victorious powers of the First World War allowed the ethnic minorities in those former empires to create their own nation states under the principle of national self-determination that led to the establishment of new nation states in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Poland,