How Did The Great War Change The World

The four year plus span of time between late Summer of 1914 and Fall of 1918 is known by a few different names; The Great War, The War to End All Wars, and, most often, World War One. This war was a milestone in human history. This conflict engulfed Europe and destroyed countless lives, through death, pain, economic ruin, emotional and psychological trauma, and other ways. It saw the airplane, machine gun, tank, and poison gas all come into their own as new and exciting ways to slaughter other human beings. Although the War itself came to an end in 1918, the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 is where the War truly “ended”, with the Treaty of Versailles being signed on June 28- five years to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated,
Empires collapsed. Monarchies fell. Countries that had been stable for centuries were suddenly and traumatically altered forever. Russia, Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Turkey were all turned upside down. Across the Atlantic Ocean, however, the heretofore “minor “ player, the United States of America, was now a world power, both economically and militarily. Economically, too, Europe had been devastated. Treasuries that had taken centuries to fill were drained in just a few short and bloody years. In 1919, Allied leaders from France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, met to discuss and solve these problems. The Treaty of Versailles was the result. This Treaty completely altered the face of the European continent. Boundaries changed. Germany's territory in Europe became significantly smaller. Her overseas colonies, too, went from German hands into those of the Allies. One of the biggest aspects of the Treaty, however, was also one which would cause some of the most heated debate- Germany’s payment of reparations. As a term of the treaty, Germany had to take the blame for starting the War AND pay huge sums of money to help rebuild the economies of the combatant nations. Whether the Treaty was too harsh, not harsh enough, or somewhere in between is still debated, but one thing is clear. It was perceived by the German people as being very brutal
Part of this aspect of the Treaty was the requirement for Germany to pay $5 billion over five years to pay for the War. The Allied Reparations Committee was also formed with a twofold mission; to determine just how much the War cost and to determine amounts of reparations and how they would be repaid. The Committee was told to have final numbers by 1921. it was the reparations that were perhaps the biggest sticking point in the entire treaty. The terms were harsh, and many, including most of the Allies, felt that bankrupting Germany would only lead to worse catastrophe. In 1920, the United States withdrew from the committee when the Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. The French claimed the mantle of leadership, and in January 1923, because the Germans weren't repaying fast enough (in the eyes of the French, anyway), a 40,000 strong French army occupied Germany's Ruhr Valley. This was a complete and abysmal failure for France. Germany's economy grew still worse, making it even harder for the nation to repay, France was now alienated from the rest of the Allied nations, and Germany’s hatred for France increased exponentially. Even France's own economy started to lose