Ww1 Effects On The Modern World

There have been a copious amount of movements and wars that have changed the world. World War I was one of the changes that created the modern world. WWI changed how wars were fought and how they were dealt with, it also affected the world’s economy and mental health ideas. This was the war that contributed to the Russian Revolution and the Great Depression, not to mention the founding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. WWI changed everything, how people thought and how they saw the world. The world might have healed, but the effects of WWI can still be seen in the present day. One of the most interesting impacts of WWI is how the trauma affected the human mind. Before WWI there was never a traumatic effect of this magnitude, there were
other wars and natural disasters, however, it was never on this scale. Ten million people died and twenty million were injured, people cannot walk away from that kind of loss without scars. The question is whether they are physical or mental. Many of the men that did survive did not know how to live outside of the military as depicted in All Quiet on the Western Front.
Every country had men coming home from war, much smaller number than had gone, and they would never be the same as they left. As shown by Paul in the movie boys were sent off to war, and when they came back they were meant to be men, but by that time all they knew was war. They did not know how to go home and forget all they had seen. This issue severely affected every country involved in the war, families, and towns had to adapt. Just as the soldiers did because the world would never be the same, it could not be. This was evident from the economic collapse that quickly followed WWI, now known as the Great Depression. Everything declined quickly, “in the three years following the war industrial production declined by more than a third, prices dropped sharply, and over thirty million people lost their jobs” (Fiero, 386). Countries were so disconnected after the war, they could barely help themselves, it was not possible to support others. Men were coming back from war trying to start over and were not able to find jobs, those that did many times lost them. Families could not support themselves and the countries involved were in no condition to help. Although most of the economic issues occurred after the war many countries suffered during the war in the same way. Russia, for example, was unprepared for the war and the stress it puts on its economy and people. The Russian Revolution came about slowly with broken promises and misdirected hopes.
The Russian people were unhappy with the conditions they were forced to live in and that is why there was a need for a Revolution. However, the cause of the terrible conditions was World War I, as well as the Czar’s refusal to take Russia out of the war. Russia lost two million men in the first year of WWI, they were outgunned and outmanned, losing horribly. The Russian common people rioted, they wanted out of the war that they did not care about they wanted to stop, the hunger and the death of their people. This unrest was the first step to the revolution in Russia, Nicholas II finally stepped down to placate the people and that is when the revolution truly
began.
The Russia Revolution can be split into two parts, the first being the fall of Czar Nicholas II. The second can be broken into two parts as well, or two men Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. Lenin was technically the second part of the revolution and Stain the after effect, however, it seems that stain picked up the revolution and continued it. Two rather different leaders of Russia one right after the other. Lenin, as he was depicted in Animal Farm, was a man of the people, “Bread, Land and Peace” is the best way to encompass his promises. He made a quite alluring plan for the Russia people, which would fulfill all the needs that the Czar had not. Russia’s main problems where the lack of food, the lack of control over land, and WWI so Lenin hit all the main issues with four words. However, Lenin did not have full power after Nicholas II was killed, there was still nobility in the rural areas that did not want to give up power. This led to a Civil war in Russia, during which Lenin died. Shortly after which Joseph Stain took power of Russia, becoming the leader of the Soviet Union. (Class)
Stalin was a much stricter leader he came from a military background which gave him a different outlook on leadership. A rather cruel one, “Stalin’s secret police “purged” the state of dissidents, who were imprisoned, exiled to gulags (labor camps), or executed” (Fiero, 389). Stalin was in charge and no one could say differently if they valued their lives. It was a dictatorship to the fullest extent of the word. Lenin government was not perfect but it does seem much better than Stalin’s. In the book Animal Farm there is an easy to understanding idea of how Stalin affected and changed Russia. The book shows that Napoleon (Stalin) saw an opportunity to seize control. He had his own ideas of what was right, so instead of talking and compromising, he took by force. Due to Stalin’s horrible and inhuman rule around twenty million Russians died (Fiero, 389). What started as unrest of the people due to WWI became something much worse. The people wanted change and Russia did change in Lenin and Stalin’s hands, however, not for the better.
There are many ways in which WWI and the Russian Revolution are connected. The fact that WWI caused much of the unrest of the Russian people is, of course, the most prominent one. However, there are many other connections, both events caused great change in the world. Russia was never the same after the Revolution and every country involved in WWI was affected for years after the war. Both Revolution and war were affected by monarchies holding on to power longer than they should have.
WWI and the Russian Revolution have also inspired many creators to share their views and beliefs through their art.
Especially through books as Erich Maria Remarque and George Orwell did. These two men and many other creators need to show the world their take on these issues as happens quite a bit in the world. Remarque showed that war can cost more than it is worth in his book All Quiet on the Western Front depicting a fiction yet plausible story set during WWI. Where Orwell gave a fictionalized and slightly biased explanation of the Russian Revolution. Although WWI and the Russian Revolution were two different events and their outcomes were rather different there are definite
similarities. The Russian Revolution and WWI have left their impact on the world as so many other wars and power shifts have. The human race is always learning from history, lest it repeats itself, these are two events that should not be repeated. The people during this time in history went through famine, pain, terror, and death, much of which was unnecessary. To honor that sacrifice these events must be remembered. All of history is connected, one war causes the next and that is what creates that world culture. WWI was one of those moments which started the chain of events that lead to this modern world and the Russian Revolution was one of the many events which followed.