This is the first installment of impacts of the First World War. Students would be able to use these slides to guide them through the other topics in Unit 2 of the History Elective

1. How one war changed the world!

2. Lesson Agenda

 By the end of the lesson, students will learn to:
 Appraise the impact of WW1 on political, social and
economic relations in the world.
 Practice constructing explanations and arguing out a
point of view.

3. Aftermath

 World War 1 ended on 11th Nov 1919 at 1100hrs GMT.
 At the end of the war, this was the outcome:
 Years of war: 1914-1919 (5 years)
 Total number of war dead: 11,016,000
 Total costs in US dollars: $196.5 billion (1990 dollar values)
 Number of years between WW I & WW II: about 20 years

4. The Impacts of WW I

 Impacts can be divided into 3 main areas or groups:
 Political
 Economic
 Social

5. Political

 Political Impact 1: Growth of smaller nation states
 Old empires broken up – new nation-states formed. (F)
 Based on: ethnic majorities in a particular region. (El)
 US President Wilson proposed that national boundaries
to be redrawn based on self-determination* (El)
 For example Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia
created from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (Ex)
 Re-drawing Europe’s map = did not create ethnic
homogeneity. Led to more tensions within nations. (L)

6. Political

 Political Impact 2: Nationalism & Revolution
 Nationalism was further strengthened after WW I as the control
of old empires weakened. Revolutions in Russia and Germany.
Citizens unhappy about how the war was managed. (F)
 Russian Tsar was replaced by Provisional Government and in
Germany Kaiser Wilhelm II was replaced by Nazi dictatorship.
(El + Ex)
 Colonies now exposed to ideas of self-determination. Subject
peoples had a strong desire for independence. Independence
movements in India and Burma. (El + Ex)
 This meant strong desire for change in the political structure and
governance. (L)

7. Political

 Political Impact 3: US adopts Isolationism
 Before the War – US wanted to stay out of the political
affairs of Europe – preferred to be only a trading partner.
 After the war many citizens in the US continued to support
isolationism - did not want US forces and personnel being
drawn into another European conflict.
 However another group believed that US needed to be
greater involved in World affairs so that the US could
extend its influence elsewhere.
 The issue of isolationism still debated during inter-war
period – only resolved at the start of WWII.

8. Buzz Break 1
 one of the political
 Discuss in your teams, which
factors was the most significant (important) and
why?
 5 mins. Remember to:
 Practice FEEL
 Support your answers with materials from your notes
or from the Internet .

9. Economic

 Economic Impact 1: High national debt
 Western powers were in debt caused by having to finance a
very costly war. (F)
 The war was very costly as both sides were forced to produce
weapons and ammunition to carry on the fighting. (El)
 For example: Britain, France and Germany were facing huge
debts. Forced to either borrow money and financial resources
from the US or raise taxes at home. (Ex)
 The high debt = Europe dependent on the US for economic
recovery. High taxes also caused unhappiness among citizens
towards their governments. (L)

10. Economic

 Economic Impact 2: Inflation
 Prices of necessities increased drastically as there was a
severe shortage. “Too much money chasing too little
products”
 As a result of war – most resources channeled towards
weapons & ammunitions. Difficult to re-tool. Factories
destroyed – necessities could not be produced.
 Inflation led to situations for example like that in Russia
where although workers salaries doubled, prices of food
more than doubled.
 Inflation left many governments helpless in ensuring the
basic needs of citizens. Citizens grew dissatisfied with their
governments and easily supported radical leaders.

11. Economic

 Economic Impact 3: High unemployment & Shortages
 Production had not started after the war – unemployment
was high. Due to difficulty in re-tooling.
 During the war, food & horses channeled towards the
war effort – peasants could not produce enough food.
Conscription* meant that not enough able bodied
workers to produce food. Land also destroyed.
 Further added to dissatisfaction and created unstable
governments.

12. Economic

 Economic Impact 4: Decline in International trade
 Before WW 1, much of the world’s products were supplied
through International trade. The Great Powers & US grew
wealthy through Imperialist trade practices.
 After the war, European countries had been devastated. Their
priority now was to resolve internal problems caused by the
war. They were not focused on building international trade.
 This impact meant that the levels of international trade took a
longer time to recover to pre-war levels. Countries remained
poorer – led to even more dissatisfaction.

13. Buzz Break 2

 Could economic impacts of the war be the reason for
changing attitudes towards the Jews in Germany?
 Why?
 _________________
 _________________
 _________________

14. Social

 Social Impact 1: High mortality rate among males
 Men formed a large part of the labour force prior to the war.
Factory work and hard physical work done by men. (F)
 After the war – male population figures dropped drastically.
Now factories could not reopen as quickly (El)
 Example: The German economy suffered terribly during the
war. Industrial output fell by over 40% between 1914 and 1918
- as millions of working men had been killed in the war.
 The workforce was not physically fit enough to work as hard.
 The impact of the male deaths slowed down the rate of
recovery in Europe.

15. Social

 Social Impact 2: Class differences minimized
 Before WWI: Europeans - class conscious. Movement
up the “social ladder” was not always possible.
 During the war – rich & poor fought alongside. Class
equality more acceptable.
 Example: After the war – servants now demanded
higher wages and the rich had to treat them better.
 This meant that class differences could no longer be
emphasized- poorer classes demanded to be treated
fairly.

16. Social
 equality
 Social Impact 3: Greater gender
 Before the war, women confined to their roles as home-
makers – participated very little in activities outside the
home – low status in society.
 During & after the War – women helped to support the
economy by working in factories – Women were capable of
working just as the men. Raised their social status.
 Example: Based on this changed attitude towards women -
After WW1, women in US were given the right to vote.
 The war changed the social status of women in Western
societies.

17. Social
 labour conditions
 Social Impact 4: Demands for better
 Those that had fought for their country returned and fought for
better working conditions in workplaces.
 They did not passively accept pre-war working conditions such
as low pay and discrimination.
 For example – many workers now formed, supported and joined
labour unions to press for better working conditions &
compensation.
 These demands led to a general improvement in working
conditions. Workers in Western Countries had a greater say in
policy making.

18. Essay Writing- Conclusion

 Which impact is the greatest?
 After you have constructed your explanation…
 Now consider each individual factor and see which
one is more important.
 How? - Either choose –
 Long term vs. shorter term effects
 Greatest number of effects vs smaller number of effects

19. Worked Example
 were the most significant
 In my view, Economic impacts
impacts of WW1 as it gave rise to the conditions for WW2.
 This is because European economies had been devastated
and it took them a long time to recover. This generated
feelings of unhappiness within these countries in
particular, Germany.
 The long term effect of this was, poor economic
conditions which drove citizens in Germany and Russia
to support authoritarian governments thus setting the
political foundations for WW 2.

20. Lesson recap
 of the First World War?
 What are the Social Impacts
 What is the structure of an essay conclusion?
 W_________ & ___________
 Concluding statement
 Research on the Objectives of the Paris Conference:
 To set up an international organization for peace.
Wikipedia, Yahoo answers, Other credible sources.