Impacts of WW1 - W Flashcards
Explain the economical impacts of WW1 on Germany.
Germany had lent some of its own money to their allies to help the war effort. But, these countries couldn’t repay their debt due to having economic problems themselves.
Germany had borrowed some money from abroad (i.e the USA) to pay for the war.
War left over 60,000 widows and 2 million children fatherless. War pensions would be expensive.
Debt of 490 million marks which was the cost of the war.
Naval Blockade prevented food supplies reaching Germany by sea which caused many people to be malnourished and surviving off turnips and bread. It also lead to shortages in raw materials needed by some industries and medicines.
Many working-class Germans had their wages restricted during the war and so by 1918, they were worse off than they had been before the war.
A few businesses had made a vast amount of money for their owners, which made many workers angry.
Industrial production was 1/3 less than before the war due to a loss of workers and the focus on producing equipment for the war effort.
Germany had printed more money to finance the war. HOwever, it didn’t have the gold to support it, so the value of the German mark was much lower.
Explain the social impacts of WW1 on Germany.
Some factory owners had made a fortune during the war whilst workers had restrictions placed on their wages.
Women worked in factories. Some Germans thought that this damaged traditional German values.
Explain the political impacts of WW1 on Germany.
9th November 1918: the Kaiser abdicated and secretly left Germany, never to return.
Leader of the SPD, Freidrich Ebert took over Germany temporarily. He promised to hold elections and ended the war on the 11th of November 1918.
Many ex-soldiers and civillians felt Germany could have won the war.
They felt betrayed by the politicians who had ended it and refused to support them.
This led to mutiny and revolution all over Germany.
