Legacy Of WWI Flashcards
(18 cards)
Q: How many soldiers and civilians died during World War I?
A: Around 9.7 million soldiers and 6.8 million civilians died between 1914 and 1918.
Q: What was the total financial cost of World War I?
A: An estimated 196 billion dollars
Q: How many men did France lose in WWI and what was the regional impact?
A: France lost 20% of its military-age men, and ten departments were devastated by fighting.
Q: What did the Treaty of Versailles aim to create in 1919?
A: A new liberal democratic world order based on peace and collective security
Q: What was Article 231 of the Versailles Treaty, and why was it significant?
A: The “war guilt clause” which placed full blame for WWI on Germany; it was used by the Nazis to stir resentment and rise to power.
Q: Was the Treaty of Versailles solely to blame for the rise of Nazism?
A: No — it played a role, but deeper causes lay in the broader legacy of WWI, such as total war and political instability.
Q: What does “total war” mean, and how did it change politics?
A: Total war mobilised all resources and people under centralised state control, creating a model for totalitarian regimes.
Q: How did WWI “brutalise” politics, according to Eric Hobsbawm?
A: The experience of total war made violence, propaganda, and authoritarian control more acceptable in politics.
Q: What major dynasties collapsed after WWI?
A: The German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires.
Q: What replaced the old empires in Eastern and Central Europe?
A: Weak successor states, often unstable, divided, and vulnerable to revolution or dictatorship.
Q: What major ideological threat loomed over post-WWI Europe?
A: The rise of Soviet communism, especially after the 1917 Russian Revolution.
Q: How did the fear of communism affect politics in Europe?
A: It made authoritarian alternatives more appealing, leading to the collapse of democracies in several states.
Q: Which countries saw the early collapse of democracy after WWI?
A: Hungary (1919), Italy (1922), Spain (1923), Portugal (1926).
Q: How did the Great Depression affect democracy in Europe?
A: It deepened economic crises, encouraging the public to support strong authoritarian leaders over unstable democratic governments.
Q: Why is the interwar period called an “experiment with democracy”?
A: Because democracy seemed triumphant in 1918, but by the late 1930s, it had virtually disappeared from the continent.
Q: What long-term political legacy did WWI leave in Europe?
A: It created chronic instability, enabled the march of dictators, and weakened democratic institutions.
What did mark Mazower say about democracy in the interwar years ?
“today it is hard to see the interwar experiment with democracy for the novelty that it was. Triumphant in 1918, it was virtually extinct 20 years on. Maybe it was bound to collapse in a time of political crisis and turmoil”
This was, in effect, a template for totalitarianism. As the historian Eric Hobsbawm put it
the experience of total war “helped to brutalise both warfare and politics.”
