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The Great War The Great War destroyed European claims to civilized superiority and demonstrated how much states relied on their people. Rivalries and balance-of-power shifts caused the war, and alliances determined who fought on what side. The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria was the trigger.
Excitement about the war quickly wore off as defensive technologies overwhelmed offensive capabilities and the war ground to a deadlocked struggle of attrition. High death rates pushed up recruitment, eventually bringing women into the war as part of auxiliary units and as factory workers. The number of casualties soared, especially as civilians became military targets and influenza spread across continents. The war stretched to all corners of the globe and led to revolt among colonized peoples and Europeans alike. Russia’s Romanov Empire fell to Lenin’s Bolsheviks. U.S. intervention, which tipped the balance in favor of the Allies, combined with fears that socialism was spreading in Germany to break the Central Power alliance apart. The Prussian Empire became a republic while the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires fragmented into smaller states.
The Peace Settlement and the Impact of the War The Versailles Peace Conference blamed Germany for the war and exacted stiff reparations. Former Ottoman territories fell to France and Britain. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson hoped to create a world order that would bring about peace and self-determination for all people, but he found little support among allies abroad or in Congress at home. Women came out of the war claiming new privileges. Losing their new factory jobs to demobilized soldiers, they turned their attention to gaining more influence in the political and social arena. >> Continue to the next part of the Summary: Mass Culture
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