How Did The Great War Affect Society

The Great War, or World War I, was the first major war to involve a vast majority of countries. Beginning in August 1914 and lasting until November 1918, the Great War’s occurred due to the underlying “combustible rivalry between Great Britain and Germany.” (706) Germany had allied with Austria-Hungary to form the Central Powers while Britain had allied with France, Russia and later Italy to form the Allied Powers. (705) However, it was the assassination of the Hasburg heir in the capital of Austria Bosnia that ultimately sparked the Great War to commence. (706) And in the end, it was the devastating aftermath of the war that caused many nations to foster “notions of freedom and self-determination” as well as “visions for building a viable, modern society.” (705-706) As a result, the Great War had a tremendous influence in many economic and political world affairs. For example, there were economic repercussions that European countries and the United States had to address because of the cost and impact of the Great War. The Allied Powers formed an international League of

After the war and the Great Depression, there was a debate on how to organize modern societies using different political platforms such as liberal democracy, authoritarianism, and anti-colonialism. For example, the Bolshevik Party in the Soviet Union adopted socialism but also authoritarianism. Authoritarianism rejected parliamentary rule, denied private production and ownership, used violence and terror to coerce allegiance, and established dictators. (706) In Africa and India, anti-colonialist ideals influenced decolonization and nations wanting to gain their own independence from Europe. For instance, in India, between the 1920s and 1930s, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi led nonviolent movements of resistance called “satyagraha” to inspire Indians to mobilize massively against European holds.