After the great war ended, the world order had changed dramatically. Once great nations had disappeared and nations like the USA were increasing in economic and political influence. There were still empires, but these were diminishing, both in size and economic importance. The reparations commission was established to asses the magnitude of reparations and who would foot the bill. The US Senate refused to ratify reparations, so the US representative was removed fro the commission, thus giving France more say in the commission than originally envisaged. This gave France the opportunity to pursue tough policies over control over the Rhineland and other parts of the Ruhr. The bitterness between France and Germany resulted in an unrealistic reparation bill and Germany largely being blamed for the war. This is one of the deciding factors to the rise of Fascism in Germany and reasoning for Germany to start WWII. On the economic side, the London Stock exchange had rival economic centres springing up, most notably in Wall Street. This was the beginning of the end of the UK dominating stocks and shares, moving to more international integration.
The first meeting of the League of Nations Council was on January 16 1920. The League was the first example of a global political organisation which integrated many nations. The League was set up when WWI, The Great War was seen as ‘The War to End All Wars’. The League was established as a body to prevent another war of such magnitude as the great war. When President Wilson proposed the establishment of a League of Nations, public opinion cheered him as the man who would forgive a corrupt Continent its past sins and lead Civilisation out of its wasteland. The US Senate, however, refused the US to join the League. It can be argued that on of the major failings with the League was nations such as the US not being included in negotiations. The League had the right idea, but a combination of poor leadership, poor organisation and key nations such as the US not included produced the League into becoming a failure and eventually failing to prevent WWII. Although the League was a failure it was a predecessor to the United Nations, and provided the UN with some important lessons on how not to be run. Twenty-six governments signed the United Nations declaration of 1 January 1942, in which they accepted the principles of the Atlantic charter and promised not to make a separate peace with the tripartite powers. Although this was essentially a war time pact forming the Allied nations, the format of the UN is based on this formation. With the end of the War, many nations joined the UN to its size and stature in International political integration it holds today.
In the years following the Great War, economic integration was slowly increasing. Trade barriers and import charger were beginning to be lowered. Trade was occurring between nations as repayment of War debts and reparations. The world economies at first had a boom, with more and more integration, however this boom period ended on October 29 1929 with the Wall Street crash. The subsequent depression and mass unemployment in many parts of the world showed how integrated the world economy had become, where a crash in one nation could effect the rest of the world. During the inter-war years there were many examples of economic conferences, such as the Genoa economic conference of April 1922, the World economic conference at Geneva in May 1927, and the World economic conference at London in March 1933. Although there were no significant changes which occurred in these conferences, they displayed the move to an integrated world economy. The most influential event of pre-1945 economics was the Bretton Woods monetary conference of July 1944, which set the president for the beginning of major International Economic Organisations such as GATT, the World Bank and the IMF.
Germany, like most nations, was hit hard by the great slump of the 1930s. However, Germany had the added problem of hyperinflation which hit the economy and the people very hard. Germany needed an answer to her problems and found it in Hitler and Fascism. As far as economics is concern, Hitler did much good for Germany. Her economy recovered and employment increased dramatically. The League of Nations failed to prevent the rise of fascism in Europe, allowing Germany to become a threat to Europe and the world. This is the Leagues greatest failing. The League had enough warning signs to the problem of Hitler’s Germany. In June 1933, just six months after Hitler became chancellor, Germany left the disarmament conference and the League, and in September 1935, Germany reintroduces conscription. These two factors alone would warrant action taken by the league. However, the League’s participants were too preoccupied with internal problems and arguing internally to notice the potential threat of Germany. By the time anyone paid attention it was too late to prevent WWII.
In conclusion, the major phases of global political and economic integration before 1945 were in the period of around 1900 till the end of WWII. The age of European empires pre 1914, where the world was dominated, both politically and economically were in decline towards the beginning of the twentieth century. WWI was the first example of total war which was massively expensive, both in terms of human sacrifice and economically. This single event changed the world like no other single event in history. The first example of International organisations were evident. The inter war period was a role coaster economically, with a boom period and a massive depression and the great slump, however, there were early examples of global economic conferences, which although would not have included every nation, were the beginnings to the state of affairs today. The League of Nations, despite all its failings was the predecessor to all international organisations, such as the UN. The period of 1900 to 1945 changed the world from a European base to a global base. The rebuilding process of post WWII saw the evolution of a global economy with America and USSR becoming engulfed in a cold war, economic centres and growth in the economies in Asian and the growing importance of the middle East in terms of oil production. It was one of the bloodiest and terrible periods in modern history, but it allowed the world to become ‘smaller’ with global political and economic integration.
Word Count: 1563
Bibliography
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Ross, G., The Great Powers and the Decline of the European States System 1914-1945, (Harlow: Longman Group UK Limited, 1983)
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Knutsen, T. L., A history of International Relations theory, Second edition, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997)
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Watson, A., The Evolution of International Society, (London: Routledge, 1992)
G. Ross, The Great Powers and the Decline of the European States System 1914-1945, (Harlow: Longman Group UK Limited, 1983), p. 1.
A. Watson, The Evolution of International Society, (London: Routledge, 1992), p. 257.
T. L. Knutsen, A history of International Relations theory, Second edition, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997), p. 213.
Ross (1983), pp. 153-154.
