What were the main problems facing the governments of Britain, France and Germany at the end of the war? Which government coped best?

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              Tim Brooker            AA312                   R8413113                      TMA 04

Question:-

What were the main problems facing the governments of Britain, France and Germany at the end of the war? Which government coped best?

When the hostilities of World War I finally ceased on the 11th of November 1918, Europe was a very different place in comparison to that of 1914.  Those in government were faced with a different set of problems to those they had encountered during the long period of war.  In addition to these problems the shockwaves sent out by the 1917 Russian Revolution caused grave concerns within all the European governments.

Each of the three countries being studied here had their own individual problems to face as soon as the end of hostilities was declared, but they also shared a number of similar problems to varying degrees. A) The expansion of mass production techniques for arms and ammunition, the growth of factories and organised labour had given the trades unions more power and influence. All three countries saw membership numbers of trade unions increase dramatically either during or immediately after the war and with this came greater working-class militancy.      B) The damage caused by the war to the populations of the combatant countries, the destruction of agricultural land and the restructuring of industries.  Due to this industrial restructure, “Europe’s manufacturing production in 1920 was only three-quarters that of 1913”.  (Unit 14 page 7 from Roberts page 287).  As the majority of war dead and disabled were young men the demographic balance of Europe was upset, this led to a degenerating effect in both agriculture and industry as there were not as many fit young men available for work. C) Wartime economics were based

              Tim Brooker            AA312                   R8413113                      TMA 04

on the individual countries being self-contained, the return to the pre-war state of international trade could not occur quickly. The loss of both raw materials (via territory) and the export markets to varying degrees exascipated the situation.       D) The mindset of wartime isolationism which persisted after the armistice helped to preclude the return to international trade.  “Mutual distrust and an understandable concern on the part of individual governments for their own particular interests led to the ‘new wave of protectionist thinking”. (Unit 14 page 7 Roberts page 286).  This led to goods for export being transferred between two nationalities trains at frontiers, as one did not trust the other to turn its rolling stock.  Until these psychological barriers could be removed international trade could not be re-established even if it became economically possible. E) The cost of war in monetary terms had been immense for Britain, France and Germany.  Before the war Britain had been the world’s banker, but by 1919 borrowing and the sale of assets had seen her relinquish the position to America.  Due to America’s advanced manufacturing industries there was no way for the debts to be repaid in goods or raw materials, so both Britain’s and France’s debts had to be paid in gold.  This movement of gold from Europe across the Atlantic did not help the stability of the European currencies. F) With the end of the war came the Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles, which added to the problems of Europe’s economy.  Reparations obviously affected Germany and the geographical changes brought about by the redrawing of borders in Central and Eastern Europe produced wide-ranging changes that inevitably touched most European countries.

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              Tim Brooker            AA312                   R8413113                      TMA 04

Given these complex economic, political and social problems the post-war period in each of the three countries could be expected to be one of revolution or instability.  However, although the post-war period of transition to peace, international trade and internal stability was not a smooth journey for either Britain, Germany or France it did come about during the 1920s.Charles S. Maier’s study ...

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