The participating countries, in their efforts of fighting a total war, ended up in losing so much manpower (as a result of the loss of lives), that this too resulted in damaging their economy. Austria Hungary had lost 17% of its active male population, France lost 11% and Germany also lost 15%. This would have undoubtedly affected the various economies ability to recover as a result from the devastation of the war. While women had played a large role with regards to holding jobs on the home front in the wartime, the idea of career women was still not widely accepted by the majority of the male dominated European society at that time. Hence with such a drastic decrease of working, able bodied men resulting from WWI and the Spanish Flu (also compounded by WWI), this would have surely played a major role in negatively impacting the countries that had participated in the war, as well as severly limiting their capacity for economic recovery.
In addition, the large number of deaths incurred by the war would have resulted in a demographical imbalance, as there would be a ‘deficit’ of men of a certain age group. This would also contribute to a declining birth rate of a country resulting from an unbalanced ratio of men to women and hence be even postulated to be (together with World War II) one of the root causes of the problem of a shrinking population that Germany and France are facing today.
Similarly, one could argue that the most significant result of WWI was the political changes that had occurred in Europe, as well as in the international community. Firstly, it was during World War I where several governments had been discredited/ actions made by governments eventually led to them being overthrown.
In the case of Russia, it was in WWI where the amount of dissent for the czar had reached a crescendo, eventually leading to Russia’s withdrawal from WWI, and in turn, the Brest- Litovsk treaty that had placed unnecessary strain on Russia’s economy in it’s period of recovery after the war. It was during the war, where the Czar, leading the army personally, after constant displays of ineptitude, bad leadership and bad decision making, had been overthrown by Vladimir Illyich Lenin in what came to be known as the Bolshevik revolution, and from the ashes of Czarist Russia arose Communist Russia, marking Russia as a bastion of communism. The spreading of the communist ideology can be traced back to this point, a turning point in history where a communist government was established, resulting in events such as the Red Scare and the Cold War ie. without this ‘turning point’ of sorts, communism might never have been established.
Likewise, after the war, in Germany, as part of the Treaty of Versailles, the Kaiser had been forced to abdicate in 1918, giving way for the Weimar government. The Kaiser, having been blamed for the carte blanche that he had provided Austria-Hungary with; a result and manifestation of his militaristic and nationalistic views, which had subsequently precipitated in what became WWI. Hence, Kaiser Wilhem (whether he was a scapegoat or not remains unseen) was pinned with causing the war, and with his abdication came the fall of German Imperialism, resulting in the establishment of a democratic Weimar government. As history would have it, the Weimar government’s inadequacy and inefficiency vis-à-vis accepting the treaty of Versailles, and well as the rampant hyperinflation that they failed to control, have more often than not, been blamed as one of the main causational factors that ultimately allowed for the rise of Hitler, who we all know, eventual led Germany into WWII. Perhaps things might’ve been different if not for the dissent against the Weimar government that eventually paved the way for Hitler…
The great war had also led to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire, splitting it up into several smaller states, among which include Czechoslovakia and Poland. This led to the end of the last of the powerful feudal monarchies in Europe, leading to a change in the balance of power; what was once consolidated on the throne of the Austro-Hungarians was now spread out among the different smaller countries that were now formed. With the concentration of power no longer belonging to the Austo-Hungarians, and the British, French and Germans devastated, where then would this power lie? With the United States of America, whose soil was not affected by the war, yet the resurgence of their policy of isolationism meant that they weren’t willing to take pole position as the world’s leading superpower; resulting in a power vacuum at the top during the interwar period. This may have given the opportunity for Germany’s rise/ the weak tactic of appeasement, leading to WWII.
In conclusion, I feel that the most significant result of WWI was the political changes/ adjustments in the balance of power, as these were turning points in history, with the rise of communism, as well as the precipitation of WWII, forever changing the course of human history.
