How Did World War 1 Change The Economic Social And Political Structures

World War I changed the economic, social, and political structures of most countries across the world. One century ago when World War I began, the maps of Africa, Asia, and Europe appeared much different from the way they are presently (Halperin, 115). Most historians have agreed that most of the border changes that were agreed upon after the war were made based on political rather than economic reasons, thereby bringing about new problems whose impacts can still be felt today (Lamy, 108). After the 4 years of carnage and over sixteen dead civilians and soldiers, three empires that had existed for several centuries; Russian, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian; gradually stopped existing, and several new nations began to emerge. In the East, Poland was reconstituted and the Baltic republics of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania were also established. In addition Austro-Hungarian Empire and the vast southern part of Europe was also divided into several smaller states. It lasted about five years alongside signing of several treaties for the …show more content…
A lot of small wars continued to break out between ranges of national movements, which tried to grab territories (Lamy, 92). Therefore it was a very difficult period of the people living at that time. The peace just lasted for a few decades before another conflict was already brewing. The emergence of Second World War did not even solve the existing border problems (Lamy, 102). The peace later lasted for some time but no sooner had the Soviet Empire fall apart than new conflicts broke out, prompting the maps to be redrawn. Just a few decades ago, it was not possible picturing the Soviet Union being non-existent, thereby changing the lines on the maps (Halperin, 128). Therefore no political map should be expected to last