A.Identify and Explain ONE political outcome of World War One.
B.Identify and Explain why ONE new state was created in Europe between 1914–1939.
C.Identify and Explain ONE reason why the Treaty of Versailles will lead to future conflict.
One political outcome of World War I was the damage to many major empires, which includes German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, etc., and the formation of several new nations. After the military defeat in 1918, Austria-Hungary broke apart into Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Austria, etc. This literally shows that WWI’s destruction of large multi-ethnic empires tremendously reshaped the European political structure.
Poland was created because WWI simultaneously weakened all three empires that had partitioned it since 1795. For instance, Russia collapsed in revolution, Germany surrendered, and Austria-Hungary dissolved. The war strongly removed all obstacles that had prevented the Polish group’s desire for independence for a long time, and the support at Versailles legitimized the new nation.
The War Guilt Clause and reparations promoted a huge increase in German resentment that later transferred to a more severe conflict all over the world. Specifically, Germany was forced to accept the blame for the war and pay 132 billion gold marks, which directly contributed to the economic crises happened just after WWI. This humiliation precisely gave Hitler a powerful point to gather people’s nationalism and to lead a revenge, which directly caused the eruption of WWII unexpectedly sooner.