The Economic Consequences of World War I

THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF WORLD WAR I

This topic proposal will mainly focus on research about the economic impact of World War I on mostly the continent of Europe and the United States of America. To a lesser extent, the paper will analyze the effects of the war on other parts of the World that were affected as a result of the war.

As Lafore points out in his book, almost all the aspects of life in Europe were affected by the war and it is also important to note that the pre-war European governments were not designed to meet the demands of a long held out war like WWI. The paper will examine closely how most European countries like France, Germany and Great Britain could not help but focus all their economic resources to the efforts of the war and as result set in motion new social forces and completely altered the economic landscape of the continent and to a lesser extent the social order. Across Europe, the research will examine the unprecedented economic role played by women whose numbers in the workforce surged as a result of the war.

Unlike pre-war Europe, governments like the Russian administration under the czar took on an ever-increasing role in the affairs of the economy to meet the demands of the war. Across Europe, it becomes a new normal for governments to become major players in the market place.

Both Germany and Britain realized how much the economics played a major role in the War and as a result orchestrated blockades of imports for the war as a strategy to win. The paper will analyze the use of the fine British naval force to starve Germany and the response of Germany with their U-boats to counteract British naval superiority.

The entry of the United States in the War, which had stayed neutral for sometime, marks a shift in power on the battlefield but most importantly the paper will examine how the economic muscle of America sustained Britain and France and through the provision of guns and cheap loans. The paper will make an argument that this new infusion of resources had lasting economic impacts.

The European people a major economic role in the war because they manned the factories and made sacrifices for the war. The strikes in France and Germany will be examined in detail in the paper and how these events affected the economy.

Naturally the war took a toll on the population masses and this was no ordinary war in terms of the losses. Millions of people perished and Entire families and villages disappeared. This carnage robbed countries of a crucial labor force necessary for economic growth. The massive devastation in Belgium, which became a country of trenches, the devastation in France, the Balkans and Italy caused so much economic loss that was unprecedented even under the most conservative estimates.

The war created winners and losers and the United States was almost relatively unscathed compared to the rest of the World. Europe's