One Why did the conflict between 1914 and 1918 in Europe quickly evolve into a w

Question

One

Why did the conflict between 1914 and 1918 in Europe quickly evolve into a world war? How was the balance of power in Europe and the world changed by this first “total war”? (What does this expression mean?)

Two

How did the consequences of World War I--especially the emergence of communism in Russian, fascism in Western Europe, and then the Great Depression—affect the Asian, the Middle East, and Latin America during the Interwar Era (1919-1939)?

Three

How did World War II end the age of European colonialism and empire and usher in the Cold War ? Why did European political and economic dominance decline between 1945 and 1979 yet the ideologies produced on this small continent continue to have such power around the world?

Explanation / Answer

The conflict between 1914-1918 evolved into a world war because many of the countries involved possessed colonies, which they naturally used to their advantage. The conflict itself escalated so quickly because a system of alliances had been established by the powers of Europe that linked all of them and could draw them all into war if a conflict began.
Concerning the balance of power, WW1 saw the end of many European and Mediterranean empires such as the German Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. It also weakened Europe as a whole and strengthened America.
Put simply, total war is the conduct of war which views all civilian and normally non-military establishments as valid targets. It is usually associated with high civilian casualties and large degrees of physical destruction. Arguably, however, WW1 was not strictly a "total war" especially when compared to WW2, Vietnam, etc.

Communism taking hold in a major nation first took place in Russia among the discontent of the Russian people with the post-Tsar government and some German intervention.

Fascism rose in Germany because of the treaty of Versailles this happened due to the harsh military restrictions, the economic damages caused and the fact that Germany was blamed for the war. Hitler gave the Germans hope and a voice in the world. If Hitler never came to power Spain wouldn’t have become fascists. Hitler helped during the Spanish civil war of 1936 and that’s how Spain came to be fascist.

World War I cost the participating countries a lot of money. Germany and Great Britain spent about 60% of the money their economy produced. Countries had to raise taxes and borrow money from their citizens. They also printed money in order to buy weapons and other things they needed for war. This led to inflation after the war. Thus after the war, countries like Great Britain and Italy started ignoring the needs of its colonies, they were busy in stabilising their own countries and were preparing for future wars. The common example is Bengal famine where millions of people were killed but then British Prime Minister didn’t sent any relief.

World war II ended the age of European imperialism by forever abandonment of the notion that Europeans and their system were somehow superior and/or more powerful than non-Europeans. This was done primarily through the Japanese empire's defeat of the colonizing powers in Asia and through a realization by world peoples that Europe's politics had thrown the world into two destructive world wars.
European political dominance declined after WW2 as America and the USSR rose to the fore and because their nations and economies were stripped of their empires, destroyed by war, and faced the Americans and Russians on the world stage.
Ideologies produced during the European imperial age still continue to have power because they influenced many countries and their behaviours. Japan, previously mentioned, is an example. In order to prevent themselves from being colonized and defeated, they modernized along European lines and became an empire of their own. Furthermore, despite the end of imperialism, the economic imbalances, artificial states, and socio-political scars that resulted from imperialism still continue to hamper development and success in the post-imperial colonies. This is very noticeable in African post-colonial states, where economic factors, such as a lack of infrastructure, led them to become resource supplying states unable to develop heavy domestic industries and deficiencies in education during the imperial period made forming post-war governments difficult.

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