The Interwar Period - The Aftermath

THE INTERWAR PERIOD HIST 1301 | History The Aftermath The globe proceeded to deal with the devastation caused by globe War I as it came to a conclusion in 1918. There were between nine and ten million military deaths, around ten million civilian deaths, and more than twenty-one million injuries. Veterans suffered psychological as well as physical injuries; others required physical rehabilitation, prosthetic limbs, or career counselling for their postwar years. Families have lost daughters, sisters, spouses, mothers, and husbands in addition to sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers due to the civilian toll. The concepts of superiority that had pervaded Western civilization were also called into question by the conflict. People questioned if the West was losing ground and could no longer be seen as the morally superior power in the globe. There was massive physical devastation in Belgium and eastern France. After years of artillery bombardment, thousands of acres—often valuable farmland—were left desolate. Belgium's Ypres and other towns had been bombarded so severely that many of the structures had fallen. People had to start reestablishing themselves in the cities and farms they had left behind. Certain towns, like Thiepval in France, were destroyed to such an extent that they were never rebuilt. The economy of the vanquished nations of Austria-Hungary and Germany were in free collapse. Upon their return, millions of soldiers encountered persistent economic uncertainty, shifting labour markets, and companies unprepared to resume production during peacetime. Because European troops were demobilised first, it took considerably longer for men from Europe's colonies to come home. Even the winning countries experienced economic difficulties. Britain and France owed huge sums of money, many of which were owed to the United States, after borrowing billions of dollars to finance the war. Global industries were forced to modify their equipment and procedures in order to start manufacturing consumer goods once more, which resulted in ongoing joblessness. The 1918–1920 flu pandemic was still affecting people, causing public events to be cancelled and schools and theatres to close. Until the situation passed, people were urged to keep their movements limited and wear masks. Tens of millions of people, mostly in their early years, died from the flu, which eventually affected roughly one-third of the world's population. But by early 1920, it had ceased to spread, allowing people to resume their pre-pandemic lives. A shift in politics was imminent. Many countries experienced shockwaves when a tiny but resolute Bolshevik army took over Russia in 1917, fearing similar upheavals inside their own borders. In 1919, there was a "Red Scare" going on in the US. Fear of socialists or communists among new immigrants manifested itself in the rise of nativism, the belief that only native-born persons descended from northern Europe should be allowed to live in the country. After several mail bombs were sent to newspaper editors, businessmen, and politicians, raising fears of chaos, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer started approving the Palmer Raids, which targeted Russian worker unions, immigrant organisations, and newspaper presses without the necessary search warrants. Presumptive "radical aliens" were taken into custody; some were sent to Russia, while others were detained for months without facing charges. The Palmer Raids exposed the government's ability to disregard individual liberties. In 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union was established to offer legal support to those who were the focus of the raids. Palmer's political career came to an end as the people began to perceive his acts with greater mistrust as the months went by without any obvious threat of a communist takeover.