Introduction
World War I and known as the First World War was the war that was meant to end all the wars. This was a global war that took place in Europe from the year 1914 up to the year 1918. The war involved so many causalities which included so many military bodies plus civilians’ deaths. It was during this period when so many European soldiers were highly mobilized. The major cause for the war could be seen as the result of the military and also an economic competition which was between Germany and Britain. This happened when Germany’s economy was seen to be more vulnerable more than Britain’s economy. But we see that the Germanys economy in this case lacked one important thing which is the empire which could back up their economy. (Anthony, 2004).
On the other hand, World War II was also a global conflict and it was a result of two known joining conflicts. The first conflict started in Asia by the year 1937 and this was the second conflict of the Sino-Japanese war. The second conflict was a result of the German invasion of Poland. It was as a result of the Second World War which actually led to the spread of the global nations into opposing military alliances. The war involved 100 million military forces and this is the Great War in history which is known to have happened in the world since it led to so many deaths of people. It led to more deaths which could be estimated to be over 60 million people who died during the war and the majority of these people were civilians. The war led to so many costs which can be estimated to be trillions of dollars by the year 1944 hence leading to the depletion of the economy of many countries. Through the paper, am going to concentrate on the causes of both wars and also try to compare and also contrast the political, economic, and social impacts of the two wars. (Anthony, 2004).
Causes
The cause of the First World War can be seen as been more complicated than the causes of the Second World War. In the first world war, the Germanys in this case can be highly blamed for having led to the cause of this wear by the year 1914. Some of the major causes are the following, alliance systems, competitions for colonies, militarism plus nationalistic beliefs since the strong feelings of nationalism are seen to have fed fires of hatred in the pre-war. The second world war began when Germany invaded Poland by the year 1935 and it ended by the year 1945 whereby Germany and Japan surrendered the war. By the end of these wars, more property was destroyed, many people have killed so many lives were disrupted plus other consequences were caused in the second world war than in the first world war. These are some of the similarities of the war. (Adams, 2003).
Economy
In both wars, there was a great impact on the economy of the countries who were involved in the war. For example in World War I, there was a great impact on the German economy since most of the economy was depleted when trying to finance the war. We see that the war cost a lot of trillion dollars hence meaning that most of the country’s resources were used in trying to finance the wars. We see that the war led to so much suffering by the civilians who lived in those countries since it many times when they went without food. This is because many military and also civilians were taken to go fight the war and the majority of them were dependants in these families. It was due to the movement of labor from farming to go fight the war which led to the depletion of the economy hence poor standards of living by these people. Also, Germany in the First World War had been starved of food since all the goods had been blocked by Britain’s navy. Her ports had all been blocked hence leading to the depletion of the Germanys economy. Also in the First World War, Germany had so many economic consequences of the war. This is because the cost for the war in Germany was bordering at $ 40 billion and it was during this time when there has been inflation in the country. So unlike the other countries, in the First World War, the German economy is the only country whose economy had been suffered terribly. This is because the industrial output is seen to have fallen from 40% hence leading to poor economic growth in the country. (Anthony, 2004).
Political impacts
In the Second World War, there were so many political changes that took place. There was a massive political change in those new systems of power that had been introduced hence meaning that the government had been given a new power which could include the control of the industry? It was also during this time that many people had so many severe restrictions which are thought to have been placed on their rights plus also their liberties. The war also brought many regulatory power changes to the federal government. For example, it is seen that it enlarged the government roles in superimposing the relief measures on its capital system something which was so different in the European nations. (Adams, 2003).
Social impacts
In both the wars, there have been also social impacts by the people during the period of the war. This is because there was a social and cultural change that took place as a result of the wars. We see that people living standards had changed and this is seen when many women were at the forefront fighting the wars, unlike today whereby most women are not used in such wars. The increased deaths of so many military forces led to the depletion of military groups to fight in the wars hence the involvement of these women to go and fight. Many social values and cultures were also alerted as a result of the changes in the political powers which affected people so much. Many people were taken as slaves and captives hence denying their rights of living as citizens of the country. Many of the colonies during the war took advantage of the people and we see that many people were taken as slaves hence no human rights existed during this time. The wars led to the decolonization movements in Asia and also in Africa while at the same time in Europe, they are seen to have begun integrating. Children’s life was at great risk during this time since many days they had to go without food simply because their parents were so much involved in the war. (Adams, 2003).
Differences
There were some differences in the war. For example in the Second World War, we see that the war involved France and Great Britain whereby other countries like the US, Italy among others joined the war later. The Second World War is the war that led to so many economic impacts since we see that it used trillions of dollars in order to finance the war hence leading to the depletion of the economy globally. This is the greatest war that happened in history since it also led to the death of so many people. Many finances were used to finance the war plus so many blocking of the industrial sectors and ports whereby most of the distribution of food was coming from. It was due to this that many people died by starving. (Adams, 2003).
Conclusion
History is very much important since it’s through history that we are in a position to try and learn the various things which are said to have happened. The first and the second war wars are part of history since it’s through these wars that there were so many political, economic, and social changes which are seen to have happened hence leading to the death of so many people. The wars marked a great change in the relationships between the countries who were involved.
Reference
Anthony, W. (2004): Americans and World War II. New York. Oxford University Press.
Adams, M. (2003): Propaganda in war, 1939-1945. Minneapolis. University of Minnesota Press.