4.1 & 4.2 - A
Key Concept 4.1
Total war and political instability in the first half of the 20th century gave way to a polarized state order during the Cold War, and eventually to efforts at transnational union.
Key Concept 4.2
The stresses of economic collapse and total war engendered internal conflicts within European states and created conflicting conceptions of the relationship between the individual and the state, as demonstrated in the ideological battle among liberal democracy, communism, and fascism.
World War I, caused by a complex interaction of long- and short-term factors, resulted in immense losses and disruptions for both victors and vanquished.
A variety of factors — including nationalism, military plans, the alliance system, and imperial competition — turned a regional dispute in the Balkans into World War I.
New technologies confounded traditional military strategies and led to massive troop losses.
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The effects of military stalemate and total war led to protest and insurrection in the belligerent nations and eventually to revolutions that changed the international balance of power.
The war in Europe quickly spread to non-European theaters, transforming the war into a global conflict.
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The relationship of Europe to the world shifted significantly with the globalization of the conflict, the emergence of the United States as a world power, and the overthrow of European empires.
The Russian Revolution created a regime based on Marxist–Leninist theory.
In Russia, World War I exacerbated long-term problems of political stagnation, social inequality, incomplete industrialization, and food and land distribution, all while creating support for revolutionary change.
Revolutionary changes in Russia:
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Military and worker insurrections, aided by the revived soviets, undermined the Provisional Government and set the stage for Lenin’s long-planned Bolshevik revolution and establishment of a communist state.
The Bolshevik takeover prompted a protracted civil war between communist forces and their opponents, who were aided by foreign powers.
In order to improve economic performance, Lenin compromised with free market principles under the New Economic Policy, but after his death Stalin undertook a centralized program of rapid economic modernization.
Examples of the Soviet Union's rapid economic modernization:
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The Great Depression, caused by weaknesses in international trade and monetary theories and practices, undermined Western European democracies and fomented radical political responses throughout Europe.
World War I debt, nationalistic tariff policies, overproduction, depreciated currencies, disrupted trade patterns, and speculation created weaknesses in economies worldwide.
Dependence on post–World War I American investment capital led to financial collapse when, following the 1929 stock market crash, the United States cut off capital flows to Europe.
Despite attempts to rethink economic theories and policies and forge political alliances, Western democracies failed to overcome the Great Depression and were weakened by extremist movements.
Examples of new economic theories and policies:
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Examples of political alliances:
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The conflicting goals of the peace negotiators in Paris pitted diplomatic idealism against the desire to punish Germany, producing a settlement that satisfied few.
Wilsonian idealism clashed with postwar realities in both the victorious and the defeated states. Democratic successor states emerged from former empires and eventually succumbed to significant political, economic, and diplomatic crises.
Examples of successor states:
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The League of Nations, created to prevent future wars, was weakened from the outset by the nonparticipation of major powers, including the United States, Germany, and the Soviet Union.
The Versailles settlement, particularly its provisions on the assignment of guilt and reparations for the war, hindered the German Weimar Republic’s ability to establish a stable and legitimate political and economic system.
Examples of the world monetary and trade systems:
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