Short note: Impact of World War I and II

The two world wars, World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945), changed the political map, economy, technology and culture of the world.

Impact of World War I

• About 15–20 million deaths; Europe's economy weakened and debts grew.
• Fall of four empires: German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian; new nations formed in Europe.
• Russian Revolution (1917) led to the first communist state.
• Treaty of Versailles (1919) punished Germany harshly, which later helped cause WWII.
• League of Nations formed (1920).
• Technology: tanks, aircraft, submarines, chemical weapons, radio.
• Women entered factories; many countries gave women the vote after the war.

Impact of World War II

• About 70–85 million deaths, Holocaust, huge destruction.
• United Nations (1945), IMF and World Bank formed.
• USA and USSR became superpowers; Cold War and nuclear arms race began.
• Decolonisation of Asia and Africa (India 1947 and many others).
• Technology: radar, jet engine, rockets, nuclear energy, electronic computers, penicillin.
• Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe; welfare states and human rights (UDHR 1948) grew.