Europe, 1914 – 1930: Upheaval And Change

12 Pages 3037 Words

actory owners, business professionals, and factory workers. These classes found incorporation into the old hierarchy difficult, thus change was inevitable.1
Our discussion is not about what caused the First World War or the Great Depression. This discussion is about the social and economic changes that either accompanied or were brought about by those events. Thus, we need not spend a great deal of time discussing why the First World War occurred. We will suffice to assume that the major cause was Germany’s desire to spread its empire. Since Germany was mostly landlocked, invading and claiming territory from its European neighbors was the only means of meaningful expansion. The neighbors in question, especially France and Russia, were not agreeable with this plan. Thus, war ensued.2
As stated before, the economy of Great Britain prior to the First World War had shifted from centralized (on the islands of England and Ireland) agrarian to international and empirical (the British Empire which now spanned the globe) industrialization. Great Britain invested heavily in the Royal Navy due to her dependence on imported goods. The introduction of steam powered war ships in the late 1800s brought an unprecedented might to the Royal Navy while adding the requirement of safe coal depots around the globe. Strong trade relations with the U.S. and Canada provided a demand for British goods such as fine linen and crystal.3 Thus, Great Britain’s industrial economy was well underway before 1914.
When Britain realized war was inevitable, the British economy experienced a phenomenon known as a “war boom,” an explosion in production of the materials of war such as uniforms, weapons, and ammunition. Wool that would normally spin fine linen for sales abroad was now used for making woolen uniform breeches. Young men enlisted in the army or navy while young women filled the positions the soldiers left behind. The early months of th...