6. Consequences of the war
This war left fatal consequences in many areas:
a) Demographic consequences.
There were more than 10 million dead people. The number of wounded or disabled is close to 20 million people. Due to the hard conditions of the war people suffered many health problems which led to the fatal epidemics of the 1918 flu pandemic. Birth rate decreased a lot since young people were on the front so the population of the countries aged and feminised.
b) Economic consequences.
- Most of the countries got into debt and their inflation grew.
- Most of the productive sectors were destroyed because the commercial nets disappeared and the agricultural and industrial sectors were violently affected by the war.
- The states intervened much more on economic matters.
- Most of the European infrastructures were destroyed (6,000 km of roads and railways ).
- The USA became the world’s leading economic power.
c) Social consequences.
- Women began to work to replace those men who were on the front.
- Hyper nationalism grew among the former soldiers,
- Many people abandoned the countryside and migrated to the cities.
d) Territorial consequences.
- The traditional European hegemony was substituted by the USA, which became the most powerful country in the world.
- Most of Europe suffered border changes, which satisfied very few people.
- The colonies of Germany or parts of the former Ottoman Empire were transformed into mandates which were administered by some of the victorious nations.