Impacts of First World War Essay Example

dealt a significant blow to social democracy, especially in Serbia. While European social democracy moved toward communism and away from social patriotism, Serbian social democracy faced extremely challenging circumstances.

It was perhaps more challenging for the social democratic party of Europe than any other at the time, precisely because it fulfilled its obligations to its ideals and programmatic attitudes. Within our circles in Serbia, the ideal of unifying with Montenegro was prominent, which essentially placed all Yugoslav nations on equal footing. The Austro-Hungarian supreme command heavily lobbied for Serbia's annexation, believing that the conditions were right for "planting hope" and creating a "large all-Serbian country." This idea of unification gave rise to a remarkably strong ideological and moral unifying force in Serbia.

According to American Reed's observations while traveling through Serbia, the secret desire of every Serb is to unify all Serb nations into one powerful empire with 15 million inhabitants, stretching from Bulgaria to Adriatic and from Trst to Hungary. This allowed the country to accept the war with an "all or nothing" mentality. However, the Yugoslavian program in 1915 was not successful on an international political level, as the central forces did not accept it and had their own plans for the Yugoslav territories. This had economic consequences for Germany, which were enormous.

The German economy suffered a significant decline during WWI, with industrial production dropping by over 40% from 1914 to 1918. This was caused by the loss of skilled workers due to the war, resulting in inexperienced individuals operating machinery. The cost of the war amounted to around $40 billion.

The German work force was fatigued and lacked adequate physical fitness for work. Black market

activities accounted for an estimated 35% of all trade during the war. Germans were prohibited from driving cars between 1915 and the end of the war, and the situation did not significantly improve after the Armistice. The war left Germany unable to afford fuel on a large scale and struggling to obtain raw materials due to international isolation.

Although Serbia's economy relied on agriculture rather than industry, the impacts on the country were significant. The agricultural sector in Serbia was plagued by damage, exhaustion, and increased expenses, all aimed at ensuring success in the war effort. Shortages of essential resources such as raw materials, money, and labor were prevalent.

Due to the devastating impact of the war in Serbia, the fertile plains of Macva suffered greatly, resulting in food shortages for both humans and livestock. The Ministry of Agriculture recognized this as a significant contributor to the country's economic issues. Throughout the conflict, around 400,000 Serbian soldiers, 500,000 enemy troops, and 60,000 prisoners were being sustained by the population. Inadequate transportation routes played a part in preventing sufficient aid from reaching Serbia from the Antante.

In February 1915, the minister of Finance urged the president of the government to secure financial aid from Serbia's allied countries. He specifically requested a loan of 150 million dinars, warning that without such aid Serbia would be unable to fully support its army and achieve victory in the war. Meanwhile, propaganda played a critical role in shaping historical events during this time. Germany actively purchased potential propaganda materials from publishers and promoted works that supported their cause. This included books, official documents, speeches, war poetry, fiction, and even children's books.

German authors created

and originally wrote all types of propaganda featured, including The Continental Times with a circulation of 15,000 in 1916 and the monthly Kriegs-Chronik. The majority exhibited the war from a German perspective while concealing any negative aspects. Meanwhile, Serbia employed its battles for advertising purposes as effective defensive feats in 1914 garnered sympathy from ally and neutral nations. The Battle of Cer marked the first ally triumph, and the Battle of Kolubara resulted in a significant shift and drew extensive recognition to Serbia.

From late 1914 to the first eight months of 1915, numerous visitors from other countries arrived in Serbia to gather information and share their experiences with their respective nations. Various organizations in the allied countries provided Serbia with moral, political, and material support. In London, the British Supportive Trust Fund was established. Serbia's reputation grew to such an extent that even in Italy, war-mongering propaganda advocated for their country to enter the war under the guise of helping Serbia. It is interesting how one thing can have such different effects.

Impact of World War I had varying effects on the politics, economy, and propaganda of Germany and Serbia. Despite their differing situations, the aftermath was catastrophic for both nations and led to distinct issues. This was largely due to the vast imbalance of power between Germany and Serbia. However, both countries experienced significant losses.
Bibliography: Istorija Srpskog Naroda VI-2, Pavle Ivic, Predrag Palavestra, Andrej Mitrovic, Radovan Samardzic.

The following sources are referenced within the text enclosed by : NOLIT's 1982 publication in Belgrade, a webpage on workmall.com about Imperial Germany's history, the Wikipedia page for the Social Democratic Party of Germany, and pages 70, 81-83

in John Reed's War in Serbia 1915 book.

The sources for information are Redzic's Austromarksizam on pages 412-416 and Jankovic's Srbija 1914-1915 on pages 300-325.