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The Great Retreat, 1914-1945, and a New Transition - The Great War

6 important questions on The Great Retreat, 1914-1945, and a New Transition - The Great War

What was the effect of World War I on globalization?

World War I was a huge blow to globalization, because it effectively divided much of the world into warring camps.

What unexpected new links were made because of World War I?

- Soldiers from India and Africa used by Britain and France gained exposure to novel experiences and ideas, among other things learning more about European nationalism and what this might imply for their own countries.
- New groups of writers from places like the United States had meaningful encounters not just with war but with Western Europe.

What was decided by a variety of societies about globalization?

A variety of societies decided that globalization, or at least key aspects of it, had brought dangerous consequences to regional interests.

How did the United States react to World War I in terms of globalization?

- The United States, reacting to its unexpected involvement with European conflict and diplomacy, pulled back into isolationism, reducing its diplomatic commitments with other regions.
- New laws also severely limited immigration, reversing the old trends, in a wave of cultural antipathy to foreigners.

How did the Soviet Union view globalization?

- In principle communist leaders maintained the commitment to the international organization of labor, and indeed formed a new workingmen's International to spread revolution more widely.
- But actual Soviet leaders, and particularly Josef Stalin from the late 1920s onward, talked about developing a separate socialist system and pulled away from most international arrangements including basic aspects of world trade.

How did Germany view globalization around 1930s?

- Germany looked toward the formation of a separate economic system to retuce dependence on the Western-dominated world economy.
- Germany hoped to use conquests in Eastern Europe similarly to reduce interactions with other societies in favor of a Nazi-dominated empire.
- Nazi culture deliberately fought international influences like modern art.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Globalization in World History | 9780367279868 | Peter N Stearns

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