First and Second World Wars as Total War : Social Implications

• The two world wars fought in the first half of the twentieth century were total wars, different from all previous wars.

• These wars were most devastating, requiring all national resources for victory.

• They affected all aspects of national life, causing innumerable deaths and injuries.

• The wars were fought not just between nations but between ideologies: Germany, Italy, Japan emphasized racial superiority, while others supported democracy or communism.

• After the wars, a rivalry for world leadership emerged between the USA and USSR, with the British Empire shattered.

• World War I lasted 4 years and World War II lasted 6 years, both cruel and ferocious, ending an era.

• These wars ended the era of nationalism and democracy inspired by the French Revolution, ushering in new ideologies to reorganize society.

• Expansion of trade and progress in science led to a new awakening among people.

• Paris Peace Conference tried to solve the problem of safeguarding minorities’ rights in countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey.

• Poland and Czechoslovakia were forced to guarantee minorities’ language, culture, and religion, but countries like Romania, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Turkey opposed it, seeing it as infringement on sovereignty.

• The issue was handed to the League of Nations, but the problem of minorities still persists.

• During the wars, millions of men joined the military, and women entered workplaces like mills, factories, shops, and offices.

• Women also served as nurses on the battlefield, entering the economic field and proving their competence.

• This increased women’s self-confidence and awareness of their social importance, leading to demands for political rights.

• Women above 30 were granted franchise in Russia (1917), Britain (1918), and Germany (1920).

• War brought a revolutionary change in women’s status; the number of working women increased, but family and social life were adversely affected.

• By the late 19th century, Europeans believed in racial superiority over black, brown, and yellow peoples of Asia and Africa.

• Soldiers from India, Japan, and Africa fought valiantly in Europe during the wars, disproving European racial superiority and fostering internationalism, peace, and prosperity.

• World War I weakened religious supremacy, as clergy justified state actions over serving humanity, preaching loyalty to the country as the highest religious duty.

• This led to mockery of religion and increased disbelief, agnosticism, and atheism among people.

• The wars triggered significant progress in science and technology.

• Before 1914, many had never traveled by car or seen an aeroplane and relied on kerosene and coal for lighting and cooking.

• By World War II, lifestyles changed drastically in East and West.

• Post-war, science gained importance with funding for research in medicine, scientific agriculture, transport, communication, and natural resources.

• Progress in chemical and medical sciences helped control diseases like malaria, typhoid, and para-typhoid and reduced infant mortality.

• The invention and use of atomic power was the greatest event of the twentieth century.

• Advances in transportation and communication reduced space and time barriers.

• Fine arts saw drastic changes in music, painting, and architecture.

• Composers like Edward McDonald, Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky contributed significantly to music.

• Painters such as Pablo Picasso, Grant Wood, and George Bellows were influential.

• Modern style architecture was exemplified by buildings like the Church of Saint John the Divine (New York) and the Church in Liverpool.

• Architects Walter Gropius (Germany) and Frank Lloyd Wright designed many useful buildings.

• Literature shifted from aristocratic and middle-class life to focus on life’s deformities and absurdities, using colloquial language of lower classes.

• Famous playwrights included George Bernard Shaw and Eugene O’Neill.

• Notable writers were John Galsworthy (Britain), Marcel Proust (France), Thomas Mann (Germany), Sigrid Undset (Norway), Willa Cather (America), Rabindranath Tagore (India), and Lin Yutang (China).

• After World War I, there was remarkable expansion of public education.

• In Britain, primary schools were reformed, and education up to age 14 made compulsory.

• France provided free primary education (1925) and free secondary education by 1933.

• Education expanded in Asian countries; illiteracy persisted in India and China but decreased rapidly in Japan.

• In Germany, Italy, and Russia, education trained people to follow their leaders.

• The number of high schools rapidly increased in America.

• The humanistic philosophy dominated the post-war world, emphasizing freedom and welfare of man as political objectives.

• The devastation of World War II created a need to avoid future wars and promote human rights.

• The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights was a significant step toward this goal.