Impacts of WW1

To what extent did increasing political divisions represent the main consequence of the First World War for Germany? The First World War had a substantial impact on Germany and its people. One of the main consequences of the war for Germany was increasing political divisions as it led to the polarisation of German politics as the right continued to support the war and its expansionist aims whereas the left wanted social revolution and an end to the war. However the First World War had many other important impacts on Germany which included economic impacts, social impacts, political impacts, initial unity, growing disunity and the “Silent Dictatorship”. Political tensions represent one of the main consequences of the war as German politics became more polarised than they had been before. Tensions strained between the left and right wings shortly after the war had begun as the left thought that the war was defensive whereas the right wing knew that the war was to gain territory for Germany. (Weltpolitik). When the peace resolution was put to the vote in 1917, this strained political tensions in Germany as the Fatherland party wanted to fight on whereas the Left and Centre parties wanted a quick resolution to end the war. The political divisions that were present before the war were magnified by the war and German political divisions became more evident due to the failures of the war. A significant consequence of the war for Germany was the effect that it had on the German economy as the First World War was a huge economic strain on the nation. Only 16% of the 8.4 million cost of the war was met by taxation which left Germany in huge debt. The German government’s solution to war debt was to print more money, which in turn led to inflation and the mark declined in value by 75% between 1913 and 1918. During the war, agriculture was not mobilised effectively which led to many food shortages which had a straining effect on the economy.  The impact of the war was significant on the German economy as the country was left in debt with no way to pay it. Another main…