Politically and economically, how did the end of WWII differ from the end of WWI?
The early twentieth century was mainly an extension of the nineteenth century. The dominant powers and their governments as well as political and social ideologies were largely unchanged. The First World War, or “Great War”, as it was known, began the transformation of the world, but it took the Second World War to finish it. Both world wars seemed to be inevitable. The dominant political movements of militarism, imperialism and entangling alliances, pushed by rapid industrialization, lead to constant conflict between the great powers of Europe. These powers were ready to fight, they just needed a reason. That reason came with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in the city of Sarajevo. The great powers of Russia, England and France (Triple Entente) quickly found themselves at war with Germany, Austria and the Ottoman Empire (Triple Alliance). The Second World War was really an extension of the first. The Treaty of Versailles that ended the Fir
