Britain was the dominant in terms of battle ships and weaponry in the 20th century. Germany, on the other hand, was working hard to match their fleet. This was the major cause of enmity between the two countries. Germany wanted to be more powerful to flee their overseas colonial empire and trade from the goodwill of Britain. Britain, on the other hand, feared that such power would be a threat to their colonial empires and trade (Jellicoe, 2011). The naval war was a war for dominance. Other powerful countries reacted by increasing their naval fleets. There was fear that if Britain lost the war, the world economic system would be at risk. America maintained it isolationism status and refused to support any side of the battle at first.
After the end of isolationism, America joined the war in alliance with Britain. Even before the end of World War 2, the world economy and the United Nations (U.N.) structure were laid out under American leadership. America faced no opposition into joining the United Nations. Its joining symbolized the change of course of the UN and welcomed its headquarters to New York. Neutrality for America was no longer possible to maintain. America was now committed to world collective security.
To some extent, the U.S. society was already experiencing the effects of the war even before America joined in the war. Among the directly affected were the African Americans. Their lives could be affected dramatically whether for the better or for worse. By those times, around ten million African Americans lived in the South with eighty percent of them living in rural areas. Due to the war, the price of cotton, which was the best US export across the south, dropped causing a recession (Kesternich, Siflinger Smith & Winter, 2014). The recession greatly affected the millions of black families. Many were evicted and migrated to the north. The women and children were the most affected given that the men were participating in the war.
After the naval war, the world community changed. People acquired new ways of doing things and different viewpoints. The world was never the same again. Some of the treaties signed at those times have continued to govern some countries with a few modifications. Life as we know it now started in those days (Kesternich, Siflinger Smith & Winter, 2014). The idea of identification emanated from the war. People could no longer move around without identifying who they are and where they are from.
The war affected economic activities around the world. The trade was around continents was becoming difficult. In America, the price of cotton dramatically dropped causing a recession. Small traders and farmers who made up a large population were evicted and migrated living their economic activities behind (Kesternich, Siflinger Smith & Winter, 2014). The flow of cheap labor from especially Africa was disrupted. Again, the slow movement of raw materials affected the productivity of industries, especially in Europe.
The major cause of the war was the need for dominance in terms of trade and weaponry. Every country wanted to dominate the world trade and have enough fleet of warships to protect its status. After the war, people became disillusioned. They noticed that the world was not as perfect as the thought (Jellicoe, 2011). Before the war, everyone could move around without identification but after the war, the idea of identification was introduced. People determined their borders. Treaties, which were unheard of before the war, now existed. Treaties were written between different countries after the war. After the war, the Europeans saw the colonized people who fought in the war as equal. This changed the justification for colonialism.
References
Jellicoe, J. (2011). The Crisis of the Naval War. Hamburg: Tredition.
Kesternich, I., Siflinger, B., Smith, J. P., & Winter, J. K. (2014). The effects of World War II on economic and health outcomes across Europe. Review of Economics and Statistics, 96(1), 103-118.
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