Politics After World War I

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Arguably, World War I had the most effects on its participants politically, as many territories were being distributed and many borders changed due to the claiming and releasing of land between European countries. Germany, who was considered the loser of the war, lost many of their territories and were forced to give stolen land back to France, Belgium, and many other countries. “Under the Versailles Treaty, Germany lost about a tenth of its territory. It gave up Alsace-Lorraine and ceded the Saar coalfield to an international administration under the League. Germany lost Eupen-Malmédy to Belgium and northern Schleswig/Slesvig to Denmark. In the east, it lost the ‘Polish corridor’ (which gave Poland access to the Baltic by dividing East Prussia from the rest of Germany) and Danzig, which became self-governing under the League”. This shows just how powerful Germany was before, and now it had lost all of the territories that they had taken from other countries. One of the largest losses that Germany had faced was the loss of its nearby neighbor, Austria. “However, they further decided that the newly established Austrian Republic could not unite with Germany and that the German-speakers in the Sudetenland should be included in Czechoslovakia”. Germans had to move to the Czech Republic, and Austrians could no longer communicate with Germans in fear of a new war outbreaking.

Although World War I had seen many losses, there were also many good things that came out of it. President Woodrow Wilson from the United States formed an idea of a League of Nations, which had failed, but lead to the creation of the United Nations, which is a primary source of communication between countries around the world on different topics. The UN also serves as a way to distribute solutions of global issues to every country.