I’d say WW1 due to the breakup and damage of empires and creation of “new” countries. I’d also say the use by former empires of soldiers of different ethnicities from their various colonies figures and squeezes into the racial injustice theories today.
WW2 , the speed with which tyrants can rise to power, the Holocaust, the atomic bomb another geographic change in Europe.
The Cold War and the EU would do more to change Europe but the question is asking about the world as a whole.
WWI or WWII, which war continues to have the the most impact on the whole world? Why?
Discussion in 'History Forum' started by Guvnuh, Jan 22, 2021.
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I'd say WW2, as it was more-widespread, killed more people, & saw a madman come within a whisker of making an almost-impregnable "Festung Europa", which woulda likely endured for another 40 or 50 years. Luckily for us, Hitler's megalomania took over & he blew it before both Britain & the USSR fell.
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It is misguided to consider them two different wars. The seeds of WWII were sewn in the Great War — the collapse of Tsarist Russia and the resulting Bolshevik Revolution, the partitioning of Europe (primarily Austria-Hungary) into tiny states incapable of defense from Russia or Germany, the rise of Japan through its participation as an Ally (for which believed it did not receive the status it deserved), the ruination of Italy and Germany for which "outsiders" were scapegoated, the rise of populist totalitarianism, destruction of the Ottoman Empire and the resulting mess that the Allies made of its dismemberment, the bankruptcy and decline of the British Empire. To name a few.
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Yeah, I think many of us who grew up during the Cold war believed WW2 set the stage for WW3, as the Commies became strong in Russia & China, & made it known they intended to rule the world.
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Thr easy answer is WWII. That's like asking whether the transistor or the integrated circuit has the most lasting impact on the world. It's the one that surpassed the other.
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ad finitum Active Member
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There was so much disillusionment when WW2 began. In a way it demonstrated a major failure of humanity, and this is a trauma that shaped the decades to follow.
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So if there was never a WW I - would the World War of 1939-45 ever have happened
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I believe Hitler was the 2nd forerunner & a warning about the coming beast/antichrist. (Napoleon was the 1st.) My dad wasn't the only Christian WW@ vet who believed Hitler had a demon, which left him on June 22, 1940, the day France fell.
While Hitler used the excuse of the constraints put on Germany by the Versailles treaty to take power & go to war, he woulda used some other excuse, & had an easier road to power, had WW1 not happened.
The US had fueled war with Japan ever since Teddy Roosevelt's presidency by doing everything shorta war to keep Japan outta China. But japan believed it was its "manifest destiny" to dominate China & refused to yield. And we know it was the US' oil embargo that caused Japan to go to war before its oil supply ran out. -
Without the German invasion of France, the French could’ve made a large commitment to its hold on indochina. After the war, inspite of their promise to allow Vietnam and Laos to become independent, it was clear they wanted to maintain French authority.
pure speculative hypothetical opinion of course -
Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
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You must be a prophet! -
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His bravery in WW1 can't be denied. He actually earned his Iron Cross for his bravery in performing one of WW1's most-dangerous jobs, a messenger, in pre-radio days.. They had to frequently cross enemy territory in performance of their duties, & soldiers on both sides watched for the other side's messengers, to shoot them & read the enemy's messages.
At the end of the war, Hitler was one of a few who got to remain in the Reichswehr, as a civilian spy, along with his immediate superior, Sgt. Max Amann. it was then that Hitler suddenly acquired the talent to "speak"; he noticed that, in his barracks, if he went on a tirade against such perceived evils as the "November criminals" who'd surrendered Germany to the Allies, his audience sat transfixed.
His job in the military was to investigate the numerous little political parties that'd arisen at war's end, for subversive activity. Sgt. Amann sent him to investigate & attend a meeting of one such small party, called the "German Workers' Party" that was held in a beer hall During the meeting, one speaker rose to speak against the unification of Germany & Austria, an adea Hitler was fervently in favor of. Hitler rose & scathingly blasted everything that speaker said, captivating everyone in that beer hall, who at once looked up at him for leadership. The rest is history, of course. Hitler went from "nobody" to big kahoona in 13 years. He was not smart enough nor talented enough to have done this on his own.
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