The First World War (WW 1) took place between 1914 and 1918. This war took place as a result of the struggle between the great powers of the world. On the other hand, the Second World War (WW 2) took place between 1939 and 1945. It resulted from the conflict between military forces. This was one of the worst wars that have ever occurred in the world. It led to the formation of two alliances.
After the war, economic resources were committed to servicing the war instead of developing the nation. For instance, Austria-Hungary devoted a lot of energy to prepare for the First World War (Maurer, 1995 p. 21). The economy, which was growing fast during the Dual Monarchy, slowed down after the formation of new borders. In response to this, the Austrian economy was forced to make sacrifices in order to gain transformations in their economy. The economic difficulties after the war also made the states revert to authoritarian rule.
After the First World War, society experienced a social crisis. Many people were under tension from the losses the people had incurred from the war. This caused trauma in society. Many people died while others were left maimed. Others lost their relatives and many suffered from hunger and thirst during this period (Legacy Publishers p. 12). Austria-Hungary reacted in various ways in its effort to solve this crisis. In an effort to prevent any wars in the future, France decided to make the river Rhine the boundary between France and Germany. This assured the citizens of low chances of experiencing such a war in the future. This contributed significantly to solving the social crises.
The war also led to a political crisis in the region. To solve this crisis, Austria transformed itself into a federal republic. This led to the division of powers between individual subdivisions and the national government. This was aimed at solving the political issues after the war.
The main causes of World War II were mainly political, social, and economic in nature. There are a number of social, economic, and political factors which led to World War II in Austria and France.
One of the main factors which led to the Second World War was the violation of the peace treaty by Hitler (Anonymous n.d., 2). Germany through their leader complained of unfair Versailles and wished they were revised to favor them (Duiker &Spielvogel, 2008, p. 739). Hitler armed and proposed expansion of his army almost six times. His violation of the Versailles treaty triggered France and other nations to react very first and threatened to take tough action in the future. France had a right to act through force in any attempt to divert from the demilitarization of the Rhineland (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2008, p. 739). However, Germany did nothing to avoid these misunderstandings. France’s reaction disappointed Germany, which triggered them to react harshly. Hitler threatened to attack France due to their opposition to their views. This contributed to rising of the Second World War.
Political instability contributed significantly to triggering the First World War. In these countries, there were tensions in their political structure which led to hyperinflation (Hickman, n.d.). The problems which resulted after the war did not differ much in both the victorious (France) nations and the defeated (Austria) nations. Both nations spent a lot of money and time resources in the war. This adversely affected their economic stability. The general economy came to a standstill since the productive resources were directed to war. Both France and Austria experienced trauma after the war. Many people were maimed and others killed leading to trauma in both nations.
Corporatism can be seen as a social arrangement where the society is organized in order to meet certain targets. It can also be viewed as an arrangement of society incorporating sections under the state (Unger, 2008, p. 50). State corporations are characterized by non-profit-making associations which get support from the government. After the Second World War, many nations advocated for the adoption of this system.
Corporatism policies were very close to those of communistic societies. For instance, the corporatism policies advocated for equal pay for the workers at the same level (Gregg, 2007, p. 113). In other words, corporatism attempts to bring equality to society by proposing measures to promote equality. In communistic societies, there is collective ownership of property as well as the means of production. Society produces collectively after which the property is equally divided.
Corporatism policies differ to some extent from capitalistic policies. For instance, Corporatism advocates for external control of the market. On the other hand, capitalism advocates for the free market. Corporatism advocates for salary negotiation. In capitalism, there is an automatic adjustment of the salary depending on the market. The salary is determined by the returns of labor in capitalism.
In conclusion, this discussion has clearly indicated that the first and second World Wars had an adverse impact on the social, political, and economic well-being of Austria-Hungary and France. It resulted in a crisis that severely affected the economic, social and political well-being of these countries. It led to economic instability as time resources were diverted to war. It also left a traumatized society.
Reference List
Anonymous. (n.d.). Causes of World War 2: The root causes of World War 2. Web.
Duiker, W., & Spielvogel, J. (2008). World History, Volumes 1-2. New York: Cengage Learning.
Gregg, S. (2007). The commercial society: foundations and challenges in a global age. U.K.: Lexington Books.
Hickman, K. (n.d.). World War II Europe: The Road to War. Web.
Legacy Publishers. (n.d). Europe after World War I: November 1918-August 1931. Web.
Maurer, J. (1995).The outbreak of the First World War: strategic planning, crisis decision making, and deterrence failure. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Unger, J. (2008). Associations and the Chinese State: Contested Spaces. New York: M.E. Sharpe.