Has World War I or 2 had a larger impact on the world today?

Answer 1

BOTH HAD LARGE IMPACT SOME HISTORIANS BELIEVE IT IS THE SAME WAR WITH A REST IN BETWEEN WWI AND WWII WIPED OUT GENERATIONS OF MEN

AnswerWhile WW2 certainly had more wide-ranging involvement and immediate impact on the globe, the prevailing view amongst military historians and political scientists is that World War One actually had the most far-reaching impact.

Practically all of the political conflicts and actual wars fought post-WW1 can be directly traced back to things that happened during (or at the conclusion of) that war. Here's a short list of things that happened during WW1 that had major impact on 20th-century life:

1. Treaty of Versailles - the terms and conditions set forth in the treaty concluding WW1 are pretty much universally recognized to creating the conditions in Germany for the rise of National Socialism (and its attendant high priest, Adolf Hitler). The treaty forced a change in the German government, leaving the new government severely weakened and easy fodder for a radical nationalist movement.
2. Centralized government - the "total war" concept and necessity of mobilizing the entire country's economy towards fighting a war caused an radical increase in the power of federal governments, as well as increasing their size several fold. Politically, WW1 effectively settled the issue of where the majority of power should be concentrated in any country. Federal (central) governments have only increased in size and power since WW1. Strong federal governments have largely dictated the course of most of the 20th century.
3. Concept of Global Collective Security - ideas around the creation of a global community and its responsibility towards collective peace arise out of the chaos of WW1. While the League of Nations was a failure, the idea lives on in the United Nations and many of the global quasi-governmental organizations that regulate much of international disputes these days (e.g. World Court, the WTO, etc.)
4. Communism as a valid form of government - the allowing of Lenin's famous "sealed train" to St. Petersburg in 1917 is perhaps the most outstandingly short-sighted disastrous action of the entire 20th century. Allowing Lenin the ability to participate in the Russian Revolution is a catastrophe of biblical proportions. This action cleared the way for Lenin to highjack the Russian Revolution (which was well on its way to leaving a democratic government in control of Russia) and then fight and win the Russian Civil War. WW1 thus led directly to the first establishment of a Communist regime. It then directly to all the Communist revolutions and conflicts elsewhere in the world (many of which are still ongoing). Without this action, it is highly unlikely that Communism would ever have been considered a possibly valid form of government by anyone, so there would be NO Communist countries anywhere.
5. Rise of the United States as a global power - WW1 was the impetus that changed the American vision to be one of a global scope. Up until then, the United States was pretty much solely concerned with affairs in the Western Hemisphere (N/S America), and had all the characteristics of becoming an imperial power in the mold of Great Britain. WW1 radically reshaped the American view of the world (and the US's proper place in it), and indeed, changed Europe's view of the US, too. The U.S. emerged from the war as an industrial and political superpower, ahead of all other world powers. Without WW1, it is unlikely that the US would have achieved such a powerful position.
6. Death of Empires - WW1 led directly to the death of the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and French Empires, and indirectly to the death of the British Empire (by saddling Great Britain with a huge war debt, it made the maintenance of the Empire too expensive). The enormous cost in blood and money of WW1 left those countries unable to maintain the political and economic power needed to hold on to their extensive overseas colonies, which slowly began to break away (or, in the case of the losers, have them stripped away).
7. Ideas of National Self-Determination - the end of WW1 began the promotion of the idea that all peoples should be empowered to determine their own government - that is, they should be able to form their own nation. The preceding Death of Empires accelerated this movement, but the idea was popularized at the end of the war. We are still seeing the effects of the influence of this idea, as more and more ethnic groups clamor for the right to form their own country, even those within larger established countries (e.g. Kurds, Chechnya, Basque). Indeed, most of the conflicts in the late 20th-century can be traced to the idea of ethnic self-determination.
8. Proximate cause of the Great Depression - in particular, the crushing war debts owed by many countries greatly contributed to the worldwide depression of the 1930s. The conduct of Total War caused a radical change in most industrialized countries' economies, which then greatly influenced the poor economic behaviors which led to the Great Depression.
9. Root cause of World War 2 - most historians now agree that without WW1, WW2 would have never happened. The rise of extreme nationalism of Germany, Italy, and Japan is directly traceable to WW1 events, and the isolationism and passivity of the US, France, and the U.K. is also attributable to their experience in WW1. National Socialism and Communism would not have existed, and thus one of the huge sources of tension would have disappeared, had WW1 not happened. So, pretty much anything that can be attributed to WW2, can thus be seen as a 2nd-order root cause of WW1.
10. Validation of the Total War concept - WW1 was the first Total War in modern (industrial) times, where civilian infrastructure became valid military targets. This led to the widening of warfare (whereas it had been mostly restricted to those in the military and those immediately proximate to a battlefield) and the consequent horrific civilian casualties of all subsequent wars.

I'm sure you can come up with other examples, but the general thrust is this: without WW1 being fought, and being fought (and won) in the particular manner it was, virtually everything in the 20th century would be radically different. Indeed, most historians now see WW1 as the seminal event of the 20th century. Had it been handled better - most historians believe it was conducted extremely poorly, both from a military and a political viewpoint - it is likely that many, if not most, of the horrors of the 20th century could have been avoided. Certainly, no WW2, none of the horrors of Communism, probably no atomic bomb, no Indochina/Vietnam War, no Korean War, none of the incessant wars of the Middle East, no Holocaust, none of the incessant little guerrilla wars so common now. On the other hand, likely there would have been no Space Race, no nuclear power, no (much less prevalent) Women's Sufferage, much of the world would still be a colony of one of the Great Powers, and the great flowering of Western scientific advancement would be considerably less with no strong central governments (and no major wars) to push such a fast rate of technological innovation.

Answer 2

Answer

After WWI, the major players tried to make certain that Germany wouldn't be able to attack Europe again. Financial sanctions were implemented to prevent military buildup.

The Great Depression of the 1930's caused quite a bit of financial hardship on German citizens. The people were poor and as such embraced socialism. The NAZI Party of Germany claimed an ability to solve all of the problems of the suffering Germans. NAZI is a German acronym for "National Socialists Workers Party". Germans were anxious to solve their problems and the hardships made it easier for Hitler to get into power and blame everything on the Jews. By taking all financial resources of the Jews, Hitler was able to finance his war and attempted takeover of Europe. In effect, the sanctions following WWI resulted in a motivation for the Socialists of Germany.

Answer

Almost all wars are linked, one to the other. This situation certainly existed in WWI/WWII.

WWI was caused by the growth of nationalism, a long term trend in Europe that had become especially strong in Napoleonic France around 1800. It was manifested in the tremendous growth of colonial empires, mainly those of Russia, England, and France - but also of other nations.

Coming slow to the family of nations, Italy and Germany did not have time to gather up the colonies of the older nation-states. Feeling left out, Germany in particular felt a national desire to grow otherwise.

Ultimately this led to confrontation on the European continent and a World War. Might I add that it was only a 'world' war because the French and English empires were involved as support to what was really just another regional European war. American entry into the war was totally unnecessary as America had no national interest in the slaughter and ultimately failed in every political initiative they put forward after the fight. The Japanese entered on the fringes just as an excuse to gobble up defenseless German colonies in the Pacific. Otherwise almost all the fighting was in Belgium and northeast France with some important side battles fought in small areas of northeast Italy, Serbia, and Poland. Some limited fighting also occurred in various territories occupied by Turkey.

Ultimately, Germany lost that war but did not loose her desire to grow as a nation state. The Nazi/Hitler political movement gave voice to that desire. The already strong military tendencies in the nation were reinforced and Germany again went to war. WWI also ended the major form of government in the world at that time - the monarchy. About half were wiped out, with the other half loosing almost all their political power.

With hindsight, perhaps a more lenient treaty in 1919 would have made Germany less aggressive. Perhaps had Britain not deliberately starved a million German babies after the armistice was signed, there would have been less hard feeling. Perhaps had Russia not become a hate filled Soviet state bent on world domination, the Germans would not have felt such a need to rebuild their military. Perhaps.

Ultimately both wars were fought to sort out the various nationalistic desires of Germany, Britain and France. All three wore themselves out from the two gigantic conflicts. All three ultimately lost the empires they so much desired. Control of world events slipped from the grasp of all three and moved on to the Russians, Americans and others.

Answer 3

I would like to point out that the Versailles Treaty ending WWI contributed to the start of WWII along with other factors.

Answerww2 was more effective because the armies had better equipment, better trained men and had a huge "scare" factor. The construction of all these new machines and weapons had a huge impact on how the war turned out. It was also more effective because there was more support from civilians. They were actually there to help build the planes and the tanks and the guns. It shows that in our time of need, we can depend on one another. AnswerWW2 still has a huge effect on us today, I mean take a look, USA is still a superpower. Answer

The consensus of military historians and sociologists these days is the World War 1 has had the most far-reaching consequences of any conflict in the last 200 years. While of a considerably smaller size than WW2, a huge number of later conflicts and social movements are directly traceable to the manner in which WW1 was fought, and the way that it was concluded. Here are some outstanding examples:

1. Rise of Nazi-ism: the peace treaty ending WW1 (Treaty of Versailles) imposed harsh (many say unreasonable) conditions on Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nazi-ism's success in gaining adherents was primarily caused by the weak Weimar Republic government of the 1920s Germany, which was weak almost exclusively because of the conditions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
2. As a corollary to #1, the peace treaty after WW1 is usually held directly responsible for the start of WW2, both in Europe and in Asia.
3. Change of warfare from contests fought between rival armies, to one where the entire national economies were involved. This is often called the change to "total war". Total war is hugely destructive, since in a total war, everything is a valid military target - civilian factories, for instance. Death tolls and destruction levels go up radically in a total war conflict.
4. Conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s is due to the badly-drawn and created countries in that region after WW1.
5. Similarly, much of the continual African civil wars and fighting is due to the collapse of the German Empire, and the severe weakening of the French and British Empire that WW1 caused.
6. It is extraordinarily unlikely that Russia would have become a Communist country if not for WW1. In fact, it is unlikely that Communism would ever have been considered a valid form of actual government in any country if WW1 had not allowed for a communist takeover of the Russian Civil War in 1917.
7. No Communism, no Cold War. No McCarthyism. No massive defense buildup of the USA.
8. The military dominance of the United States after 1940 would almost certainly never occurred, and it is likely that the USA would not be a strong international influence - we would most likely have retained the very strong isolationist streak prevalent in the US pre-1914.
9. The breakup of the British Empire is primarily due to WW1, not WW2. Britain came out of WW1 essentially bankrupt, and consequently was slowly losing its grasp on the Empire, as they could no longer afford to protect and govern it as well as needed.
10. If WW1 has not ended as it did, WW2 would most likely not have happened, and the whole host of horrors from that conflict would never occurred. No Atomic Bomb. No Holocaust. No rockets (and, probably no Space Race or Man on the Moon). No nylon.
11. The mass slaughter of the Western Front radically changed Western thought. It had a drastic impact on Literature and Philosophy, and a corresponding influence on popular culture. The change is much more radical than any similar one after WW2.
12. WW1 changed the power structure of the world from a Europe-centric view to a Global view, with the rise of several non-European Great Powers.

There are many others, but the historical consensus is the while smaller, WW1 is much more influential than WW2.

Answer 4

Some history topics are not really a direct answer. I can tell you that World War I and II were a cause and effect situation. The Treat of Versailles that ended World War I very much impacted the creation of the Second World War.

So while World War II emerged the United States and the Soviet Union, which in turn created the Cold War. And the Cold War created the Space Race which got the first humans in space and on the moon. And having access to space defined current technology and late 20th century technology. But while all that spun out from World War II and the Cold War, World War I caused in a direct and indirect way everything else in the 20th Century. Just imagine without World War I, no World War II, no Cold War Space Race, The US wouldn't be a large super power and everything we know would be different. So, I would say World War I was more important.

Answer 5

World War 2 has had a greater impact on modern society. After that War, the world was wary of ever fighting another war. Also, the United Nations was formed after World War 2.