What was the economy like during World War 1?

Answer 1

Things were looking good in the US. Europe was in chaos and needed both food and war material which could be cranked out in the states. The world was shifting from an agrarian to an industrial economy.

Answer 2

In 1917 the Germans knocked the Russians out of the war. The German people believed that victory in the West was just a matter of time. What they didn't take into account was that Britain, France and the USA did not have ramshackle governments. The British found an acoustic way to triangulate the position of enemy artillery, and after that they caused heavy damage. The winter of 1917-1918 was called the Turnip Winter because the naval blockade of Germany was quite effective at keeping food out. This was a very hungry winter. When the USA reached full strength in the spring of 1918, the Allies scored victory after victory. The German High Command was smart enough to see that the game was up and that if they persisted the Allies would be occupying German soil. So they agreed to an armistice

The Kaiser abdicated, there was a relatively serious Communist revolution in Bavaria which was put down by the Freikorps, Army men who loved killing. Out of this chaos came the Weimar Government, which was the government that signed the Versailles Treaty. Refusal to do so would have meant resumption of hostilities.

The problem was that no one explained to the German people why they had lost the war. The generals were too embarrassed to confess, and the government didn't see it as part of its responsibility. The result was the wildest speculation possible. The Germans needed a scapegoat, and the Jews were the perfect target - this despite the fact that Jews had been very patriotic during the war.

The hyperinflation threw many people out of work. Conservative Germans, and there were many, felt seriously threatened by British and American cultural fads. The biggest social problem was racism. The Germans despised not only Jews but also Poles, Czechs, Russians, and so forth.

At an early date the German Navy determined to take over the government. They funded the Nazi party, and Hitler began his rise to power