World War I
World War I began when Austria-Hungary initiated war against Serbia for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Several countries sided with Serbia, and Austria-Hungary lost.
"This is not peace, it is an armistice for 20 years." |
Effects
"After every major conflict - World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the fall of the Soviet Union - what happened was that we ultimately hollowed out the force, largely by doing deep across-the-board cuts."
-Leon Panetta
The end of World War I left Germany in a weak economic state. Many German soldiers were killed in the war, significantly weakening Germany's military force. Numerous citizens lost their respect for the government, since it was the government that led them to believe they were winning the war when they were actually losing the war. The Germans in Europe went from being the main ethnic group to being a foreign minority.