So Like, I Totally Hated Math Class in 9th Grade

9th grade math is, like, so easy. So like, I’m supposed to enjoy it to some extent, right? Well, I didn’t. Not that year anyway. And that was all thanks to a boy (or should I say nuisance) named Ghassan Farhat. Let me give you a mental picture of the state I would arrive at home in on any given day that I had attended math class that year: Angry, hormonal, fists clenched, hair wild and filled with millions of tiny pieces of eraser…. ones that were almost impossible to take out with hair like mine. Why, you ask, would anyone have eraser pieces stuck in their hair just by attending a math class? Well, good question. And the answer related to the fact that Ghassan Farhat is not and will never be, my main man. He is however, apparently, a MAIN man- and I’m about to tell you why...

Ghassan Farhat had a lot of fun in math class that year. He and his buddies all sat behind me in a semicircle (convenient much?- I think my math teacher was in on it the whole time) and tormented me for what felt like forever. The year started off in a normal, boring, high school-routinely way, until one fateful morning when my friends told me I had something in my hair. That was a normal thing for them to say, as things were always getting stuck in my wild, dark, bushy hair- but this thing was not so ordinary. “You have something white in your hair”, my friend Noura would tell me. “Is it off?”, I would answer frantically while attempting to remove the “thing” she was referring to, imagining it to be bugs, a piece of food, dust, or something as equally gross. After the 3rd of 4th time of the same occurrence, I began to realize that the unusually loud snickering of young teenage boys coming from behind me had perhaps something to do with the sudden “thing”-magnet my hair had become. I turned around and caught Ghassan mid-action, trying to throw something in my hair, missing as the position of my head changed. I glared at him, in a stop manner, hoping he would get the message. He did not.

Over the course of the year, the eraser in hair torment continued. If only it did not escalate. Ghassan began collecting various erasers from the rest of the class, and spending 20-30 minutes each class ripping the erasers up into tiny, sugar-like, pieces- as if he was building up ammo. He wouldn’t start attacking me before he had a large pile of eraser pieces stacked up on one another, making the attack larger and uncontrollable from my standpoint. The way Ghassan collected the erasers and accumulated the eraser pieces he made is a lot like the way European nations built up their militaries prior to the beginning of WWI. Ghassan would also create plans, as to which moments the teacher would be looking away, in order to create an un-interrupted attack. Ghassan would time his attacks so that the teacher would be turned, writing lessons on the board- and the European nations would make plans as well.

Soon after the act soon got boring alone, Ghassan rounded up his fellow friends, scratch that, soldiers to join in on the attack on my hair, and that’s really what escalated the war- like the formation of allies between the European nations of WWI. After the attack became unbearable, being attacked on all fronts (of my backside), I began to retaliate. “Stop it”, I would turn around and hiss, but but not succeed. The allies were much too strong for me, so I decided to get my own allies. “Stop it, you’re being so childish”, my friends would join in on the hissing, and soon after we caught ourselves in what seemed to be a never-ending war- my friends against Ghassan and his friends. We had to stick up for one another, as my friends knew I would be greatly disappointed in them had they not stuck up for me and knew I would do the same for them (or at least they hoped I would). Ghassan’s friends had a lot to gain in participating in the charade, amusement and having something else to do other than paying attention (because God forbid they do that). Although the conflict was really between me and Ghassan, my friends found themselves in conflict with his friends and my friends began getting eraser pieces in their  hair in order to get to me. It was all really just such a pleasant time in our lives.

At a point where I thought nothing could go worse, I was, once again, proven wrong. Things changed when Mr. Pederson changed the seating arrangements of the class, unfortunately, not in a good way. With my enemies, now allied, spread out all around the class, I had no escape. The european nations use of imperialism spread their influence around the globe and demanded more power than those nations with less. My friends and I were not as talkative as Ghassan and his friends, so we stayed put, which put us in a position of great disadvantage. We were like sitting ducks, in the middle of the room, while Ghassan and his friends were spread out all around us. Each group of us, me and my friends vs. Ghassan and his, wanted the greater space in the room, and so began to fight for it. We constantly begged the teacher to allow us to sit where we please, that way we could sit behind Souheil and his friends and gain more power, but sadly our pleas were not heard.

I often attempt to pinpoint the exactly time in which the act shifted from a simple one coming from boredom, to something I felt that Ghassan and his friends had  to continue, out of pride. I realized at some point that they could not stop, I’m sure it got boring eventually- I mean how much of a guy do you have to be to find throwing eraser bits at girls amusing forever? I realized that pride was driving these guys to act the way they did much more than boredom did, and so did Nationalism in the start of WWI in the European Nations at the time. Each nation wanted to be the best, strongest, and win all- none were ready to forfeit or back down.

Although we settled our differences, and Ghassan and I are good friends now- I will forever look at my world war experience and be able to learn from it. I totally see the similarities between the MAIN long term causes of, not only, WWI and what went down in my math class that year, but also between the Arab Spring and the conflict going on between all the different arab countries right now. I mean, Iran has weapons that seem threatening to the US, and the allies of different countries are causing friction between countries that didn’t exist before. For example, the fact that Russia and the US have always been at a heel to heel state with each other, found themselves at it again, on separate sides of the Syrian chemical weapon conflict. Also, all countries are refusing the back down and “look weak” as they are all nationalistic and patriotic and would never dream of doing so out of pride. For now, I’m glad I can finally concentrate in math.

So, Like, My Most Embarrassing Moment Was Probably the Time My Bikini Top Fell off at Bobbly Valone’s Party

It was, like, so, embarrassing. Okay so I was just like chilling in the pool with my friends Steph and Ash, and I, like, felt that my bikini top was gonna like pop off or something. I mean, it was so loose! So anyway, I asked my gals if they could help me out- ya know? I was like guys can you tighten up my top for me, it’s totally gonna blow off lol, and obviously they said yes, I mean, they’re my gals! So they are en trein de tightening up my top, and then Bobbly Valone, who weighs like 5 million kilos, does a cannonball into the pool, and water goes flying everywhere, and Steph, who was tightening up my bikini lets go. And like, although some people say she might have done it on purpose, they’re like- it’s not like the 2004 Asian tsunami came and took my top with it, I choose to believe that she would never do that to me. I mean, I know she was jealous that I was dating Josh at the time, but like COME ON- she’s my gal! Anyway though my friend’s were totally awesome. They covered me up with a towel right away and sat with me for like hours while I bawled my eyes out.

I remember the humiliation. It was brutal, everyone was staring at me and my premature (at the time!) boobs! I seriously thought I would just drown right there, or rather, I  hoped I would.  I was seriously pissed off at Bobbly Valone and, if I’m being honest, I was seriously pissed off at Step to.. I mean, butter fingers much?

I totally imagine Austria-Hungary to feel this way after Serbian terrorists killed their ruler. I mean, they basically did a cannonball into their pool (or like allowed it to happen at least- the Serbian government did nothing to avoid conflict at the time also because of nationalism), ripping off Franz Ferdinand’s bikini top, right? Oh, and his wife’s too- forgot about her. And like, just like I expected my friends to come out and help me after just being humiliated past the point of existence, I understand why they expected Germany to come rushing to their side. I mean come ON Steph, oops I mean Germany, you know you gotta. I could imagine what they’d do if Germany didn’t stick up for them at the time, probably like throw a huge sleepover party and not invite them, I mean, that’s what I would do.

Anyway so boys will be boys and obviously Bobby Valone was like it’s not my fault you can’t be normal and go to the bathroom to get naked and then everyone went crazy like how can he say that to me, right? So like that’s sort of what the Serbians did they were like *shrug* and like turned the other way. I mean, don’t they realize that like those terrorists were SERBIAN? Anyway so like yeah.

So like the support of my friends was all intimidating to the boys, ‘cause they’re such losers. So for the next like month or so we didn’t like invite each other to parties and we were all sort of mean to each other. I know I should’ve felt like responsible or something, cause it all sort of started with me, but all I could think was that EVERYONE HAD SEEN ME, and then the humiliation and anger rose back up and I didn’t care. I mean, that’s probably how Austria-Hungary felt right? Like they were probably pissed off throughout the whole war, like Serbia totally embarrassed them.

If you think about it, I mean, the US is also a short term problem since they’re always butting into like other people’s business. They did so in the war, and they’re kinda doing it now giving like ultimatums to Syria and stuff.

Also, the stuff that happened to me and Bobby Valentino is sort of like how Sryria supposedly used chemical weapons and the US had set out a red line for that, which they crossed. That sort of humiliated them, because they weren’t being respected, and they couldn’t just let it pass because that would be shameful to them.

Finally, the last short term cause is the underlying tension that built up between the states, which is sort of what happened to the girls and guys at the party- as I explained. That’s sort of what’s happening now in the Arab spring because all the groups of allied countries are against each other.

So, Like, The Nature of World War 1 Was Such a Fricken Paintball Match

Um, never AGAIN will I indulge in something that horrific again.

So once upon a dreadful time, there used to be this boy at our school called Rudy El Hajj, and he decided to have everyone play paintball for his birthday. At first I was like tsaware (which means imagine) I go, but my friends were like “comeeee onnnn tryyyy ssommmetthhhinggggg newww fooorrr onnnceeee” and I was like fine. Just to get the nagging to stop, of course, and a little because my crush at the time, Joe Arkansas, was going too. So I went. And so did Stephanie. And so did Ash. And so did- everyone.

    I’m gonna skip the whole getting there and getting dressed part, and get right down to the “colorful” details. They mixed guys and girls in two teams and before I knew it, paintballs were flying everywhere. Everyone that got hit kept screaming in pain, bruises everywhere, people were crying- but nobody stopped. Nobody could admit that they couldn’t take it. It turns out the guy working at the paintball place was new and he put the power of the guns on twice as strong. The girls wanted to prove that they were capable, and the guys had done this many times before and wanted to prove their “macho-ness”. So, everyone was dying and crying,  but the game went on.

    The people watching from the bleachers later told me they were in agony watching us suffer like that, but there was a glass thing separating us, and there was nothing they could do about it. A few parents also watching were afraid we would get hurt! (the homefront during WW1)

By the end, everyone had gotten shot, multiple times, and were in unspeakable amounts of pain. So much, that nobody could say either side had won. (same as ww1)

The war was a lot like that, in many ways. At first, it was known as the great war, or the war to end all wars- but that quickly changed. There was nothing great about that war, just as there was nothing great about Rudy El Hajj’s fricken birthday disaster. WW1 is often referred to as the most disastrous war ever fought in history. Words as said to be totally inadequate to describe the slaughter, and statistics too cold to convey the human cost. The same goes with the paintball match, ditto.

I sincerely hope that with all that’s going on in the Arab world today, it does not drag on for much longer. Devastation and distraught are the two d’s plague-ing all countries involved. People crying everyday, promises broken, and lives lost forever. 

So, Like, There Are Certain Moments in a Girl’s Life, You Never Forget- They Change You For, Like, Ever.

Like a first kiss or something, right?

Here are mine:

November 25, 2009, First Period

May 23, 2010, First boyfriend

November 6, 2010, First pair of heels

July 7, 2011, First high school party

January 9, 2012, First love

December 19, 2013, Instagram account activated

August 14, 2013, Grandfather/best friend dies

Anyway so, like, same goes for little ol’ missy WW1 over here. This gal’s got a few important dates down her line of existence.

June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated.

August 1-3, 1914, England, France, Germany, Austria-Hungrary and Russia declare war on each other

August 4, 1914, Germany invades France and Russia invades Germany

April 6, 1917, the United States declares war on Germany

March 3, 1918, the Soviet Union makes peace with Germany

Nov. 11, 1918, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Germany and Austria-Hungary surrender.

June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles is signed ending World War 1.

These key moments define a person (or major event in WW1’s case) and change the course or trajectory of it’s process. Each event influences the one after it and has great impact on you (or the world/history in general in WW1’s case).

So, Like, Before My Parents Got Divorced, My House Was a Hellhole.

So like, I was totally depressed for almost a year of my life. During my 10th year of living, I didn’t know it then, but my parents were going to get a divorce. Throughout that entire year, my parents were, like, constantly fighting and I was totally getting a migraine, like, all the time.

    So anyway, my parents were too busy fighting to pay attention to anything else in life apparently because me and my siblings (we’re 4 in total) had to, like, work extra hard to keep the house a functioning place, you know? And it was totally annoying! My mom was, like, too depressed and “down” to do the cooking, cleaning, etc. so my and my brothers and sisters would split up the chores and do it ourselves. We had to make do for a lot of things that year, especially when my mom went to see a therapist- she was gone for all hours of the day!

    Anyway, so  like, the homefront during the war was a lot like that I guess. A lot of women were driven into the workforce because they had to make up for the lack of men in the country. They produced the weapons, income, the supply of troops and food that kept the war going. We supplied the washing of the dishes, the cooking of the chicken, the feeding of the baby, and a million other things that kept our war going- the war in our household.

    The importance of the homefront brought about many good things actually, both in WW1 and in my household. Women became much more independent and valued during that time- and they were given a lot of new rights that came with their newfound respect. The men were all like, wait, who knew they were capable of anything?! And that’s sort of what happened with me, my mom totally treats me like a lady now. She knows I’m capable of more and now she views me as more of her equal than before- it’s a good feeling. Also, I’m capable of so much more and it feels really good to be valued, my mom relies on me for almost everything!

    Nowadays, when each country goes to war or there is war in that country (Iraq, Afghanistan) it is still important to uphold the homefront and that is exactly what each of those countries are doing. There are still people living in war-struck countries and sometimes people seem to forget that. It’s not all just one big battlefield and life goes on- even if gunshots is the first and last thing you hear everyday. Handmade things (mostly made by women) is the grand business now, in those countries, and that just proves to show what I’m talking about.

    The homefront is very important and, without it, the war would not be able to continue- so maybe we shouldn’t have made it so easy for my parents to fight that year. Hell, now at least I basically get compensated for everything I went through that year (through presents)- something good must have come from this war after all. (note: just like Germany had to compensate the other European states)

So, Like, I Am Totally Obsessed With My iPhone

I’m, like, a huge, huge, huge fan of social media. I’m a member of almost every site: Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Whatever you got, I’ve probably visited it over 100 times already. And being a huge social media fan is inevitably tied to being a huge fan of technology. I’m so ridiculously interested and fascinated by technology and how it is ever changing, constantly improving. I’m, like, totally obsessed with my iPhone, and I see no fault in it, like, ever. But it’s been brought to my attention that sometimes technology can cause some really big problems as well as being beneficial. And a good example of this was WW1.

    Technology played a really important role in determining tactics for the war. So, like, during WW1, a lot of new weapons were invented and used, and for the first time. World War One meant the introduction and use of machine guns, rifles, grenades, trench warfare, barbed wire, poison gas, tanks, air and naval warfare, submarines and others.  These all affected the tactics for war, and as such the ways war played out. England chose to focus on their navy and strengthening it, which influenced and provoked Germany and others. Japan entered the war for this reason. The introduction of machine guns and all the other weapons all affected the way countries chose to fight, and as such, their influence on the war and it’s eventual outcome. In fact, all of these technological advancements probably wouldn’t have been so popularized and used to now if not for World War One. To this day, wars all over, like in Syria, or Iraq, or Israel, technological tactics similar to those of World War One are used, and in a way we “owe” them for that. Although, really, do we “owe” them and see this positively, or negatively? If not for all these, like, “advancements”, or whatever, society might have been able to “advance” a lot more than it did, and maybe we wouldn’t have as many wars and problems as we do. My dad always says that the iPhone is making us more stupid and ruining the world, not helping it. Technology has it’s benefits, but in terms of weaponry (or the iPhone, in my father’s eyes) in WW1, it had a really significant effect on the tactics chosen, and such, on the consequences.

    The outcome of the war was intense: things were not looking good. There was serious and heavy consequences on the countries, and this was due to the technology used. There was an incredible amount of lives lost in this war, and that was greatly affected by the technology used: it succeeded in taking away hundreds of lives. In addition, because the technology was new to them, people were simply excited to use it and may not have been using the right tactics for it, causing an unnecessary amount of deaths. Germany was left, like, totally demolished because of bombing and such, leaving it in terrible conditions. If these had not happened, and the technology had not existed to make them happen, then Germany may not have become as weak as it did, and WW2 may never have occurred. Airmen fighting were dying constantly, because “dogfights” or aggressive fights between planes were common. Germany regularly used poison gas, and other countries did too: this led to a lot of suffering of citizens and soldiers, and death as well. The “advancement” of the machine gun was shown during the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 , when German machine guns killed or wounded almost 60,000 British soldiers in ONE day.  As said in, “WWI: Technology and the Weapons of War” by A. Torrey McLean, “The British naval blocking of Germany, which was made possible by developments in naval technology, brought a total war to civilians. The blockade caused a famine that finally brought about the collapse of Germany and its allies in late 1918. Starvation and malnutrition continued to take the lives of German adults and children for years after the war.”

    So, like, technology played a huge role in WW1. Because of all these technological advancements, countries chose to fight in a certain way. And because they did fight in that way, due to those advancements, the outcomes of the war were unbelievable and drastic. As stated by A. Torrey in “WWI: Technology and the Weapons of War”, “the firing stopped on November 11, 1918, but modern war technology had changed the course of civilization. Millions had been killed, gassed, maimed, or starved. Famine and disease continued to rage through central Europe, taking countless lives. Because of rapid technological advances in every area, the nature of warfare had changed forever, affecting soldiers, airmen, sailors, and civilians alike.” Wars and warfare have drastically changed because of the technological “advancements”, but, like, is that really an “advancement” at all if it brings us back to simplistic ideas of solving issues with violence? Like, I’m totally obsessed with my iPhone, but if less technology meant less wars and less deaths but no Whatsapp, I think I’d be okay with that.

So, Like, Revolution is Super Important

Okay, so like, personally, I’ve always been really excited about the idea of revolution. I totally believe in democracies and I think that if people are unhappy then it is their right to get what they want; it’s their country after all. It’s kind of like how this year our dean of students at school was like, being so crazy about our dress code. Like, this is our school, and we should be able to wear whatever we want and not be under some kind of totalitarian regime where we must do what others say. So lame. Seriously. So we all totally revolted and like signed petitions and expressed our anger and so student council actually did something about it. And we felt so good that we had achieved power and independence from the dean and the rules, and we were satisfied. And that’s like, totally the case for countries and revolutions, and WW1 is no exception to that.

    So the end of WW1 meant that a lot of the really big powers had to give up land and many big empires disintegrated. This meant that there were big shifts in who had power and control, and everything changed. Suddenly, people had gained independence of sorts and were separate entities rather than bunched up under one empire. This disintegration of empires invoked a whole lot of nationalistic feelings for people. People finally felt like they had purpose and power, and so they felt, inevitably, that they were the best and deserved the best. Because of this, countries that were not satisfied with their current states, began to revolt. They began to see the problems in their “dress code” and started to fight for change. And thus began the expression of the true effect of WW1 on revolution.

The biggest and most important example of World War 1 affecting revolution and resistance is Russia. Basically, Russia had always been ruled in a certain way and they had a Tsar ruling them and stuff. Russia was an extremely harsh place to live, and the citizens were unhappy. There was a lot of unrest and unhappiness, and people were already dying and the country was weak. So, entering a war was a really bad idea and Russians were not happy about this. Having to war made the citizens’ nationalism really strong, and everyone was in support of ending the war and seeing the outcome of the war on Russia made the Russians want all kinds of change. So, they began to revolt against the Tsarist ruling and by 1917, the Tsar abdicated and a new way of communist life(Soviet Union) began for the Russians. Russia left the war for this reason- they wanted to focus on solving their own internal issues and did not want to involve themselves in external issues and problems. But if not for the reality and involvement in the war, the people would have never decided to revolt against their leaders and change everything.

Another example of World War 1 affecting revolutions is the Arab revolt and decline of the Ottoman Empire. During the war, the Allies decided they wanted to weaken the Ottoman Empire, because it was an enemy. So, they got the “Lawrence of Arabia”, T.E. Lawrence to go and convince the Arab countries to revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Because these countries had become involved in a war, and were experiencing the harsh and difficult repercussions of that, they were upset and ripe for revolution. nationalism was high and they craved freedom and independence. As such, these Arab countries began to revolt.

World War 1 also greatly influenced revolution and resistance when it came to Austria-Hungary. After the war, considering that Austria-Hungary was a power that lost in the war, a lot of land was taken away from it and it collapsed. The “Hapsburg Empire” as it was referred to, got split up and the countries began to fight to become independant states. They revolted and fought to have their own independence and rights, and this never would have happened if not for the war. Again, due to nationalistic values that the war brought out, and the fact that Austria lost, the countries craved freedom. Thus, quickly and easily, the empire collapsed and each country gained independence. And it’s the same way for us with the dress code, because we so believe in our school and wish the best for it, we believe in change as well, and so revolution is truly possible.

The idea of revolutions is still present in this world now. Just recently, we had the Arab Spring. Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria began to try and revolt. If not for the initial revolutions of all those important countries, you could make the argument that none of those would’ve even happened! Half of those countries wouldn’t have even been countries of their own anyway! World War 1 had a drastic effect on revolutions and revolts, totally changing the way our world became. 

So, Like, Things Change- But For the Better or for the Worse?

So, like, it’s become totally normal for me that I need to understand that things change. Although things might be good, they inevitable will change. Maybe they’ll get better, maybe they won’t. And if things are bad, sometimes they’ll get worse. But they can also get better. This might sound like, totally vague and stuff, but I swear I have a point with this. Sometimes something totally scary and big will enter your life, and it will change everything forever. And I’ve experienced that with people- some people have changed my life forever. There also have been a lot of times where I made decisions that changed everything forever. And that’s a lot like what happened in WW1.

    After WW1, there were a lot of territorial changes. Firstly, four of the most important and powerful empires: Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Many new independent states were formed: Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Lithuania, and Yugoslavia.  Arab states were created thanks to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the break up of all the empires led to a lot of lands being distributed to other areas. As such, the map of Europe changed drastically and then there were many territorial changes. Territorial changes are an inevitable result of wars a lot of the time, and that was no different for World War 1. You could probably make the argument, though, that these changes were bad or good. They opened the door for a lot of new issues and problems to come up, but also opened the door for a lot more happiness of people and self-fulfillment, thanks to revolutions. So, really, these important changes, it may not be easy to pinpoint whether they were good or bad, but there’s no doubt they changed everything forever, opening doors for revolutions, political, economic, social, and other changes in the world, some of which remain still today.

    Territorial changes can almost always end up resulting in political changes. Once things are moved around, there is potential for everything to change. Because something has gained it’s own independence and stopped belonging to a certain empire or country, then it usually craves independence. Independence usually requires a revolt against the traditional powers, and as such, political changes are necessary. World War 1 definitely led to a lot of political changes, as a result of those territorial ones. It can be argued that WW1 led to a “collapse of imperial monarchy”. Once countries had been liberated “territorially”, they were ready to be liberated “politically”, and as such, in terms of monarchy. There was also a triumph of republicanism amongst many of the countries. There was a huge rise in the radical fascist political movements because of this, Once people were “free” in the literal sense of the word, they wanted to be totally free. For this reason, politics were able to be changed, like how Russia changed into a completely communist country rather than a Tsarist empire. For example, once France stopped having power over Lebanon and Syria way back in 1946, the countries split into those two after simply having France control both. Because of these territorial changes, changes in politics for both of the countries were inevitable, and those differences in politics still remain today.

    Basically, WW1 had really significant political and territorial changes, and these came as a package deal. Once you have a political change, you have a territorial change too, and this is still a reality in wars nowadays. These changes can lead to good things and bad things: some countries achieved the independence and freedom they craved. Others territorial changes led to eventual bigger issues and problems, like the Ottoman Empire break up which you could argue led to all the Middle East problems still present today. Changes may be bad and they may be good, but they are nonetheless inevitable and this is totally true about WW1, as well as about life.

So, Like, What About Our Rights?

Okay, so, like, I am a huge advocate of people having control over their own rights and stuff. Like, if you want to go ahead and buy those knee-long Converse(although I will judge you forever), you totally should. It’s your right. If you want to abort your baby, it’s your right. If you want to marry the person YOU love, but religion says no: civil marriage all the way baby. Plus, if you’re Muslim, civil marriage respects your RIGHTS and splits everything up 50-50. I am huge on rights. And, like, if it weren’t for WW1 you could say none of our rights would be present or anything, which would be, like… really not cool.

    Basically, WW1 was like a super huge war and so like naturally that had a huge effect on the economy of almost all the European countries. Like, because the war was so crazy, people had to use a lot of their money and waste it on weapons and stuff. And so all the countries that had been previously doing pretty well and stuff, that all changed ‘cause they were totally broke. Everybody had used loans and borrowed money and stuff and after WW1 they had to pay them back and that was super hard. This was especially hard for Germany, because the Versailles Treaty made her pay for all kinds of stuff, and she was totally struggling to recover. Everyone was in debt and it was not good, so people just started printing more money, which was only effective temporarily, causing difficulties and issues later. The only country that was like totally okay was America, and she had previously helped a lot of the European countries before actually involving herself in the war. So they all kind of owed her, giving her the greatest economic power between them and being the only truly capable, strong one in this period. So, countries that had previously been known as the strongest economic powers like France had lost their position as this and instead the US started to become the strongest power. As such, she started to gain the highly regarded position she still claims in economics. She stopped being an unimportant country and became one of the strongest economic powers, which was huge for the future of the world, and for America as well of course.

    But all of these changes in economy are the reasons that rights started coming in. Once you’re unhappy with the state of your economy, you need to step it up, you know? It’s like when my parents were always giving me an allowance of 50 LL a week and I was like, totally struggling. I regularly had to borrow cash from friends and pay them back because I’d find myself a couple thou short, and it was awkward and embarrassing. And so I was like, okay guys, where are my rights as your daughter, you know? And so that’s what happened with women in WW1 too. As daughters of these countries who had experiences hardships due to economy, they stepped it up and started changing things. A ridiculous amount of people had died in this war, so much that they call the generation of that time “the lost generation”. And this had left so many dependants, which were people who depended on men and were in need of help. They had to be supported through pensions, causing more economic problems for the country. Countries needed better economies, and women wanted to help in that- and if they entered the workforce, they could feed their families too. So women entered the workforce. They helped greatly in strengthening economies, and so people started to respect them more in society, as opposed to just in economy. It’s like me, after my parents had taken my allowance issue into consideration and seen how helpful I could be and productive if they gave me more rights, they started to respect my ideas and opinions a lot more. They would consider my arguments and ideas, and that’s what happened in WW1 too. People started listening to women, improving their rights and eventually giving them the right to vote. Equality began between man and women, and it was thanks to WW1. And this wasn’t just women, but everybody started to have more rights- like trade unions and workers started to fight to get what they deserved for the work they had done in the war, and they did. This changed their social position as well as their economic.

    So, like, rights are super duper important to me. But I might never even know what it feels like to have rights and improve them or maintain them if it weren’t for WW1 cause, as a woman, I might not have even had any if not for the social and economic changes that resulted from WW1. Everything changed after those, and arguably for the better- at least from a woman’s point of view. 

So, Like, My 1st Grade Teacher Was Right: People Need to Help Each Other

So, like, 1st grade is totally one of the most important years of your life. Like, I don’t really remember it, but I remember that essays and tests were barely a part of my vocabulary. Homework was limited, and when it did come, it was fun and easy. School was filled with line leaders and reading childrens’ books, and weekends were spent with family and friends. And like, we learn a lot of lessons as a kid that stick with you until you’re older. As kids, in the 1st grade, they teach you the importance of sharing. They teach you not to bully, and not to be respectful. They teach you to listen and to follow the rules. And they always, always, encourage you to help people. And like, I’d always thought that principle was limited to the four walls of your 1st grade classroom, but it became clear to me recently that people need to help each other. And this is an idea present in our daily lives, and present in WW1 too.

    So WW1 led to a lot of changes in international relations, which is essentially the relationships between countries. For countries to have good relationships, they need to help each other, and for them to have bad ones, they need to distance themselves from the 1st grade philosophy and destroy each other. WW1 had examples of both.

    Woodrow Wilson, the American president, in signing the Versailles treaty, insisted upon having his 14 points enforced. Most specifically, Wilson wanted the League of Nations to occur. While it technically was formed, it failed at doing any actual good. However, it was really one of the first steps leading to the United Nations. Both the League of Nations and the UN have the same goals in mind: helping the countries fix their relationships and problems. Although it’s much more complex than the simple 1st grade philosophy, WW1 led to the beginning of the UN and League of Nations, and as such, the beginning of countries helping each other.

    Before WW1, America had been a very “distant” country. It never included herself in international matters and remained neutral and to herself. However, after it joined WW1 and involved itself in international matters, everything changed. America decided it wanted to “help” the Allies, going back to the idea that people need to help people, even outside of pre-school. It was Wilson’s important role in the treaty and America’s immense help in the course of World War 1 and the success of the allies that made America the strong power she is today. If not for her role, America may not play as important a role in international relations and politics. If not for involvement in WW1, she may not have felt she should “help” in a lot of different wars after, like the Syrian conflict, or Iraq, changing international relations forever.

    Another aspect to consider in terms of WW1 affecting international relations is that of the Versailles Treaty. The Versailles Treaty was completed with the help of three Allied countries: France, Britain, and the US. While the Allies were obviously not made up of these three groups alone, they were considered the three most important countries of the Allies at the time, and so they were in charge. To this day, these three countries are still considered some of the strongest, most powerful countries. In fact, all three of them have veto power in the UN, showing the true significance of their roles in international relations. If they had not played such an important role in the Versailles Treaty, it could be argued that they never would have been awarded with such a high position in the UN, and regarded so highly in affairs of international relations. These countries were regarded highly then, and they are now, and this is not just a coincidence: it’s because of their roles in WW1 and the treaty.

    But WW1 did not only lead people to help each other in terms of international relations: it wasn’t all fun and games. The most significant example of WW1 affecting international relations negatively is of course, Germany. WW1 ended because of the signing of the Versailles Treaty. The Versailles Treaty gave Germany strict and harsh punishments for being “the main reason for starting the war”. Germany had to go through a very difficult recovery period, and it was not an easy task for them to come back to power and bounce back. For this reason, there was a lot of hatred and anger and discontent, among both the German people and government, towards the Allies. They were furious at the way they had been treated and the lack of justice, and wanted revenge and payback. This is the reason that it was so easy for Hitler to convince the Germans of the Nazi movement: because they were angry. The movement then ended up being a huge international relations problem, because Germany was angry at the Allies. It didn’t want to help them anymore- it wanted to destroy them. This is what sparked fighting and discontent between the two. As a result, WW2 happened, and all the countries began to fight again, causing problems in international relations. If Germany had not been so harshly treated, she may not have been as vindictive. If the Allies had helped Germany, Germany might have helped them back. It’s clear in this sense that the Allies must have skipped 1st grade, because they did not follow this policy, changing the state of international relations, and as such of our world, forever.