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.
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