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.
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