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13 - Global war 1914–45

from Part III - Moments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

By
Richard Overy
Edited by
J. R. McNeill  and
Kenneth Pomeranz
J. R. McNeill
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
Kenneth Pomeranz
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
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Summary

The most remarkable aspect of the two global wars that dominated the thirty-year period from 1914 to 1945 was the contrast between their modest origins in political disputes in south-east and eastern Europe between just two states and the worldwide dimension that both wars quickly assumed. The growth of large permanent armed forces, equipped with the sophisticated military products of modern science and industry, and the emergence of mass nationalism as a feature of European political culture, together created conditions in which the possibility of restraint in international crisis became progressively reduced. The Serb crisis created a collective paranoia among the capitals of Europe and immediately mobilized popular patriotism. The age of global war reflected profound instabilities in the existing world order with the decline or collapse of important parts of the traditional structure, and the social and political consequences of large-scale and rapid economic modernization and urbanization.

Keywords

globalizationimperialismcommunist revolutionUnited Nations agenciesWorld War Imodern family historyinternational non-governmental organizationsindustrial revolution
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge World History , pp. 299 - 320
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

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References

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