The Global Effects of Imperialism, World War I and the Great Depression

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The Global Effects of Imperialism, World War I and the Great Depression Bentley first talked about cross-cultural interactions as a way to categorize the World’s history. He in addition wrote about the importance of understanding events from a global perspective, not just one country’s point of view. Because of these two fundamental elements to his argument, we can assess events differently than before hand, finding out ways to take a step back and look at actions as they affect multiple nations simultaneously. Of these international events from 1870-1945, the Age of Imperialism, World War I, and the Great Depression had worldwide impacts on economic and social issues. Imperialism in the late 19th century became a competition among European countries to take control of as many areas in Africa before the others did. For the most part, France, England, and Germany competed for bragging rights to these countries. They thought at the time that the more colonies a country had the more prestigious and noble that country looked. European countries were in pursuit of demonstrating their power. Not only this, but imperialism helped build a strong economy in the mother country because they could invade their colony and strip them of their natural resources in order to produce goods with. In turn, that country could then sell these good to the colony in order to make money. Rudyard Kipling talks about this fierce competition in “The White Man’... ... middle of paper ... ...ike Germany and France also imposed new poll taxes on their colonies in Africa to make up for money they had lost. As a result of the Great Depression in America, countries across the world faced depressions of their own. From 1870-1945, Imperialism, World War I, and the Great Depression had a global impact economically and socially. The effects of Imperialism caused a build of tension between nations as European countries tried to show off their power and prosper economically through the invasion of areas in Africa. In World War I, existing empires were disassembled and new nations emerged as a result. As a result, Woodrow Wilson came up with a new system for controlling threat by creating the League Nations. After World War I, countries turned their economies inward once the Great Depression came and the “domino effect” took its toll on countries around the world.

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