Changes Throughout Russia And Germany During The 20th Century

Changes in Russia and Germany during the 20th Century The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century brought major change to the world at a global scale, as well as to many countries at a more regional scale. The greatest changes were seen after World War I, when many large empires were forced to separate in order to avoid global catastrophe. Secret military alliances posed a threat to the global community, and the countries that engaged in these clandestine agreements were at the forefront in the restructuring of Europe (Lecture 20). The four large empires of Europe were forced to shrink their borders or dissolve completely in order to satisfy the democratic powers. Theses nations could not be trusted as they held too much power in their alliances and vast amounts of territory that they controlled. In a changing world, expanding democracy and limiting the power of the major empires, was extremely important to the security of the entire planet. In this essay, we will explore two of these countries and examine exactly how they were affected by this global reorganization. In the early years of the 20th century Russia was known as â€Å"the most politically authoritarian and economically backwards of the great powers (Upshur 816)†. For this reason, Russia became one of the first large empires to fall in the aftermath of World War I. The large peasant population as well as several crushing defeats by Germany left Russia in a weak position after the war,Show MoreRelatedEurope on the Brink of Change at the Turn of the 20th Century1587 Words   |  7 PagesEurope on the Brink of Change at the Turn of the 20th Century By the turn of the 20th century Europe had undergone massive changes which had eventually pushed it into war. The main forces behind these changes were 1. Nationalism 2. Militarism 3. Imperialism 4. Socialism 5. Alliances 6. 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