The Modern World, Part Two: Global History since 1910 -- Week 2 Video Lecture Summary
Video 1: Total States WWI is an important event in world history because of how it changes the way modern societies are organized. There's a different feeling to warfare in WWI. The devastation is worse than ever before because of the technology that is able to ravage the land: create holes in the ground that are so big soldiers drown in them; eradicate whole forests; blind soldiers from poison gas. WWI sees the creation of "Total States": States are seeing themselves as large war-centric corporations Governments begin to control national money to make sure they have enough for warfare Government regulates staples The end of the gold standard -- self-reliance instead of international trade Conversion of plants and factories from civilian factories to war factories Creation of new factories for war supplies Governments take control of manpower and industrial resources, controlling which people and how many of them are allocated to factories, farming, and militaries. Libera...
