•The needs of total war led to the expansion of government authority.
•The destruction of life and property wrought by the war led to a widespread disillusionment among European intellectuals with their own civilization.
•The political map of Europe was radically altered with the collapse of the German, Russian, and Austrian empires, creating space for new nations in Central Europe, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, all of which were formed around an ideology of national self-determination.
•In Russia, the strains of war triggered a vast revolutionary upheaval that launched world communism.
•The Treaty of Versailles, which brought the war to a close, also established the conditions that generated the Second World War.
•The massacre and deportation of one million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire set a precedent on which Nazi Germany later built.
•The collapse of the Ottoman Empire during World War I resulted in the political fragmentation of the Middle East and the emergence of the states of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine.
•Conflicting promises made by the British to both Arabs and Jews concerning Palestine set the stage for an enduring struggle over that ancient and holy land.
•Millions of colonial subjects who had participated in the war had gained new military skills and political awareness and returned home with less respect for their rulers and with expectations for better treatment as a reward for their service.
•In East Asia, Japan had emerged strengthened from the war, with European support for its claim to take over German territory and privileges in China.
•Japan's increased influence in China enraged Chinese nationalists and among a few sparked an interest in Soviet-style communism, for only the new Communist rulers of Russia seemed willing to end the imperialist penetration of China.
•World War I brought the United States to center stage as a global power.