World War I: Recovery & Post-World War 1

The total cost of World War I to the United States (was) approximately $32 billion, or 52 percent of gross national product at the time.

World War I’s legacy of debt, protectionism and crippling reparations set the stage for a global economic disaster.

In which John Green looks at Europe's attempts to recover from the devastation of World War I and forge a lasting peace. The peace did not last. Today we're talking about the economic cultural recovery of the 1920s, and the economic depression of the 1930s, and the fragile state of Europe after the Great War. We'll also look at the rise of fascism via the auspices of populist leaders like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and we'll set the stage for the war to come.

The “home” that soldiers returned to after World War I was quite different than the one they left in 1917-1918. It set the stage for the arts movements of the Roaring Twenties and for better veterans’ services in World War II.