![]() ![]() This position is also supported by Elisabeth Gläser who notes that an Allied task force, to help feed the German population, was established in early 1919 and that by May 1919 “ Germany became the chief recipient of American and Allied food shipments“. Further, Marks states that despite the problems facing the Allies, from the German government, „Allied food shipments arrived in Allied ships before the charge made at Versailles“. Historian Sally Marks claims that while „Allied warships remained in place against a possible resumption of hostilities, the Allies offered food and medicine after the armistice, but Germany refused to allow its ships to carry supplies“. The German government was required to use its gold reserves, being unable to secure a loan from the United States. ![]() The continuation of the blockade after the fighting ended, as author Robert Leckie wrote in Delivered From Evil, did much to „torment the Germans … driving them with the fury of despair into the arms of the devil.“The terms of the Armistice did allow food to be shipped into Germany, but the Allies required that Germany provide the means (the shipping) to do so. Howard, of the University of Sheffield, claims that a further quarter of a million more died from disease or starvation in the eight-month period following the conclusion of the conflict. As Germany was dependent on imports, it is estimated that 523,000 civilians had lost their lives. Through the period from the armistice on 11 November 1918 until the signing of the peace treaty with Germany on 28 June 1919, the Allies maintained the naval blockade of Germany that had begun during the war. World War I also had the effect of bringing political transformation to Germany and the United Kingdom by bringing near-universal suffrage to these two European powers, turning them into mass electoral democracies for the first time in history (see United Kingdom general election, 1918 and German federal election, 1919). Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, new ones were formed, boundaries were redrawn, international organizations were established, and many new and old ideologies took a firm hold in people’s minds. The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, and social change across Europe, Asia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. ![]()
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