The war ended in 1918 because of Lenin's military strength from the East front and the strong push through Germany's last offensive, which failed. The war was ended with the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty did not make everyone happy because of territorial disputes. With the wartime being temporarily over, it became time to rebuild and gain back what was lost. Over 10 million people died fighting for their countries on these battlefronts.

             A few years following the war there became much economic instability throughout the United States and Europe. This started in the early 1920's and went through the 30's. Currency devaluation across Europe, troubles within export markets, and overproduction caused the world to start slipping into a decline. There was little known about economics at this point in time so it was very difficult to try to start a recovery. The Great Depression began in October 1929 with the crashing of the New York stock markets, which in turn caused American banks to fail and cry out for the repayment of loans, which they had lent the European countries during World War I. This led to the beginning of welfare programs in America because of the great impact the blue-collar and middle class workers faced. The west was unable to continue their normal imports due to the financial difficulties and lack of demand, which caused unemployment in countries trying to export their goods. The depression made the international scene very uneasy in a sense that countries began to fend for themselves which led to the Second World War.

             World War II began with the rise of nationalist group who would assassinate leaders and create utter chaos in countries governments. The political situation in Germany dissolved which led to the upbringing of the National Socialist Party or the Nazis, which were led by Adolf Hitler. He built what many people would call a "war machine" and Italy quickly followed along in the German's paths with leadership from Benito Mussolini.