ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

European interwar economy

Imagine a big playground with many children playing games. But suddenly, some of the children stop playing and start fighting with each other. That's what happened in Europe during the interwar period, which was the time between the two world wars. The Great War or World War I had just ended, and many European countries were trying to recover from the damage it caused.

But instead of working together, some countries started fighting over resources, boundaries, and power. They imposed trade barriers, tariffs and high taxes on imported goods making trade between countries difficult, and in some cases impossible. Europe was divided into two main groups: those who wanted to protect their own economies and those who wanted to cooperate with others to grow their economies.

As a result of this division, the European economy was divided into two groups: the isolationists and the internationalists. Isolationists believed in protecting their own economies by creating barriers to trade, taxing imports, and making it harder for foreign goods to compete with their own. Internationalists believed that if countries work together and trade freely, they could all grow and prosper.

The interwar period saw the rise of the fascist and socialist governments, as well as the Russian Revolution, which led to the formation of the Soviet Union. These changes brought significant challenges to the European economy, and many struggles have occurred due to their ideologies.

Overall, the economy of Europe during the interwar period was complicated, with different countries taking different approaches to economic policies. Some countries had success by working together, while others fell behind and struggled to recover. Politics, ideologies, and disagreements between different economic systems were some of the main factors that affected the economy during this time.
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