How did the Great War affect European society?
The war-affected almost all aspects of European society. During and after the supplies which most Europeans depended on were interrupted the greatest part of the population was deprived. The harsh monetary penalties imposed on European countries that were considered enemy states caused great economic distress. Social bonds were broken by the war due to the loss of life during the war.
Why Keynes does oppose the extraction of war reparations from Germany?
Keynes is opposed to the extraction of war reparations from Germany because he believes those who suffered from their harsh effects were the wrong people since these wrongdoings were not committed by them, but by their parents. He argues that no nation has the authority to collect reparations from another state.
Keynes identifies inflation as an important danger to economic and political stability. Why?
Inflation is dangerous because it brings the country economy down, resulting in hopelessness on the part of the masses, which makes it easy for them to be easily manipulated by unethical political leaders and their regimes. It can also cause social unrest and revolts.
What, according to Keynes, has happened to the once-confident class of capitalist entrepreneurs in Europe?
Due to the effects of high inflation prices were going up and a lot of hatred was directed towards the capitalist. Their confidence waned away they became terrified and timid hence they lost their position in society.
Woodrow Wilson saw World War I as a crusade for democracy and peace. From Keynes’s work, would you say that the outcome of the war had promoted those values?
No, it resulted in more dictatorships i.e. Benito Mussolini and Hitler, on the other hand, it did not bring peace, but it resulted in another war i.e. World War II.
References
Keynes, J. M. (1920). The Economic Consequences of the Peace. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Howe.