The First World War had wide-reaching consequences worldwide. Three empires (Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian) collapsed. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 redrew the boundaries of Europe, more along ethnic lines, taking significant amounts of territory away from the defeated Central Powers, and creating many small states where large empires once stood. Fifteen million people died. The conditions on the front lines provided an ideal breeding ground for a global influenza pandemic, in which another 50 million lost their lives. This great loss of life, as well as the difficulty in survivors recovering, resulted in great social trauma after the war for the belligerent nations. Most cities and towns in the countries that participated in the war erected war memorials for local residents who lost their lives, and monuments with a national scope were also erected.
