The 10 consequences of World War II

The traces of this war have survived to the present day in the society of many countries.

Between 1939 and 1945, one of the most important historical events of modern times took place, events that we must never forget because of their importance and in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes that were made at that time. We are talking about the Second World War, a war conflict on an international scale that produced millions of deaths and in which horrors such as the Holocaust and major war crimes were experienced.

The magnitude of the conflict, which would begin with the invasion of Poland by Hitler and the Nazis and end with the surrender of the Japanese forces after the destruction caused by the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would take a great many lives and have major repercussions both in Europe and the rest of the globe.

This is what we are going to talk about in this article: the consequences of World War II.

The Second World War: a brief historical overview

The Second World War was a violent conflict in which more than a hundred countries around the world were involved and which caused millions of deaths. It began when Germany, which shortly before Hitler and the Nazis had gained power, invaded Poland (justifying itself in an attack by the Poles). Shortly after, the United Kingdom and France declared war on the Germans, joining countries such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

While probably the best known fascist the best-known fascist force of the war was probably Nazi Germany under Hitler, there were other forces and countries in the war as well.There were also other forces and countries that allied themselves with him, forming the Tripartite Pact or Axis Pact in 1940.

In addition to Nazi Germany, the Fascist front would be formed by Italy governed by Mussolini (which would initially play an important part in the conflict but would later act only jointly with the Germans), and the Empire of Japan commanded by the Emperor (whose participation is well known and would ultimately provoke the entry of the United States into the conflict after the attack on Pearl Harbor).

These three countries would ally themselves in the Tripartite Pact or Axis Pact, but many other states would also be involved in the war.but many other states would also have some collaboration with the Axis Pact: Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Slovak Republic would also eventually join.

In the case of Spain, although Francoism was allied with Nazism and also had some participation during the war through the Blue Division, its role was very minor because it did not want to get involved in another war after the Spanish Civil War immediately prior to the conflict.

As for Russia, it initially declared itself neutral and signed a non-aggression agreement with the Nazis, but would join the Allies when in 1941 Hitler violated this agreement and began to invade Soviet territory. As for the United States, although it provided supplies to the British, it would initially remain neutral, but after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt decided to declare the United States neutral. Roosevelt decided to declare war on Japan, Germany and Italy..

These two important annexations to the Allied forces would ultimately succeed, not without great effort and with the loss of millions of lives, in turning the tide of the war until the withdrawal and subsequent surrender first of Italy (in 1943) and then of Germany in 1945 (with Hitler committing suicide shortly before the surrender). Finally, after the bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered that same year.

The main consequences of World War II

The consequences of World War II were manifold and in various fields. For example, it led to the creation of institutions designed to prevent the emergence of new crimes against humanity, which are still in place today. Among the main consequences are the following.

1. Human losses

The most important and serious consequence of the conflict was the large number of human losses, quantified in at least 50 million deaths but could easily be as high as 60. A large majority of these victims were civilians, and their deaths were not only due to the direct action of the armies (crossfire, bombing, genocide or persecution) but also derived from the famine, loss of homes and poverty that followed the war.

But beyond the casualties generated by the war, this war also involved the systematic persecution and elimination the systematic persecution and elimination of large groups of the population through concentration camps and other forms of through concentration camps and other forms of extermination by the Nazis. Their main target in this regard was the Jewish people, with an estimated six million citizens killed for belonging to this group.

Other victims of persecution and murder were homosexuals, gypsies and communists, as well as artists, intellectuals and all those whom the government considered a threat to society, including men, women and children of any age.as well as artists, intellectuals and all those whom the government considered a threat to society, including men, women and children of any age. The disabled and mentally disturbed were also targeted for elimination.

Other horrors such as medical experimentation on humans and vivisections were also committed in Nazi-occupied territory, as well as a multitude of bombings of civilians by both sides.

2. Creation of the UNO and the Declaration of Human Rights.

After the end of the war and in anticipation of other similar events, an international conference would be formed with the participation of about 50 countries, which would eventually generate the current United Nations Organization, replacing the failed League of Nations established after World War I. The UN would emerge with the objective of maintaining international peace.

The UN would thus emerge with the aim of maintaining international peace, promoting positive and friendly relations between countries, and promoting the establishment of the United Nations as an international organization.The UN would emerge with the objective of maintaining international peace, promoting positive and friendly relations between countries, fostering international cooperation and encouraging the efforts of the different nations to achieve these goals.

In December 1948, they would publish the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates a total of thirteen human rights.In December 1948, they would publish the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates some thirty articles that establish the basic rights of all human beings, which must be respected at the international level.

3. The search for accountability: the Nuremberg Trials

During the war and after the surrender of the Axis countries, many officers and senior commanders were captured by the Allies. After the war was over, the level of responsibility of some of the Nazi leadership would be decided at the so-called Nuremberg trials. the so-called Nuremberg trials.

Although there are doubts as to whether or not the trial was well planned and whether the tribunal was sufficiently valid because it was not impartial, the trial took place and ended up acquitting some of the accused, sending some of them to prison with different sentences and condemning many of the Nazi leaders to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Despite this, many Nazis fled to other countries.The whereabouts or final destination of many of them is not known (in fact, even today some cases are occasionally discovered). There were also groups dedicated to hunting them down, in retaliation for the deaths of loved ones.

4. Economic repercussions and reconstruction

The Second World War was a very virulent conflict and had a great impact on the entire fabric of society, including the economic and even urban planning. During the war, many cities were many cities were practically wiped off the mapFor example, Warsaw lost about 80% of its buildings and had to be rebuilt.

In addition, communications and European industry (with the exception of the arms industry, which had a great development) had fallen, something that would generate a high level of poverty. Goods and services practically disappeared.

Agriculture also suffered: many crops were lost and in some territories the fields were even riddled with mines. This led to famine and an even higher number of deaths..

Fortunately, the United States would approve the so-called Marshall Plan, which helped to alleviate the state of post-war Europe and regenerate its economy.

5. Creation of the two great blocs: USA vs USSR

Despite the large number of lives lost, countries such as the United States managed to bring the war to a favorable end, and managed to become the greatest power in the world.. Likewise, the Soviet Union managed to annex a large number of territories, even though its economy would never be as good as that of the United States.

With the European powers practically destroyed, two large blocs of countries would end up being formed, either annexed or allied, which would generate two clearly differentiated and eventually confrontational ideological blocs, represented by the two superpowers that would remain: the capitalist bloc headed by the USA and the communist bloc of the USSR.. The former would mainly comprise most of the countries of Western Europe, while the latter would occupy most of Eastern Europe.

6. The rise of the military industry and the atom bomb

The war provoked the need to devote most resources to the military industry, which became the main and most important type of industry at that time and in the immediate aftermath of the war. In fact, the arms race the arms race would continue between the two great superpowers in what became known as the Cold War.in what became known as the Cold War.

Another of the great milestones of the advances of this industry was the creation of the atomic bomb in the United States, which would ultimately lead to the surrender of Japan and which the Soviet Union would later succeed in building. This was one of the consequences of World War II with the greatest impact on geopolitics.

7. Invention of the first computer

Another indirect consequence of World War II is that during the war the Turing machine was invented in order to decode the codes used by the Nazis in their telecommunications, the beginning of computation and the starting point for and serving as a starting point for the creation of computers and informatics.

8. Border changes and the creation of the State of Israel

The end of the war brought with it a restructuring of the borders of many countries, as well as the creation of some new ones. For example Germany was to be divided into four blocs corresponding to Russia, the United States, France and the United Kingdom.. Russia annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, along with parts of Germany and Poland.

Austria and Czechoslovakia became independent again, as well as Albania. China would recover from Japan all its territories occupied during the war. Italy would lose all its colonies. The USA would keep part of Germany, numerous islands in the Pacific. Korea would be divided into North and South Korea, the former being Soviet and the latter American..

In addition to these and other changes, probably the most relevant and well known is the creation of the State of Israel, being granted to the Jewish people a part of the territory until then belonging to Palestine and including the city of Jerusalem, although since then there have been major conflicts between Israel and Palestine.

9. Cultural changes

Culture was also severely punished during the conflict: damaged infrastructures, stolen art, destroyed educational institutions... During the first post-war years, illiteracy grew to a great extent in Europe, although little by little in the following decades mass schooling would begin to be implemented and access to university would be facilitated.

The United States was one of the exceptions, developing, among others, the film industry and beginning to monopolize fashion and fashion design. and the world's fashion and culture began to be monopolized.. In painting, stages such as expressionism emerged, as well as works that spoke of the harshness of war, such as Picasso's Guernica.

10. The role of women and minorities

Little by little, groups that had been invisible until then, such as women and ethnic minorities, began to acquire greater relevance.

In the case of women, the recruitment of men for the war meant that, as in the First World War, it was women who had to carry out tasks hitherto considered masculine, something that would gradually make them see themselves as more valid and that feminist movements were gaining more and more power. feminist movements were gaining more and more power, to the point of achieving the suffering of women.to the point of achieving women's suffrage in more and more territories. In the case of ethnic minorities, the process was slower.

Bibliographical references:

• Clases de historia.com (n.d.). The Second World War. Digital magazine of History and Social Sciences. [Online]. Available at: http://www.claseshistoria.com/2guerramundial/consecuencias-demograficas.html.
• Sommerville, Donald (2008). Lorenz Books, ed. The Complete Illustrated History of World War Two: An Authoritative Account of the Deadliest Conflict in Human History with Analysis of Decisive Encounters and Landmark Engagements. p. 5.
• Yépez, A. (2011). Historia Universal. Caracas: Larense.