World War II: development and end

The Second World War (1939–1945) was the most brutal and devastating conflict of the 20th century both for the duration and intensity of the fighting, as well as the resources used and the loss of human lives that entailed. In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we will see what were the causes that led to the beginning of the conflict as well as the consequences of it, one of the historical periods that most convulsed the world in the old contemporary. Next we are going to offer you an article where we analyze the development and end of World War II so you can better understand what really happened during this bloody conflict.

The germ of the conflict must be sought in the Treaty of Versailles, with which the First World War was ended. This treaty, far from seeking an agreement, rather generated a desire for revenge for the injustices that occurred to some of the powers, specifically in Germany.

The first thing Hitler did when he came to power was to leave the League of Nations.

to show its rejection in the international arena. His Nazi policy was to unite the Greater Reich (that's how the German Empire was also known during the Second World War period) and conquer all those territories that he had lost after the Treaty of Versailles, for this he increased his army again since after the Treaty of Versailles it was reduced and created a new force aerial. Many of the clauses imposed by the Treaty were transgressed.

The Spanish Civil War on the one hand caused the bond to tighten between Hitler and Mussolini, since both defended those soldiers raised against the opposition of the Second Republic, for this they signed the Steel Pact. Later Japan also signed with Germany the Anti-Comintern Pact with which it opposed the USSR.

On the other hand, the state in which the democracies had been (weakened) after the Spanish Civil War maintained a policy in which they did not participate. Great Britain was nevertheless the defender of a policy of pacification with respect to the German state, interpreted as a attitude of tolerance to his expansionist program, in addition to considering Hitler a convenient supporter against the Union Soviet.

Faced with the effects of the economic crisis of the 1930s, Japan proposed having its own space to dominate East Asia and make use of its raw materials and products. For this he carried out the production of very effective and powerful weapons, he approached Germany to sign the Anti-Comintern Pact since by proximity the Soviet Union could be its strongest adversary.

Here you can get more information about whats sides that fought in World War II.

When Hitler's army could be overthrown and World War II finally ended, some effects related to this great war began to be felt in Europe and around the world. Here are the most important ones:

Demographic impact

The Second World War left behind a trail of devastation like no other conflict. More than 55 million human beings died of which half corresponded to the USSR. To the terrible mortality data, we must add the number of injured, which reached 35 million, and the number of missing, around 3 million.

Economic impact

After the conflict Eastern Europe took the worst part, many cities were looted, especially in Poland, and many others were burned and completely destroyed, which is what happened in Yugoslavia and the Union Soviet. Japan was on the brink of annihilation, with Tokyo and industrial centers destroyed by nuclear bombs like Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All this caused the production capacity to be reduced. In Western Europe, as in Eastern Europe, cities were also affected, although to a lesser extent, and communication routes (roads, railways ...).

Moral impact

The brutalities that were carried out in this Second World War put to the test the human rights that until then had been given in European culture, since they had completely unfulfilled, in these years only atrocities and inhumanities were seen with the appearance of concentration camps and massacres carried out by the empire Nazi. On the other hand, the destruction of cities with atomic bombs was understood as the ability of human beings to annihilate millions of people.

Peace conferences

Once the war was over, it was necessary to agree to regulate the peace between the victors and the losers. Several conferences were held, but among them the most important was the Paris Conference (1946); in her the peace accords between Italy, Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland were created. In 1955 the one in Austria was closed, a country that was still under the occupation of the allies, this year the allied powers, less the USSR, signed the peace with Japan, however Germany never signed a peace treaty but gradually resumed its relations with the powers allies.

The United Nations (UN) organization

The need for a body to replace the discredited League of Nations was raised as early as the Allies in 1941. It was in the San Francisco conference in 1945 where the Charter of the United Nations Organization was approved, with it the maintenance of peace, international security and economic and social cooperation among the nations.

Here we discover the causes and consequences of World War II.