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The 10 consequences of World War II

Between 1939 and 1945, one of the most important historical events of modern times occurred, events that did not we must never forget due to its importance and in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes that were made so. We are talking about the Second World War, a war on an international scale that produced millions of deaths and in which horrors such as the Holocaust and great crimes of war.

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

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

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World War II: Brief Historical Review

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

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although probably the best known fascist force of said war was Nazi Germany ruled by Hitler, there were also other forces and countries that allied with it, 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 initially would play an important part in of the conflict but which would later act only jointly with the Germans), and the Empire of Japan commanded by the emperor (whose participation is well known and ultimately would end up causing the United States to enter the race after the attack on Pearl Harbor).

These three countries would join in the Tripartite Pact or Pact of the Axis, but also many other states would have some collaboration with it: Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Slovak Republic would also end up joining.

In the case of Spain, despite the fact that Francoism was an ally of Nazism and also had some participation during the war through the Blue Division, its role was very minor due to not wanting to get involved in another war after the Spanish Civil War immediately preceding the conflict.

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

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

The main consequences of World War II

The consequences of World War II have been multiple and in various fields. For example, from these institutions ended up being created designed to prevent new crimes against humanity from arising and which still survive today. Among the main consequences we find the following.

1. Human casualties

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

But beyond the victims generated by the war, in this war also It is worth noting the persecution and systematic elimination of large population groups through concentration camps and other forms of extermination by the Nazis. Its main target in this regard was the Jewish people, with an estimated six million citizens murdered for belonging to that 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. Also the disabled and people with mental disorders were targeted for elimination.

Other horrors such as human medical experimentation and vivisections were also committed in the territory occupied by the Nazis, as well as a large number of bombardments of civilians by both sides.

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

After the end of the war and in anticipation that other similar events could occur, an international conference would be formed in which about 50 countries and that would end up generating the current United Nations Organization, replacing the failed League of Nations established after the First War World.

The UN would thus emerge with the aim of maintaining international peace., provoke positive and friendly relations between countries, promote international cooperation and promote the efforts of different nations to achieve compliance with said purposes.

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

3. The search for responsibilities: the Nuremberg trials

During the war and after the surrender of the Axis countries, many officers and high command were captured by the Allies. Once the fight is over, the level of responsibility of the Nazi leadership would be decided in the so-called Nuremberg trials.

Although there are doubts about whether or not the process was well planned and if the court enjoyed sufficient validity by not being impartial, the process was carried out and would end by acquit some defendants, send some of them to prison with different sentences and sentence 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 not being known (in fact, even today some cases are occasionally discovered). Groups also arose that dedicated themselves to hunting them down, in retaliation for the deaths of loved ones.

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4. Economic repercussions and reconstruction

The Second World War was a very virulent conflict with a great impact on the entire fabric of society, including the economic and even urban spheres. And it is that during the war many cities were practically wiped off the map, for example Warsaw losing about 80% of its buildings and having to be rebuilt.

In addition to this, communications and the European industry (with the exception of arms, 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 generated famine and caused an even higher number of deaths..

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

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

Despite the large number of lives that were lost, countries like the United States managed to end the war in their favour, managing to become the greatest power in the world. Likewise, the Soviet Union managed to annex a large number of territories, despite the fact that its economy would never be as good as the American one.

With the European powers practically destroyed, they would end up constituting two large blocs of countries, either annexed or allies that would generate two clearly differentiated and confronted ideological blocs over time, represented by the two superpowers that would remain: the capitalist block headed by the USA and the communist block of the USSR. Mainly the first would be made up of the majority of Western European countries, while the second would occupy most of Eastern Europe.

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

The war caused the need to dedicate most of the resources to the military industry, which was became the main and most important type of industry at that time and immediately after war. In fact, the arms race would continue between the two great superpowersin what is known as the Cold War.

Another of the great milestones in the advances of this industry was the creation of the atomic bomb in the United States, which Ultimately, it would end up causing the surrender of Japan and that would later also manage to build the Union. Soviet. This was one of the consequences of the Second World War with the greatest impact on geopolitics.

7. Invention of the first computer

Another indirect consequence of the Second World War is that during this the machine would be invented. of Turing in order to be able to decode the codes used by the Nazis in their telecommunications, being the beginning of computing and serving as a starting point for the creation of computers and information technology.

8. Border changes and 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 would be divided into four blocks corresponding to Russia, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. Russia annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, along with part of the aforementioned 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 her colonies. The US would get part of Germany, numerous islands in the Pacific. Korea would be divided into North and South, the first being Soviet and the second American..

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

9. cultural changes

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

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

10. The role of women and minorities

Little by little, hitherto invisible groups such as women or ethnic minorities would begin to acquire greater relevance.

In the case of women, the recruitment of men for the war meant that, as in the First World War, they were the women who had to carry out tasks until then considered masculine, something that little by little would make them look more valid and that the feminist movements were getting more and more power, to the point of achieving women's suffrage in more and more territories. In the case of ethnic minorities, the process was slower.

Bibliographic references:

  • History classes.com (s.f.). The Second World War. Digital magazine of History and Social Sciences. [On-line]. Available in: 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.
  • Yepez, A. (2011). Universal history. Caracas: Larense.

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