World War II, has been the deadliest and bloodiest war. More than 38 million people died by the end of the war, many of them innocent civilians. It was also the most destructive war in our current history. More than 50 nations took part in this war, which changed the world forever.
Most of Europe had been conquered by Nazi Germany, which was under the evil control of Adolf Hitler. The war in Europe began with Germany’s unprecedented invasion of Poland in 1939.
THE CAUSES OF WORLD WAR II:
- Many historians today believe that some of the causes of World War II can be traced to World War I. Americans had fought in that earlier war to “Make the world safe for Democracy.” Those were the words and goals of President Woodrow Wilson.
- However, the peace treaties that ended World War I seemed only to create in many people and governments, bitterness and anger that eventually boiled over and helped instill the inevitable beginnings of World War II. Germany and its allies had been defeated in World War I.
- Germany was ordered to hand over one-sixth of its territory and forced to pay huge reparations. After World War I, Germany suffered from high unemployment and uncontrollable inflation which made the German money become almost worthless. A “League of Nations” was set up after World War I to help try to keep the peace.
- However, the United States did not join, and other countries were too busy with their own problems to concern themselves with Germany and other trouble spots. As the 1930s came about, the world was hit by an economic depression. Workers all over the world lost their jobs, world trade fell off, and times were extremely hard all around.
- The citizens of the world were looking for leaders who could bring them the change they so desperately wanted and needed. After the end of World War I, Germany saw the rise of Adolf Hitler, Adolf Hitler portrayed himself as a strong leader. While Germany witnessed the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, Italy witnessed the rise of Benito Mussolini and Fascism. Fascism is formed by violence, racism, and totalitarianism. Both of these concepts are quite similar to each other and this portrayed Hitler and Mussolini as the leaders of the war against the Allied Powers. These are the causes of World War II.
THE EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR II:
The effects of World War I were bad, the effects of World War II were even worse in comparison. The number of people who were left homeless paled in correlation to the number of lives lost on both sides of the war. However, World War 2 also marked the end of dictatorship in Europe and launched the United States and Soviet Union as the superpowers of the world.
It also resulted in the formation of the United Nations, an organization formed to promote peace and security throughout the world. As far as the economic effects of World War 2 are concerned, it did have some positives but they were by no means a match for the chaos this war created. The numerous jobs created during the war brought an end to the crisis of unemployment during the Great Depression.
While those industries which manufactured various products required during the war flourished, other industries suffered a major setback. The European economy was almost brought to a standstill during the Second World War. It took quite a few years for the world to revive after the war came to an end in 1945. After all was said and done, in the end as many as 24,000,000 soldiers and 49,000,000 civilians lost their lives on both sides.
CONCLUSION:
Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, ending the war in Europe. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had led the U.S. in wartime, did not live to see peace, however, in a speech written but never delivered, he spoke of the need to preserve peace:
“Today we are faced with the prominent fact that, if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships – the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together and work together in the same world, at peace.”