World War II: Origins, Global Impact, and Lasting Consequences
World War II: Origins and Global Expansion
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This time, Britain and France did not yield, declaring war on Germany two days later, thus initiating the Second World War.
Affected by the economic crisis, Japan embarked on an expansionist policy towards neighboring China. It militarily occupied Manchuria in 1931 and, in 1932, announced the formation of a puppet state. Between 1932 and 1937, Japan sought to conquer China and expand throughout Southeast Asia. Britain and the U.S. limited their response to protests, while the League of Nations neither declared Japan an aggressor nor imposed sanctions.
The Profound Consequences of World War II
Human Cost and Casualties
The end of World War II marked a final decline for Europe, and the conflict stands as the greatest catastrophe in human history. The war engulfed the entire world, resulting in an estimated 55 million deaths, with more than half being civilians. The USSR suffered the most casualties. Other profound human impacts included massive population displacements. By May 1945, approximately 40 million people in Europe were uprooted, homeless, or seeking new places to settle.
Moral and Ethical Impacts
The war trauma profoundly questioned moral and ethical values across Western civilization. Examples of the immense brutality, cruelty, and violence of this war include the discovery of mass graves at Katyn in Poland (where Soviets murdered over 4,500 Polish officers), the Allied bombing of German cities, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Above all, the atrocities of Nazism stood out, including the ‘genocide of killing fields’. It has been estimated that between 5 and 6 million victims were from the Jewish population alone.
To prosecute these atrocities, the first international tribunal was established, comprising judges from the “Four Great Powers” (USA, UK, USSR, and France). This tribunal defined a new legal concept in international law: crimes against humanity. Between 1945 and 1946, the Nuremberg Trials were held, prosecuting Nazi leaders. This process was followed by others aimed at punishing perpetrators of the Nazi regime and achieving the “denazification” of Germany.
Economic Devastation and Recovery
The war left a landscape of ruin and destruction, especially in Eastern Europe, where cities, fields, and production infrastructure were devastated. In Western Europe and Japan, the most significant damage was to infrastructure. The most severe problems included widespread urban destruction, food supply shortages, and rampant inflation. The United States was the country most favorably impacted by the war, experiencing significant economic growth. The USSR was confirmed as the second superpower.
Political Transformations
The war led to the collapse of fascist systems.
- In Western Europe, liberated by Anglo-American forces, parliamentary democracy and capitalist economic systems were restored.
- In Eastern Europe, liberated by the Soviet Union, so-called ‘people’s democracies’ were forcibly imposed, which were, in fact, Communist dictatorships under Soviet hegemony.
Peace Conferences and Territorial Shifts
As early as 1941, the Allies began planning the post-war international order. Key discussions took place at conferences like Yalta, where Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met. Decisions included the partition of Germany into various occupation zones, the creation of a commission to assess reparations Germany owed its victims, an agreement to hold free elections in liberated countries, and the confirmation of the annexation of the Baltic States and eastern Poland by the USSR. At the Potsdam Conference, following Roosevelt’s death, Harry Truman, the new U.S. president, was more assertive in negotiations.