World War 2 began in the year 1939 and ended in 1945. It was such an all-engaging global conflict that most nations across the world took part in it. It engulfed countries from Europe to Asia and would go on to define modern history. Devastation on a scale never before seen occurred as World War 2 trounced millions of lives and changed the political, economic, and social landscape. World War 2 had different contributing factors, which at one point caused tensions between nations. All these features led to the outbreak of the war, involving the Allied powers and Axis powers.
| GS Paper | GS Paper III |
| Topics for UPSC Prelims | Economic causes leading to World War II, War-time economy and industrial mobilization, Impact of World War II on global economic structures |
| Topics for UPSC Mains | Long-term economic consequences of World War II, Creation of international financial institutions, Influence of WWII on Indian economic policies |
There were several reasons leading to the onset of World War 2. The most fundamental reason was the establishment of fascist governments in Europe. Direct provocations were Adolf Hitler’s aggressive policies, especially the invasion of Poland.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, imposed harsh penalties upon Germany after World War I, including major territorial losses and disarmament, along with heavy reparations. This bred resentment in the people of Germany, which combined with economic misfortune and nationalistic sentiments, eventually contributed to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
The fascist regimes of Italy and Germany began and were established in the period of the 1920s-1930s. Mussolini, an Italian dictator, and Hitler in Germany proved to exploit unfavorable economic conditions and national humiliation as major powers to push aggressive expansionist policies focused on capturing neighboring countries and silencing world peace.
Germany, Italy, and Japan continued to assert aggressive expansionist policies throughout the 1930s, needing to expand their acquisition of lands and resources to seize control. Germany annexed Austria and the Sudetenland; Italy invaded Ethiopia; and Japan invaded China, all as a direct challenge to existing international agreements and heightened tensions.
Established after the end of World War 1 as an effort to guarantee and maintain international peace, the League of Nations appeared to have failed in its bid to prevent strong powers’ acts of aggression. Its inability to force decisions or provoke some of the aggressors made it powerless over the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, as well as Italy’s moves in Africa, amongst others.
The immediate cause of World War 2 was Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days after its invasion of Poland, the official start of the conflict. Actually, the invasion was a violation of several treaties and increased the already heightened tension in Europe.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 1, 1939 | Germany invades Poland, marking the start of World War 2. |
| September 3, 1939 | Britain and France declare war on Germany. |
| June 22, 1941 | Operation Barbarossa: Germany invades the Soviet Union. |
| December 7, 1941 | Attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan; the U.S. enters the war. |
| June 6, 1944 | D-Day: Allied invasion of Normandy, France. |
| May 7, 1945 | Germany surrenders, marking Victory in Europe (V-E Day). |
| August 6, 1945 | Atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the United States. |
| August 9, 1945 | Atomic bombing of Nagasaki by the United States. |
| September 2, 1945 | Japan formally surrenders, marking the official end of World War 2. |
Effects of World War 2 The effects of the war reached across continents because they continued affecting the world for many decades. Economically, most countries were devastated by the war. Cities were completely destroyed and millions left homeless, desolate, and lost. Most human life and infrastructure in Europe and Asia were lost.
It was in 1945 after World War 2 that the United Nations (UN) was established to promote global peace and security, a successor to the failed League of Nations. Its mission was to prevent future wars, foster international cooperation, and protect human rights, an era in world diplomacy that is all so different from the one earlier established after World War I with the creation of the League of Nations.
After that, the effects of the Second World War caused tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union and formed the Cold War. Embodied on opposite sides were differing ideologies among Western democracies and communist nations to set apart two halting blocs: a long-standing military and political confrontation.
World War 2 had weakened European colonial powers, and such being the situation, Africa and Asia decolonized quickly. Nationalist movements inspired by former colonies made them want to break free from European powers. For example, India, Indonesia, and several African states went to independence soon after the war and changed the political face of the earth.
After the post-war tension rose, in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed by Western nations in response to check Soviet hegemony. In 1955, the Warsaw Pact was formed by Soviet-aligned nations that increased the military confrontation, building two opposing defense alliances during the Cold War.
Post-World War 2, the Nazi and Japanese leaders were prosecuted for war crimes, among other things, genocide and crimes against humanity by the so-called ‘Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials’. International law history witnessed an important milestone in holding individuals accountable, meting out justice, and establishing new norms of human rights.
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the use of nuclear weapons into world consciousness, thus beginning the Atomic Age. Throughout the Cold War, the threat of a nuclear war became the focal point of world politics, prompting the United States and the Soviet Union into an enormous global arms race as each superpower built vast nuclear arsenals.
It was the technology related to radar, nuclear energy, and jet engines that transformed the nature of war and had peacetime implications as well. With the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ and nuclear energy entering the global war, atomic weapons of mass destruction came into the policy arena forever.
Other important medical discoveries made during these times were the mass production of penicillin, which has saved millions of lives. World War 2 catalyzed innovations, in essence, that would shift the course of this modern world.
The alliances in the Second World War were very crucial in giving the direction of the war. The Allies comprised America, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom against the Axis, comprising Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan.
The principal Allied powers were the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and China, among others. They united to confront the Axis powers and restore sanity to the world.
The leadership of the Axis Powers involved Germany, Italy, and Japan which focused on forming a powerful military alliance in a bid to expand territory. Aggressive tactics, among them invasion and occupation of weaker nations, saw the formation of global influence as a goal for the world at large.
Germany’s Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” brought together swift infantry, ground tanks, and airborne support in order to swiftly take control of enemies. Blitzkrieg was very effectively used during invasions of Poland and France as well as other countries while speed and surprise were used to achieve a rapid conquest.
In the Pacific, the United States pursued an “island hopping” strategy whereby they attacked the crucially held Japanese islands and left the highly fortified islands intact. In this way, the U.S. could advance ever closer to Japan in order to achieve air and naval superiority over the Islands for the final attack.
Each side utilized strategic bombing: targeting enemy cities and industries’ and infrastructure to break their morale and disrupt war production. These range from the Allied bombing of Germany and Japan, for instance, the atomic bombs that left Hiroshima and Nagasaki irreversibly in flames.
Resistance movements and partisan fighters played a large role in occupied territories, especially in Eastern Europe and France, conducting sabotage, guerrilla attacks, and espionage against Axis forces, thereby crumbling their supply lines and supporting the Allied military efforts.
Naval warfare played a much greater role, especially in the Atlantic, where the U-boats of Germany made an effort to attack the Allied supply ships in order to cut off the resources of the Allies. The use of convoys and anti-submarine techniques by the Allies eventually swung the balance away from the threat posed by the U-boats.
The latest innovations in infantry, armor, artillery, and air forces made them an integrated feature of World War 2 tactics. Both Axis and Allied forces applied this strategy by coordinating the strengths of the different military branches to ensure overall effectiveness on the battlefield.
The social impact of World War 2 was highly important. In those times, women played a critical role in the war effort by working in factories and also in military roles. This thus challenged traditional gender roles and laid the groundwork for future movements advocating for gender equality.
After the war, this first-hand experience of theirs could quickly lead to demands for gender equality. This is what began female participation in the workforce, the feminist movement, and demands for equal rights and pay.
War had brought the racial issue to the limelight. The Post-War Era saw the emergence of Civil Rights Movement calling for an end to this racial discrimination that led to major social reforms in later decades.
The “baby boom,” a post-war population boom, was a consequence of soldiers returning home and starting to raise families. Education, suburbanization, new consumer markets, and infrastructure in the form of services all sprang from the baby boom.
The post-war generation, in the West especially, had a much greater access level to education and economic prosperity. The reason behind this unique youth culture which came forth in the 1950s and 1960s was new genres of music, fashion, and countercultural movements that went against the existing normative structures.
Refugee crises, resettlements, and subsequent migrations of people into new countries, mainly into the Americas and Australia, resulted in transformational demographic patterns and initiated new cultural dynamics in many regions.
All this because many western countries widened their welfare programs as a result of post-war needs to rebuild societies and avoid any future economic downturns. Such systems in social welfare like healthcare, unemployment benefits, and pensions became widespread and transformed government-to-citizen relations.
Thus, the impact of the war turned the course of cultural attitudes all over the world, especially on personal freedom, consumerism, and human rights. A more eye-on-personal-freedom, equal societies surfaced, which then defined modern democracies as well as social structures in many regions of the globe.
World War 2, a war which in scale and consequence was one of such enormity that its origins can be traced back to mounting political, economic, and social tensions that were building up over nearly decades, and herein lies the reason why the Consequences of World War 2 have left very long-lasting impressions on the international landscape of global international relations, economies, and societies.
| World War 2 UPSC Notes |
| 1. World War 2 began in 1939 and ended in 1945, involving most major world powers across the globe. 2. The war was primarily triggered by Germany’s invasion of Poland and subsequent global conflicts driven by expansionism. 3. The Axis powers, including Germany, Japan, and Italy, were opposed by the Allies, led by the US, UK, and Soviet Union. 4. World War 2 caused immense destruction, resulting in the deaths of around 70-85 million people, both military and civilian. 5. The use of nuclear weapons by the US against Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to Japan’s surrender and ended the war. 6. The war resulted in the formation of the United Nations, aimed at preventing future global conflicts. 7. Post-war economic and political restructuring led to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. 8.World War 2 reshaped global geopolitics, leading to the decline of European colonialism and the rise of the US and USSR as superpowers. |
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