Effects With such devastation on the entire world, World War II had many effects that affected most of the people in the world. Each country involved in the war had things happen to them because of the vast area the war covered.
Germany being one of the main aggressors of World War II, suffered some harsh treatments of their country. Germany was split into four zones that were controlled by the United States, the USSR, Great Britain, and France. The Nazi Party was brought down and the main leaders were tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg Trails. Also the German cities were devastated by the Allied bombing campaigns that swept through their country. It is estimated that Germany lost around 4,200,000 total military and civilian casualties. Japan also suffered bad effects after the war was completely over. Their cities were left in ruin after the American bombing campaigns. The military leaders of the Imperial Army were also brought to trial and convicted for the war crimes they did. The Emperor of Japan was able to keep his power as the overall leader of Japan. After the end of the war, Japan was put under American military rule for some time. Death estimates of Japan is 2,350,000 total military and civilian deaths. Great Britain had not suffered as bad as Germany or Japan but their cities and economy were devastated by the war. The extensive bombing campaign of the German Luftwaffe destroyed some of their cities. England also depended heavily on the United States for economic aid because they could not recover on their own. Also Great Britain gave independence to many of their colonies in the coming years after the war. Death tolls of the nation is estimated to be around 388,000 total military and civilian deaths. Even though France had not lost as many men as they did in World War I, they did have to recuperate from the Nazi rule. The country needed to reestablish their government after the war. Just like Great Britain, France withdrew and gave independence to many of their colonies. In total France had 600,000 causalities. The United States had not been effected by the massive bombing campaigns like the other world nations so their economy and industry remained intact. With the war effort, the economy was greatly stimulated by the war, even more than it was during and after World War I. After the massive military buildup, the United States had become the world’s biggest superpower and one of the richest country in the world. The United States in total had 400,000 military deaths. The Soviet Union’s western part had been torn apart by the German offensive and the rough land battles that occurred there. Even with all of the losses that the Soviets suffered, they also like the United States had become a major superpower and raised a massive military. This would cause a major competition of these two powers known as the Cold War. The USSR had lost the most in terms of people with a total of 20,000,000 military and civilian deaths. Even with all of the bad things that happened in World War II, there were many advancements that happened. The first atomic bombs were developed in this time by the United States. The first jet fighter first its first action in World War II and it was developed by Germany. Electronics, medicine, and weapons also saw great advancement during and after World War II. |
Causes The causes of World War II are often controversial because of the many things that contributed to the start of World War II. After the Treaty of Versailles, some countries like Germany and Italy had a sour taste in their mouth because of the arrangements that were made.
Germany lost much of its land and they had to pay a schedule of payments because they were blamed for starting World War I. Not just the German government was mad about losing land because of the Treaty of Versailles, the German people were also upset about this. The payments the Germans had to pay were what caused Germany to fall into a horrible depression. Since the Allies did all of these things to Germany, the Germans sought revenge against their former enemies. Italy also was mad with the arrangements that were made by England, France, and the United States. Italy had not received the land that they wanted after World War I and many Italians thought that since they were on the winning side of the conflict, they would receive more land than what they got. Italy also wanted more power in Europe, they were power-thirsty and they wanted more land to control. Even though the Italians were on the winning side of World War I, they did not receive what they wanted and eventually turned Italy into an aggressive nation. Japan was also brought into the war but for some different reasons than the other two main Axis Powers. Since Japan is an island country, it does not have much natural resources. The Japanese needed more resources, this is what caused them to expand their empire outward. Their neighbor, China, had a lot of natural resources so Japan first invaded them. Japan was also angry with the Treaty of Versailles. One major thing that they were upset with was that for every five warships the United States and Great Britain had, the Japanese could only have three. These were the main reasons that Japan was brought into the war. http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-motivated-japanese-german-italian-aggression-424290 |