SECOND WORLD WAR
CAUSES:
·
Dissatisfaction
with the Treaty of Versailles:
The Treaty of Versailles by which the First World War came to an end,
created more problems than it solved. The treaty demanded annexation of German
territories and the creation of many States. This sowed the seeds of bitterness
and conflict. In fact, this treaty was based on the spirit of revenge and
Germany was forced to sign it. All German colonies were forcibly taken away
from her and she was divided into two parts for the benefit of Poland. She was
burdened with huge war indemnity which she could never pay and her military
power was reduced. This humiliation gave rise to the spirit of revenge and
Germany started to look for an opportunity to do away with the harsh treaty.
But this wasn’t possible without an aggressive policy and armaments. Hence, the
war became inevitable.
·
Rise
of Fascism and Nazism:
The rise of extreme nationalism in Germany and Italy in the form of
Nazism and Fascism, respectively contributed to the causes of the Second World
War. Italy wanted to revive the glory of the Old Roman Empire. She joined the
Anti-Comintern Pact in 1937 and formed a ten years Alliance with Germany (Pact
of Steel) to strengthen her position. Italy opposed the Treaty of Versailles
and demonstrated her imperialistic designs by attacking Abyssinia. The League
of Nations failed to take any action which exhibited the weakness of the
League.
In Germany Hitler wanted to re-establish the prestige of Germany in the
international field. He flouted the military clauses of the Versailles Treaty
and declared re-armament. In 1938, he annexed Austria and dismembered
Czechoslovakia. Thus, Mussolini and Hitler drove the world towards another war.
·
Policy
of Appeasement:
Appeasement refers to the
policy of conciliating an aggressive power at the expense of some other country.
It meant accepting the hostile demands of an aggressive nation to gain peace.
Britain and France followed the policy of appeasement towards dictatorial
countries like Germany and Italy because they felt that the dictators had a
real cause for their grievance given to the Treaty of Versailles. So if their
grievances were removed they would not disturb world peace. Further they wanted
to check the rising tide of Russian Bolshevism. Therefore they allowed Germany
to re-arm, remilitarise Rhineland, and capture Austria and Czechoslovakia. So
without this unintended green signal Fascism and Nazism would not have survived
for long to cause World War II.
·
Japanese
Invasion of China:
Japanese policy of expansion was another serious cause of the Second
World War. She was determined to dominate the Far East. In 1931, Japan
intervened in Manchuria and, in spite of League’s opposition, occupied it set
up a government there. Japan also started an undeclared war with China in 1931.
China appealed to the League of Nations for help but they turned a deaf ear.
Japan joined the Alliance of Germany to form the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Alliance. In
1933, Japan left the League of nations and started occupying British and
American properties in China. Britain and France followed the policy of
appeasement, thinking that Japan can be used to weaken China.
·
Failure
of The League of Nations:
The League of Nations was created after the First World War to prevent
future wars. However, it failed in its main objective. It suffered an early
blow when the USA didn’t join it. Even those who joined it were not interested
in the principles of collective security.
·
Hitler’s
Invasion of Poland:
Hitler invaded Poland in September 1939 for the following reasons:
1.
By the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was divided
into two in order to give Poland a land route to sea (see: Danzig Corridor) and the Port Of Danzig was also
given to Poland. Germany wanted to regain these lost territories.
2.
The city of Danzig was inhabited by many Germans
and by occupying Danzig Corridor; Germany could connect with East Prussia.
3.
Germany signed a Non-Aggression Pact (see: The Molotov- Ribbentrop Pact) with Russia in 1939 which contained secret
protocols for dividing Poland between the two. Poland was accused of committing
atrocities against the Germans living there.
On September 1, 1939, the German
armies marched into Poland. France and Britain gave an ultimatum to Germany. In
reply, Germany attacked France. On September 3, Britain and France declared War
on Germany and began the Second World War. The German armies completed the
invasion of Poland in less than 3 weeks to ensure that no aid reached Poland.
In spite of the declaration of the War there was little actual fighting from
September 1939 to April 1940 on the Western Front and hence this period of the
war remained dormant.
THE WAR (Main events only)
To know in detail see: The Second World War
Soon after the German invasion of Poland; The Soviet Union
attacked Eastern Poland and occupied the territories of earlier of the Russian Empire. In 1940, the Baltic states of
Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania which had become independent after WW1 became
republics of the USSR. In November 1939, The Soviet Union went to war against
Finland (see: The Winter War)
v
Conquest
of Norway, Denmark and Holland
Germany launched her invasion of Norway and Denmark on April 9, 1940 and
within three weeks completed the conquest of these countries. In early May
began the Invasion of Belgium and Holland which ended by the end of May. (See: Operation Weserubung)
v
Fall
of France
The German armies marched into France and by July 14, 1940, the capital,
Paris fell. The war conducted by Germany with great speed and force is known as
Blitzkrieg or Lightning War. (See: Invasion of
France)
v
Battle
of Britain
The German Air force, the Luftwaffe, began bombing
raids over Britain in preparation for Operation Sea Lion, a land invasion of
Britain. Initially the British Air force suffered heavy losses but with
American aid they finally prevailed over the air raids and matched the German
Air Force with their own. This foiled any plans for an Invasion of Britain.
(See: Battle of Britain)
v
The
Battle of Stalingrad
In June 1941, Hitler betrayed the non-aggression pact
with Russia and invaded her (See: Operation
Barbarossa). In August 1942, Hitler targeted an industrial city. In
November the Soviets were able to counter attack with fresh reinforcements. The
German were already suffering from frigid temperatures and their overextended
supply lines became a threat. The German finally had to retreat. (See: Battle of Stalingrad)
v
The Battle
for Berlin
It began in April 1945. The Germans were caught between the Americans in
one side and the Soviets on the other. When Allied Forces closed in on Berlin
itself Hitler committed suicide. On May 7, 1945 the last of the German armies
surrendered. (See: Battle of Berlin)
EFFECT OF THE WAR
Over 50 million people perished in the Second World War. Of
them about 22 million were soldiers and over 28 million civilians. About 12
million people lost their lives in concentration camps or as a result of the
terror unleashed by the fascists. Some countries lost a large percentage of
their population. For example: Poland lost 20% of their population. Soviet
Union lost 20 million people which are about 10% of their population. The
various nations that took part in the war spent about 1 lakh crore rupees.
Britain alone suffered a loss of Rs 200 crore .One fourth of the national
wealth of Russia was spent in the war. Germany, France and Poland also suffered
heavy losses. The chief colonial powers lost their power and glory and many
countries like India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka became independent. Later many
other countries in Asia and Africa were liberated from the imperial control of
Britain, France, Portugal and Netherlands.
CONSEQUENCES
·
Defeat
of the Axis powers:
Up to the middle of 1942 the Axis powers met with remarkable success and
captured large territories in Europe, Africa and Asia. But by the end of 1940,
the tide began to turn against the Axis. In November 1940, Allied powers
recaptured African territories lost by France. This was followed by their
victory over Italy. The Allies powers forced Italy to make an unconditional surrender.
In March, 1945 the Allied powers moved across the Rhine and dealt a death blow
to the German forces. Hitler was so disappointed that he committed suicide on
April 30, 1945.
After the defeat of Germany the Allied powers turned their attention
towards Japan. In South East Asia, Japan had won victories over a number of
countries and had occupied Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, Myanmar,
parts of New Guinea and Indonesia. The British forces liberated Myanmar, Malaya
and Singapore. The Americans liberated the Philippines. In the Potsdam
Conference held at July 26, 1945, Allied Powers asked Japan to surrender but
Japan turned deaf ear. Consequently the Americans dropped the atomic bombs over
Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) and ended the war. Japan
surrendered on the terms of the Potsdam Conference on August 10.
After the War the Axis powers met with the following consequences-
v
Germany was divided into zones:
1.
Federal Republic of
Germany to be administered by USA, Britain and French forces. It came under
the capitalist ideology of the Anglo-American and became part of the capitalist
bloc.
2.
The German
Democratic Republic to be administered by the Soviet Union. It came under
the influence of the communist ideology of
the Soviets and became part of the communist bloc.
v
Japan and Italy also became very weak. Unlike
Germany they were not divided into zones to be governed by conquering forces.
The American army was to occupy Japan until 1952. After this, the Japanese
would resume sole control over its own affairs. Emperor Hirohito was left as a
constitutional monarch. The Japanese Parliament retained some of its law making
powers. All lands taken or seized by Japan since 1845 were taken away.
v
Formation
of the UN: The horrors of the two world wars and the failure of the
League of Nations led to the meeting of the Big Three- Roosevelt (President of
USA), Churchill (Prime Minister of Britain), and Stalin (premier of USSR) at
Yalta in February 1945. They resolve to
convene the representatives of all Nations at San Francisco to draw up the “Charter of the United Nations”. This led to the
establishment of the United Nations Organization on October 24, 1945.
v
Cold
War: During the Second World War
the USA and the USSR fought together. But after the War the apparent harmony
between the two nations declined and old suspicion and ideological differences
came to the forefront. Though both countries did not engage into a real fight
with each other, but there was a state of extreme political tension between the
two. This state of tension between one or more Nations in which either power
designed and adopted policies to strengthen itself and weaken the other is
called Cold War.
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