Introduction: In September 1939, Europe was drawn again into a general war, one that began with German aggression on Poland on September 1. The peace of 1919-1920 after the World War I proved to be no more than an armistice. Economic rivalries between nations increased, there was population explosion in several countries and politically, the world came to be divided into the totalitarian and democratic states. Thus, the events that followed the First World War paved the way for the Second World War. Once more, millions of people were locked in a conflict, the most destructive in the history of the world.
1. CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
1.1 Causes i. Defects of the Treaty of Versailles: The failure of the peace terms of 1919-1920 gave rise to the World War II. It was a dictated treaty of peace imposed upon Germany without any negotiation with her. By imposing harsh terms on Germany, the peacemakers sowed new seeds of bitterness and conflict. Germany was deprived of all her overseas colonies. Her army and navy were severely curtailed. She was told not to have any air force and was declared guilty of war crimes. She was made to promise to pay a massive amount of reparation to the victors. Therefore, as soon as the opportunity appeared, Germany took up arms against the allied powers seeking vengeance.
ii. Failure of the League of Nations: The League of Nations provided that in case of an aggression, members of the League, by their collective action, would compel the aggressor to withdraw. However, the League proved to be ineffective. In 1931, Japan committed an aggression against China and by early 1932, managed to conquer Manchuria on the pretext of self- defence. In 1935- 36, Italy waged a war against Abyssinia and annexed it into Italian Empire but no military action was taken against Italy. Similarly, no action was taken against Germany when she repudiated the military clauses of the Versailles Treaty.
iii. Failure of disarmament efforts: It was agreed at the Paris Peace Conference that world peace could be ensured only if nations reduced their armaments to a point consistent with their domestic safety or defence. Germany had been disarmed by the Treaty of Versailles. Victorious nations were to disarm later. They, however, never really wanted to disarm. Therefore, in October 1933 Germany declared that she was leaving both the Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations. Later, in 1935, Germany formally declared that she was no more bound by the military or disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles as other countries were already in possession of large quantities of armaments and big armed forces. German decision heralded a massive armament race which led to an armed conflict.
iv. World Economic Crisis: World economic crisis began in1929 with sudden stoppage of loans by the American financial houses to the European countries. Many of them, particularly Germany, were making rapid industrial progress mostly with the borrowed American money. The crisis adversely affected economies of most countries either directly or indirectly. Germany proved to be the worst affected country where nearly 700,000 people were rendered jobless. It was forced to declare that it would not make any more payment of reparation. Germany, Japan and Italy took advantage of this economic crisis and separately embarked upon aggressive designs. They set up their Fascist Bloc which became largely responsible for the Second World War.
v. Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis: On the eve of the First World War, Europe was divided into two hostile camps. The same process was once again repeated with the formation of an alliance of Germany, Japan and Italy. This combination of Fascist powers generally called Rome-Berlin- Tokyo Axis was aimed at imperialist expansion. They glorified war and openly denounced peaceful settlement of disputes. Alarmed at the conduct of Axis powers, England and France came closer to each other and an unsuccessful attempt was made at the formation of an Anglo- French-Soviet Front.
vii. Policy of appeasement: Another cause of the war was the policy of "appeasement" which was pursued by the Western democracies in the face of German, Italian and Japanese aggression. After the Paris Peace Conference, differences arose between France and Britain on the questions of reparation, collective security and disarmament. For the sake of her commercial benefits, Britain helped Germany in her plans of rearmament. Also, France had become powerful after the war and to keep her under control, Britain wanted to strengthen Germany. Mutual distrust weakened the Allied powers and they found it difficult to check the growing power of the dictators.
viii. Rise of dictatorship: After the World War I, dictatorships arose in different countries. The Nazi party arose in Germany under Hitler who wanted to re-establish the prestige of Germany in the world. Mussolini came to power in Italy and opposed the Treaty of Versailles. Italy demonstrated her imperialistic designs by attacking Abyssinia but the League of Nations failed to take any action against her. With the help of the dictators of Italy and Germany, Franco established his dictatorship in Spain. Thus, these dictators drove the countries of the world to the verge of war.
ix. Immediate cause: The immediate cause of the war was German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. Earlier, when all attempts at Anglo-French alliance with the Soviet Union had failed, Hitler entered into a non-aggression pact with Stalin. This was most unexpected, as for several years, only hatred had existed between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Now, keen to partition off Poland between themselves, Germany and Soviet Union signed the pact not to wage war against each other. In a secret pact, which emerged only in 1945, the two countries had resolved to divide Eastern Europe into their spheres on September 1, 1939. As England and France had already assured Poland of their help in case of an invasion, they kept their word and declared war on Germany. While Germany invaded Poland in the west, Soviet troops moved into Poland from the east on September 17-18, 1939. Poland was divided between Germany and Soviet Union. Meanwhile, many other countries had also declared war on Germany, though these were symbolic declarations as even France and Britain were still busy making preparations for war, while Poland was being destroyed.
1.2 Consequences The Second World War left the political world of Europe, Asia and the United States in a state of disorder. As victory approached, wartime allies began to mistrust each other and had to protect themselves against those whom they now perceived as prospective rivals. In addition, the war gave rise to nationalist attempts by colonies to gain independence throughout the world and the increasing proliferation of nuclear weapons. The birth of United Nations Organization brought hope for peace but the origins of 'Cold War' created new tensions.
i. Beginning of Nuclear Age- The techniques of warfare used in this war differed greatly from those used in the previous wars. Victories that required years and months to accomplish were now attained in weeks and days. The use of atom bomb brought the world on the verge of disaster making way to the nuclear age. ii. Origin of Cold War- After the end of the Second World War, politicians and people of the world believed that now a lasting peace would reign in the world and the Allied Powers would be able to solve their post-war problems with mutual understanding. But after the war, two great powers, the USA and USSR appeared on the international stage. They represented contrasting ideologies and soon, differences between the two cropped up on various counts. These differences generated so much tension and animosity that though there was no armed conflict between the two, a fierce war of propagation of mutually contradictory ideologies continued for many years. This is known as the ‘Cold War‘. iii. Non- Alignment- Most of the new sovereign states which came into existence after the war decided to keep away from the Cold War. India led the way here and raised her voice for Non- alignment. Jawaharlal Nehru called upon all the recently liberated Asian and African countries to rally together to form an international power. iv. Establishment of UNO- The old League of Nations had failed to avert the outbreak of war in 1939 and in April 1946 it was formally dissolved. Yet, Allied countries continued to recognize the need for some international organization. In February 1945, they agreed at Yalta that a conference to respond to that need should be convoked. A charter was adopted on June 26, providing for a world organization to be known as the United Nations and to be founded upon the principle of "sovereign equality of all peace-loving states." v. Emergence of USA and USSR as superpowers- When the war ended, not only Germany but Italy and Japan were also defeated. The defeated countries became militarily weak, politically insignificant and economically impoverished. Among the victors, Britain had become so weak that the British Empire could not be sustained. Although France emerged victorious, and was given a permanent seat in the Security Council, yet for several years after the war, it was far from being a powerful nation. That left only two of the principal victors i.e. the United States and the Soviet Union who gained in military power and political status. Thus, these two victors emerged as Super Powers and the world came to be divided into two power blocs. vi. Regional organisations- To ensure their future security, both the power blocs formed regional organizations. While the USSR created communist governments, the USA wanted to spread democracy. Among the security organisations of the West, the important ones were North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) and the Baghdad Pact. Among the communist security organisations, the Warsaw Pact was the most prominent. vii. End of Colonialism and rise of independent states- The War sparked off the spirit of independence and freedom movements gathered momentum in Asian countries. The British government changed her policies and India, Burma, Malaya, Egypt and other countries were liberated. Countries like Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam got rid of French domination and became independent. Dutch colonies like Java, Sumatra and Borneo formed a federal state of Indonesia and overthrew the Dutch domination. viii. Economic consequences on Europe- The post- war scenario in Europe was marked by impoverishment and the problem of millions of refugees and prisoners of war to be sheltered and fed. There was physical destruction of industrial plants, damaged transport systems, inflation and unstable currencies and political uncertainties. By mid- 1947, the whole of Europe was suffering from low productivity and low capital investment. ix. Destruction of Human Lives and Material- The World War II was the most destructive war in history. The Fascists had converted a large part of Europe into a vast graveyard and a slave camp. The Nazis hatred of the Jews led to the slaughter of six million Jews. The destruction caused by the war in the terms of human lives has no precedent in history. 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. Besides, the economy and material resources of many countries were badly damaged. Many ancient cities were almost completely destroyed.
