Impact of World War II on global

politics
After the Second World War, the International System came to be a
totally different system from the classical (19th century)
international system. The classical international system was Euro-
centric and it worked on the principles of balance of power, war as
a means, secret diplomacy as an instrument, and narrow
nationalism as its objective.

Under the impact of the two world wars, particularly as a result of

the Second World War, the nature of the international system
underwent a big change. Under the impact of the changes that it
produced in the international power structure as well as due to the
emergence of several new factors, the nature and content of post-
war international relations registered an almost total and
revolutionary change. It became a new international system and
replaced the classical international system.

Changes in Post War International Relations:

1. End of the Traditional Euro-Centric International Power

Structure:

The two wars, particularly the Second World War destroyed the old
international power structure and gave rise to a new structure.
Before the war, only European nations, particularly Britain, France,
Germany and Italy, were the major actors in world politics. The
USA used to follow isolationism and the USSR, after 1917, had
remained fully occupied with the process of internal consolidation
of the socialist system.

After the war:

(i) Germany and Italy became very weak as a result of their defeats
in war;

(ii) Britain and France also became weak due to the heavy war
losses suffered by them;

(iii) The war destroyed the balance of power system in Europe;

(iv) There appeared a power vacuum in Europe;

(v) Europe lost its position as the epicenter of international politics;

(vi) A weak Europe set the stage for the liberation of Asian and
African countries from the clutches of imperialism and colonialism;

(vii) The power vacuum in Europe impelled the USA to abandon

isolationism and to increase its influence in Europe.

(viii) It compelled the USSR to adopt a similar exercise for

increasing its influence in international relations.

These post-war changed produced a big change in the international

system.

2. Emergence of Cold War:

In the Post-war period, the USA decided to use its superior

economic and military position for filling the power vacuum in
Europe and for this end decided to win over the democratic
European nations through its Marshall Plan. It also adopted the
policy of fighting the spread of communism. ‘Containment of
Communism’ became the primary aim of US Foreign Policy.

Such an American attempt was thoroughly opposed by the Union of

Soviet Socialist Republic and it also decided to extend its influence
in Europe. The success that it achieved in exporting communism to
most of the East European countries emboldened it. The emergence
of China as a communist power in 1949 gave further strength to
the Soviet-led communist movement. The USSR adopted the policy
of challenging US policies. In the process, there developed a cold-
war—a war of nerves full of tensions and strains in world politics,
which made international peace a risky and unstable peace.

3. Emergence of Bipolarity—Bipolar Power Structure:

The emergence of the cold war led to the organization of two

competing and rival camps by both the USA and the USSR. The
USA floated a large number of bilateral and multilateral alliances
like NATO, SEATO, ANZUS, and several others for consolidating
the democratic anti-communist countries under its own leadership.

The USSR countered the move by organizing the communist

countries into the Warsaw Pact. These developments led to the
emergence of two rival camps—the US Bloc and the Soviet Bloc,
This situation came to be characterized as bipolarity in world
politics and it divided the world into two competing and even
hostile blocs.

4. Rise of Several New Sovereign States:

After World War II, the weakened position of the European imperial
powers and the strengthened spirit of national self- determination
and liberation among the colonies became instrumental in initiating
a process of end of colonialism and imperialism in the World. The
anti-imperial & anti-colonial movement began registering a
stupendous success.

Several nations of the world, particularly Asian and African nations,

were successful in overthrowing the yoke of colonialism and
imperialism and in securing their independence. There came to be
a big increase in the number of sovereign states in the world. The
rise of new sovereign states in Asia, and Africa and a resurgent
Latin America began giving a completely new look to the world map
and international relations.
5. Birth of Non-alignment:

In the era of the cold war and alliance politics, some states,
particularly some new states, decided to remain away from the cold
war and the superpower alliances. States like India, Yugoslavia,
Egypt, and Sri Lanka. Burma (now Myanmar) and some others
decided to follow such a policy. This comes to be known as the
policy of Non-alignment.

In 1960 the countries following non-alignment in international

relations launched the movement of the Non- aligned (NAM) for
collectively withstanding the pressures of the era of the cold war by
taking mutually accepted decisions and policies. The main aim of
Non-alignment and NAM was both to keep away from the cold war
and its alliances as well as to promote mutual understanding and
cooperation among the non-aligned states.

6. Democratization of Foreign Policy and Changes in

Diplomacy:

The end of the Second World War rejected the thesis of

authoritarianism in favor of democracy and under its influence, the
formulation and implementation of foreign policy became
democratic in nature and style. In the 19th century, the foreign
policy of a nation was formulated by a class of professional experts
—the diplomat and statesman.

It used to be a close preserve of the Foreign Office and Diplomacy.

The democratization of politics however made foreign policy an
object of discussion and subjected it to the influence of the common
man. National public opinion, press, and world public opinion came
to be important factors of foreign policy.

The changes in the nature, content, and working of foreign policies

of various nations resulted in a big change in the nature of post-war
international relations. Diplomacy also came out of its old style and
color and it now came to be new and open diplomacy.
7. Loss of Relevance of Balance of Power:

Between 1815-1914, Balance of Power acted as a regulator of

International relations. It suffered a big blow in the First World
War. It was revived in 1919, with a new mechanism like the League
of Nations, but it again flopped in 1939 when the Second World
War broke out.

After the end of the Second World War, several big structural
changes in the International system as well in the Balance of Power
system reduced the operation ability of this device. This rise of two
superpowers, the transformation of war into a total war, the
emergence of nuclear weapons, the establishment of the United
Nations, the emergence of the process of decline of imperialism-
colonialism, and several other such factors made the Balance of
Power system almost obsolete.

8. The Birth of Nuclear Age:

The final end of the Second World War came with the use of atomic
weapons by the USA against Japan. It symbolized the beginning of
the nuclear age in International Politics. For the first time, some
countries came to acquire means capable of destroying the entire
world. The nuclear factor divided the nations into nuclear nations
and non-nuclear nations, the former enjoying superiority in power
relations over the latter.

The two superpowers came to enjoy, as Max Lerner observed, the

capacity of “overkill”. Both, the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. could
destroy the entire world but no other nation individually or
collectively could destroy or defeat the superpowers. War became a
total war and the world found itself dependent on the policies and
activities of the two superpowers.

9. Transformation of War into Total War:

Nuclear weapons changed the nature of war from a Simple war to

total war. These made the war totally destructive. No nation
whether nuclear or non- nuclear, could hope to survive a future war
since it was bound to be a thermo-nuclear war.

10. Balance of Terror in place of Balance of Power:

The traditional concept of balance of power became obsolete in the

face of the fact that it became impossible to create a
preponderance of power against any aggressor backed by nuclear
power. The Balance of Power got replaced by a Balance of Terror
which made the international system very dangerous and risky. The
fear of mutually assured total destruction (MAD) through
accidental war began haunting the policy-makers of all the nations.

11. A New Desire for Peace:

The two World Wars within a short span and the possibility of a
much more destructive, rather totally destructive, Third World War
made humankind highly conscious of the need for preserving and
strengthening international peace and security. The urge for
securing peace became stronger than ever before.

12. Increasing Interdependence among Nations:

After the end of the Second World War, International relations

began developing a truly global character in which each nation
began finding its national interests inseparably bound up with the
interests of other nations as well as with international interests of
peace, security and development. This realization and the growing
interdependence of the world became instrumental in giving a vital
and welcome strength to the cause of peaceful and cooperative
international relations.

13. Birth of the UNO:

The failure of the League of Nations to maintain peace after the

First World War was mostly due to the shortcomings of the
Covenant of the League as well as because of the not fully
representative character of the League. Consequently, after the
Second World War, the statesmen felt no hesitation in agreement to
establish a new international organization—the United Nations
Organisation which came into existence on 24 October 1945.

The UNO was designed to act as an effective platform for

international diplomacy designed to secure international peace and
security, and development through collective efforts of all the
nations. The UN assumed the responsibility to maintain
international peace and security by promoting friendly cooperation
among the member states. Along with it, the UN Charter laid down
a collective security system as the new device of power
management in international relations.

14. Recognition of the Role of Power in International

Relations:

In the post-war period, the factor of power came to be accepted as

an incontrovertible fact of international relations. It was realized
that each nation is always prepared to use its national power to
secure the goals of her national interest. It was further realized
that the role of power in international relations was direct and the
nature of interactions among nations reflected a continuous
struggle for power. To analyze international politics as a struggle
for power or as a set of interactions involving power, came to be a
very popular approach in International Politics.

15. Emergence of the Age of Technology:

In the post-1945 years, man’s ability to use the knowledge of

scientific inventions for the welfare of humankind got greatly
enhanced. It was because of this fact that the 20th century came to
be known as the age of technology. Science and Technology began
playing a big role in changing the environment of international
relations.

As a result of the technological revolution, there began appearing a

revolutionary development in spheres of industry, transport,
communications, agriculture, and military. The resultant economic
growth became instrumental in producing big changes in the
nature of international relations.

The change in the concept of war from a simple war to a total war
gave a new dimension to international relations. The revolutionary
developments in the fields of transport and communication
increased the scope and frequency of relations among nations. The
rapid technological development in the developed countries made
them economically and militarily stronger enough to maintain a
neo-colonial control over the newly emerged developing countries.

Their monopoly over advanced technology and the disinclination to

share its benefits with all other nations produced sharp division
between nations—the developed and the under-developed or
developing nations. The relations between the developed and
under-developed later on became a focal issue of post-1945
international relations.

16. Emergence of a Peace Movement:

The two World Wars within a short duration and the possibility of a
much more destructive, rather totally destructive Third World War
made humankind highly conscious of the need for preserving and
strengthening international peace and security. The urge for
securing peace became stronger than ever before. There appeared
a welcome peace movement in international relations. This
encouraged nations to work for mutual welfare and development.
They became highly conscious of the need for development through
mutual cooperation and goodwill.

17. Rapidly Increasing Interdependence among Nations:

After the end of the Second World War, international relations

began developing a truly global character in which each nation
began finding its national interests inseparably bound up with the
interests of all other nations as well as with international interests
of peace, security, and development.
This realization and the interdependent nature of the international
community became instrumental in giving a vital and welcome
strength to the cause of peaceful and orderly international
relations. Peace became a cherished value and it gave a purpose to
international relations i.e. to find ways and means for securing and
strengthening stable and durable peace in the world. These gave an
encouraging and welcome direction to post-war international
relations.

18. End of the Traditional International System:

The international system of the post-war period became

totally different from the classical international system in
several ways:

(1) Power scarcity that characterized the classical international

system got replaced by power surplus (Nuclear weapons, overkill
capacity, and two superpowers) in the new system.

(2) The Balance of power got replaced by a Balance of Terror.

(3) The formulation and implementation of foreign policy became a

more complicated and democratic exercise.

(4) A big change in world political relations took place as a result of

the rise of new states, and the liquidation of imperialism and
colonialism.

(5) Peace, security, development, and prosperity for all the nations
got recognized as a value in international relations.

(6) There developed an arms race between the two superpowers

and the exercise became more dangerous because of the birth of
the nuclear arms race.
(7) Because of the increase in the number of states, there came to
be developed several new problems and international relations
became highly complex.

(8) The presence of the United Nations gave a new look to the post-
war international system.

(9) New and Open Diplomacy came to replace the old and secret
diplomacy.

(10) The presence of two competing, in fact, rival superpowers set

the stage for the emergence of the cold war and bi-polarity in
international relations.

(11) The transformation of war into a total war made it much more
dreaded and the nations became more and more interested in
preserving international peace and security.

(12) All the nations became conscious of the need for preserving
peace through a better and effective device of power management
i.e. collective security.

Thus the Second World War had a big impact on the nature of
international relations. The post-War International system came to
be a system totally different from the pre-war international system.

After the Second World War, the International System came to be a

totally different system from the classical (19th century)
international system. The classical international system was Euro-
centric and it worked on the principles of balance of power, war as
a means, secret diplomacy as an instrument, and narrow
nationalism as its objective.

It came to be replaced by a new international system which was

characterized by two superpowers, the cold war, bipolarity, non-
alignment, anti-imperialism, the UNO, the presence of several new
sovereign states in the world, N-weapons, and the threat of Total
War. This new international system continued to work, almost
unchanged, till the last decade of the 20th century when it came to
be a Post-Cold War, Unipolar International System experiencing a
new liberalization and globalization.