Ghassan Ahmad Lazzuardy – 14010121190050

World War 2 itself has a complicated background, considering that World War 2 itself was a
consequence of World War 1. Germany's defeat in World War 1 and the consequences of the
Treaty of Versailles cost Germany 65,000 km2 and 7 million inhabitants and had to make many
economic and political concessions which then sparked outrage within the German public.
Therefore, radicalism arose throughout Europe. And that was exacerbated by the fall of the
world economy in the 1930s which was called The Great Depression, which then led to the rise
of fascism in various countries around the world, such as in Germany, Japan, and Italy. Due to
the rise of fascism, ultranationalism was born which desired territorial expansion in each of
these countries, such as Lebensraum in Germany and Hakko Ichiu in Japan.
And this is getting exacerbated by the growing understanding of the idea of ultranationalism
which exalts the country and considers other countries. This can be seen from how Germany
and Japan look down on ethnic groups different from them, which they treat badly. This
influenced how they treated their minorities during World War 2.
The failure of the international system that functions to maintain world peace with institutions
such as the League of Nations in exercising firmness will resolve disputes and maintain peace
between countries in the world. How did the League of Nations fail to prevent Japan from
invading China or Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, which were considered weak points that could
be used by other countries to commit aggression against other countries considering that the
League of Nations would not do anything to prevent it.
In this context itself, the world is indeed very prone to falling into another big war, considering
the growing militarism in various countries around the world and the economic crisis that
followed were some of the factors behind World War 2 to break out.
The sequence of events before World War 2 itself was triggered by the Japanese invasion of
China in 1936 after the Marco Polo bridge incident, this was then followed by the outbreak of
war on the European continent with the German invasion of Poland in 1939 which then led to
World War 2.
The parties participating in World War 2 were divided into two blocks, namely the Allied block
and the Axis block. The allied block itself is divided into countries that joined before the Pearl
Harbor attack with countries that joined after the Pearl Harbor attack, countries that joined
before the Pearl Harbor attack itself consisted of Britain, France, Poland, Belgium, the
Netherlands and countries that joined after the Pearl Harbor attack consisted of United States
of America. While the countries from the axis itself consist of Germany, Italy, Japan, Thailand,
Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.
In its own war, the impact of World War 2 itself was enormous and brought devastation around
the world. 60,000,000 people died in World War 2 which is more than any other war. The
majority of those killed themselves were civilians, and they were scattered around the world.
Almost all families around the world feel the effects of war, those who are lucky not to lose
their loved ones still have to feel the effects of war in other aspects.
Many big cities around the world such as Berlin, Tokyo, Dresden, Warsaw, Nanking were
reduced to rubble. All industrialized countries except the United States ended the war with a
large number of industries destroyed by the war. Poland reported that 30 percent of the
buildings were destroyed by the war, Yugoslavia reported 20.7 percent of the buildings
destroyed by the war, and Germany itself experienced the destruction of about 39 percent of
all the buildings. 21 million people are registered as refugees and half of them are homeless
who have been deported from their homeland to do forced labour. The streets of Europe were
flooded with refugees from 1945 to 1946 with more than 5 million Soviet Union prisoners of
war and 8 million German citizens fleeing to their respective countries. Death from mass
starvation is also a result of war, this can be seen from the mass famines in India, Indonesia,
Eastern Europe which resulted in victims that were as significant as the casualties from military
battles between nations.
The end of World War 2 itself stems from the defeats of Germany and Japan on various fronts,
and how they lost both industrial and population capabilities to giants like the Soviet Union,
the United States and the British Empire. Germany's failure to destroy the Soviet Union in
Operation Barbarossa and Japan's defeat of America in the Midway battle allowed the two
allied countries to mobilize totally against their defenses which made Japan and Germany
overwhelmed by the forces of the allies, who began to experience defeat from 1943 to 1944
where Germany began to be pressured by the Soviet Union from the East and the Western
Allies from Italy, and was increasingly pressured by the Western Allies landing in Normandy
in June 1944 which succeeded in driving the Germans out of France and the Bagration
operation in the East which expelled the Germans from Central and Eastern Europe, which
increasingly destroyed Germany finally officially surrendered on May 9, 1945. The same thing
happened to Japan which was pressured from all directions, both from the Pacific by the United
States and mainland Asia by Britain and China, with Japan's defeat in various areas such as the
Philippines and the Pacific Islands. and then the destruction of k Japanese cities either from
intensive bombardment from the allies or atomic bombs made Japan finally surrender on
August 15, 1945.
The lessons learned from World War 2 itself are how the devastation of war itself can impact
the lives of every individual around the world, how and the ego of a nation can create extensive
destruction for many people, and how peace must be fully established, so that war with the
scale of the destruction like this will not happen again.