SECOND WORLD WAR

Historian John Keegan writes, “The Second World War was the continuation of the First”
“and indeed [World War II] is inexplicable except in terms of the rancor and instabilities left
by the earlier conflict.”

The historians consider the First and Second World Wars part of the same struggle. First
World War left all the European states desperate for security. Yet international conflicts
persisted throughout the early 1920s. After a compromise on reparation between France and
Germany in 1924, the European states entered into a period of improved relations that
lasted for a decade. France and the US proposed that the nations of the world swear not to
start wars of aggression. More than twenty states signed such an agreement on September
1928. Eleven years after this treaty, Europe plunged into a war of much greater destruction
known as the Greater War. The terrible war happened because of the failure of the system of
collective security and the growth of international anarchy. Britain and France had gone to
war to defend a threatened ally and to stop the spread of fascism.

Unlike in the 1914-18 war, the Second World War was a war of rapid movement; it was a
much more complex affair, with major campaigns taking place in the Pacific and the Far
East, in North Africa and deep in the heart of Russia, as well as in central and western
Europe and the Atlantic.The war falls into four fairly clearly defined phases:

1. Opening moves: September 1939 to December 1940.

2. The Axis offensive widens: 1941 to the summer of 1942
3.The offensives held in check: summer 1942 to summer 1943
4. The Axis powers defeated: July 1943 to August 1945

CAUSES

The origin of this war is viewed from a variety of perspectives. The historiography of the
Second World War is still a vibrant and thriving field. The outbreak of this war has been
attributed, by some, to the actions of a handful of individuals and by others to the operation
of profound historical forces. In the immediate post-war decades, Hitler and Mussolini were
blamed for imposing pers,onal ambitions and dictatorsh;:-is on a re l uctant people. In
chronological terms, its origin has been traced to the year 1937. 1933,1929, 1919, or even
187l. The chronological point of departure one takes depends on the importance one
accords to causal factors

1. TREATY OF VERSAILLES
It has been argued that the Treaty of Versailles was harsh on Germany and punitive in intent.
Not only were the terms imposed on Germany very harsh, Germany was made to accept the
terms in a very humiliating manner. Even before the rise of Hitler there was 'intense desire
for revenge in Germany. Italy and Japan also felt aggrieved by the treatment accorded to
them. In these countries, dissatisfaction with the J 919 settlement, together with the
perception of threat from communism, and weak democratic traditions, led to the rise of
extreme right-wing movements - fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany, and militarism in·
Japan . These movements mapped out ambitious plans of territorial expansion that went far
beyond the revision of the 1919 settlement. The League of Nations, devised to maintain
peace amo~gst nations, proved ineffective. It did not have an armed forces of its own to
enforce its decisions nor was it able to enforce economic sanctions.

2. POLICY OF APPEASEMENT
Appeasement was the policy followed by the British, and later by the French, of
avoiding war with aggressive powers such as Japan, Italy and Germany, by giving
way to their demands, provided they were not too unreasonable.

.
Foreign Policy based on appeasement of Nazi-Fascist dictators turned out to be a major
cause iof the Second World War. After the First World War there appeared a rift in the
policies of Britain and France. Balance of power had always been the cornerstone of the
British foreign policy. Britain feared that a very powerful France would disturb the balance of
power in Europe. Hence, it helped Germany against France in the inter-war years. Once
Hitler came to power in Germany and Italy became an ally of the Nazi dictatar, Britain quickly
moved closer to France who badly needed British assistance against a hostile Germany.
After 1933, French foreign policy virtually became an extension of British foreign policy.
Britain was worried about growing influence of Commbnism. Not only the Soviet Union had
to be effectively challenged, but so-called populak Fronts in France and Spain had also to be
destroyed. With this objective in view, Britain adopted the policy of appeasement towards
Hitler and Mussolini. France soon followed suit. Appeasement was started by Baldwin but
vigorously pursued by Neville Chamberlain in 1938. Anglo-French desire to help Mussolini
during the Abyssinian War, while maintaining support of League efforts, their virtual
surrender to Hitler at the Munich Conference, and their inability to protect weaker nations like
Austria and Albania were clear evidence of Anglo-French weakness and this prepared the
ground for the War.

3. Rise of extreme fascist ideology

Ideologically the Nazi movement thrived on the backward-looking conservatism that

flourished in Germany after the disillusionment of 1918 defeat. It was based on
anti-communism, anti-semitism, anti-democracy, and the discredited nineteenth century
racism and right-wing extremism. Hitlers' Nazism was associated with a defeated, but
aggressive militarism and imperialism. Most of the historians, however, argue that Hitler' was
crucial for the rise of Nazism. But the Marxist historians rightly emphasise the fact that Nazi
leader's authority was reinforced by the militarist structuring of the entire German society.
Ideologically, Nazism also stood for German racial supremacy and more "land and soil" for
them.

Fascism in Italy was a product of the post-war crisis of 1918-22: socio-economic unrest,
nationalist grievances and the failure of liberal politics to bind a society together. This was
the socio-economic environment and a political vacuum which helped fascism to take its
roots. Economic collapse outraged nationalism and anti-Marxism were therefore the source
of its success.
In the 1930s ultra-nationalism and reactionary conservatism thus struck roots in Japan
during its economic and political crisis. Ultra-nationalism and militarism with their triumph in
Manchuria and in their quest for 'Eastern Empire' drove Japan into the Second World War.

4. GERMAN ATTACK ON POLAND

The immediate trigger for the spread of World War II came with Britain and France declaring war on
Germany. In September 1939 Nazi Germany initiated their attempt to invade Poland. In the fulfillment
of their military alliance with Poland. France and Britain had to come forward to protect polish
territories. In response to Hitler’s invasion Britain ended their appeasement policy and announced war
against Germany on September 3, 1939. This event came to be known as the ultimate break out of
the most disastrous war in history, the World War 2.

CONSEQUENCES OF SECOND WORLD WAR

Unlike the earlier wars the Second World War affected each and every aspect of human life.
The level of scientific and technological application to war, with disastrous effects was
unprecedented. Especially the application of atom for war posed a new danger to human
existence on earth. In international relations the old notion of detente broke down.
Colonialism was replaced by a new method of world imperialist exploitation -
neo-colonialism. The crumbling down of colonialism also brought into existence several
independent nations, now called the 'third-world'. The birth of United Nations Organization
brought hope for peace but the origins of 'cold war' created new tensions.

1. United Nations

The united nations organisation saw its birth during the wartime coalition against fascism. In
august 1941, roosevelt and churchill drafted the atlantic charter spelling out the principles for
post-war international reorganisation and the establishment of a “wider and permanent
system of general security” embodying these principles a declaration of the UN was signed
by all the anti-Axis Powers on 1 January 1942. The international quest for social security,
economic democracy and national soveriegnity were elaborated in a series of separate
declaration which were later structured into various organs of United Nations.

2. Emergence of the Superpower ( Cold War )

The USA and the USSR emerged as the two most powerful nations in the world, and they
were no longer as isolated as they had been before the war. The USA had suffered relatively
little from the war and had enjoyed great prosperity from supplying the other Allies
with war materials and food. The Americans had the world's largest navy and air force and
they controlled the atomic bomb. The USSR, though severely weakened, still had the
largest army in the world. Both countries were highly suspicious of each other's intentions
now that the common enemies, Germany and Japan, had been defeated. The rivalry of
these two superpowers in the Cold War was the most important feature of international
relations for almost half a century after 1945, and was a constant threat to world peace.

3. Decolonization

The war encouraged the movement towards decolonization. The defeats inflicted on Britain,
Holland and France by Japan, and the Japanese occupation of their ten-itories - Malaya,
Singapore and Burma (British), French lndo-China and the Dutch East Indies - destroyed the
tradition of European superiority and invincibility. It could hardly be expected that, having
fought to get rid of the Japanese, the Asian peoples would willingly return to European rule.
Gradually they achieved full independence, though not without a struggle in many cases.
This in turn intensified demands for independence among the peoples of Africa and the
Middle East, and in the 1960s the result was a large array of new states.

4. The war caused the production of nuclear weapons

The first ever use of these weapons, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, demonstrated their
horrifying powers of destruction. The world was left under the threat of a nuclear war that
might well have destroyed the entire planet. Some people argue that this acted as a
deterrent,making both sides in the Cold War so frightened of the consequences that they
were deterred or discouraged from fighting each other.

Never before in the world had :.o many million ~ spread Over .such a wide area participated
directly or indirectly in an armed combat. A broad spectrum of nation ... . social groups. and
politic:al panic:. participated in a war \,·hich indeed became a ·Tot.ii \\'ar·. The number of
\\ar-related deaths was staggering - some seven million in Germany. two million in Ru:.,ia.
am.I. in the whole of Europe together. 36 million. The c"timate of the number
of persons who died in the Second World War lie:. in the range 50-55 million. TI1en: were
some areru; that escaped actual fighting - North and South America, much of Africa. and the
I ndian sub-continent. Yet , these regions LOO paid a price, e\'en in human terms. The
number of soldiers from the Unlled States w ho died was about 115,000 and over I 00.000
were wounded. Ind ia also lost 74,000 soldiers and 70.000 were left wounded.