Between the Causes and consequences of World War II We find the violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the subsequent invasion of Poland by fascist Germany, as well as its subsequent overthrow and the creation of the United Nations.
World War II was a war of global scale that took place between 1939 and 1945, fought between the Allied countries and the Axis countries.
The Allies were made up of the United Kingdom, China, the United States, and the Soviet Union.
Among the countries of the Axis are the Empire of Japan, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. It is one of the most global wars in history, as it took action in 30 countries and involved more than 100 million people.
During the war, all the great powers of the planet used their military, economic, industrial, scientific and human resources in a strategic effort, thus changing the course of history in all these areas.
Among its attacks and consequences are the Holocaust and the explosion of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
An estimated total of 50-85 million deaths were accumulated, making World War II the bloodiest conflict in history.
Causes of World War II
The Second World War was an extremely complicated event, which was triggered by multiple events from the end of World War I in 1918. Among these are:
1- Treaty of Versailles
At the end of World War I was signed the Treaty of Versailles proposed by the United States, where Germany had to assume responsibility for the war.
Colonies were abolished, the use of the air force and also had to pay an economic remuneration to the victorious countries.
This stripped Germany of its territory and destabilized its economy strongly, making its citizens not trust their rulers and their ability to lead the consequences.
2- Fascism and the National Socialist Party
In the early 1920s, the fascist party of Benito Mussolini ascended to power in Italy. This nation moved under the idea of nationalism, a form of government that imposed rigidity on the economy, industrial control and control of its citizens.
Hitler saluting officers
The empire of Japan was also strongly driven by nationalism and its promises of wealth and development.
This movement reached the north of Germany, where it was taken over by the union of workers and created the National Socialist party or Nazi Party, in which Adolf Hitler ascended to the power.
3- Failures in the Peace Treaty
The peace treaties seek to establish a just resolution, but the penalties imposed on Germany by the United States were seen as very severe; Nations such as Britain and France saw just that Hitler had protested.
The new Prime Minister of Great Britain, Neville Chamberlain, proposed new terms with Germany in the Treaty of Munich.
In this, he promised to yield to Hitler's demands to prevent a new war, but his actions were not enough.
4- Failed Intervention of the League of Nations
In 1919 the League of Nations was created. The plan was for all nations to unite, and if a problem arose, they would settle their differences with diplomacy and not with the use of military force.
But with the crisis of the decade of 1930 many countries stopped to trust in her. Nations like Japan and the USSR strengthened their military forces, because they did not trust in diplomacy, since the League did not have the support of all the countries, had no army at their disposal and did not act immediately.
5- Militarization of Germany and the invasion of Poland
From 1935, Hitler began to violate the Treaty of Versailles with the militarization of Germany and the annex of territories like Austria.
This was easy because the economic crisis further encouraged its citizens, who saw the treaty unfair from the beginning.
Just after signing the Munich Agreement with Neville Chamberlain, Hitler decides to invade Poland, thus violating any peace treaty and starting the armed conflict.
Consequences
The consequences of this massive event affected all the countries of the world, from the political, economic, social and even geographic reach.
6- Creation of the United Nations
After the fall of the failed League of Nations, the Allied countries formed the United Nations Organization in October 1945, at the end of the war. The UN would be stronger and would have more scope than its predecessor.
First Session of the UN
In 1948, the organization adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then it has been a body dedicated to maintaining the collective peace and security of nations.
7- End of colonialism and imperialism
With the fall of the Japanese empire, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, these nations became democracies. Due to the global consequences of the war, the vast empires ceased to exist and the state nations spread.
8- Economic crisis
As a result of an exorbitant spending on military power and resources, the warring countries were hit by a severe economic crisis. Germany, France and England filed for bankruptcy.
This in turn caused that France and England had to give up their colonies (like India or Algeria), thus creating multiple independent new nations that today are part of the denominated third world thanks to its history of economic and territorial despojo.
9- Geopolitical changes in Europe
All Axis countries lost extensions of their territory to pay compensation to the Allies.
This caused a re-ordering of the world map. The USSR, for example, took countries from Eastern Europe and communism In these territories.
Germany also underwent changes and was separated into two nations: East Germany and West Germany; The first under a socialist government and the second, a democratic nation.
10- Emergence of the powers of the block: USA vs USSR
At the end of the war, the US and the USSR benefited because they did not suffer financial damage or damage to infrastructure, and managed to increase their industrial power and thus become world powers.
This would initiate a new stage called the Cold War , Where these two nations competed for decades in the political, economic, social, scientific and even sports. This rivalry would last almost 50 years.
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