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The 10 consequences of the Second World War

The 10 consequences of the Second World War

March 28, 2024

Between 1939 and 1945 one of the most important historical events of modern times happened, facts that we must never forget due to its importance and in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes that were committed then. We are talking about the Second World War, a war on an international scale that produced millions of deaths and in which horrors such as the Holocaust and great war crimes were lived.

The magnitude of the conflict, which would begin with the invasion of Poland by Hitler and the Nazis and end the surrender of the Japanese forces after the destruction caused by the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would take away a large crowd of people. lives and would have important repercussions both in Europe and in the rest of the globe.


It's about what we're going to talk about in this article: the consequences of the Second World War .

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World War II: brief historical review

The Second World War was a violent conflict in which more than a hundred countries around the world were involved and which caused millions of deaths which began when Germany, in which Hitler and the Nazis had seized power, invaded Poland (justified in an attack by the Poles). Shortly after United Kingdom and France would declare the war to the Germans, being united to them countries like Canada, New Zealand and Australia.


While probably the best-known fascist force of that war was Nazi Germany ruled by Hitler , there were also other forces and countries that were allied to form the Tripartite Pact or Pact of the Axis in 1940.

In addition to Nazi Germany the fascist front would be formed by Italy ruled by Mussolini (which initially would play an important part in the conflict but would subsequently only act jointly with the Germans), and the Empire of Japan led by the emperor (whose participation it is well known and would ultimately end up causing the United States to enter the contest after the attack on Pearl Harbor).

These three countries would ally themselves in the Tripartite Pact or Pact of the Axis , but also many other states would have some collaboration with this: Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Slovak Republic would also end up joining.


In the case of Spain, although the Franco regime was allied to Nazism and also had some participation during the struggle through the Blue Division, its role was very minor due to not wanting to get involved in another war after the Spanish Civil War immediately before the conflict .

As far as Russia is concerned, initially it declared itself neutral and signed a non-aggression agreement with the Nazis, but they would join the allies when in 1941 Hitler violated that agreement and began to invade the Soviet territory. As for the United States, although it provided supplies to the British initially it would remain neutral, but after the attack of the Japanese to Pearl Harbor Roosevelt decided to declare war on Japan, Germany and Italy .

These two important annexations to the Allied forces would ultimately be the ones that would achieve, not without great effort and with the loss of millions of lives, turn the tide of the war until achieving the withdrawal and the subsequent first surrender of Italy (in 1943) and then Germany in 1945 (Hitler committing suicide shortly before said surrender). Finally and before the bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan would surrender that same year.

The main consequences of the Second World War

The consequences of the Second World War have been multiple and in various fields . For example, from these they ended up creating institutions designed to avoid that new crimes against humanity could arise and that today survive. Among the main consequences we find the following ones.

1. Human losses

The most important and serious consequence of the conflict was the large number of human losses, quantifying in at least 50 million deaths but they can easily reach 60. A great majority of those victims were civilians, and their deaths were not only due to the direct action of the armies (crossfire, bombing, genocide or persecution) but also derived from the famine, the loss of households and the poverty that followed the war.

But beyond the victims generated by the war, in this war too It is worth mentioning the persecution and systematic elimination of large population groups through the concentration camps and other forms of extermination by the Nazis.Its main objective in this regard was the Jewish people, estimated at around six million citizens killed for belonging to that group.

Other victims of persecution and murder were homosexuals, gypsies and communists , as well as artists, intellectuals and all those whom the government considers a threat to society, including men, women and children of any age. Also the disabled and people with mental disorders were targeted for elimination.

Other horrors such as medical experimentation with humans and vivisections were also committed in the territory occupied by the Nazis, as well as a great multitude of bombings of civilians by both sides.

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2. Creation of the UN and the Declaration of Human Rights

After the end of the war and in anticipation that other similar events could occur, an international conference would be formed in which around 50 countries would participate and that would end up generating the current United Nations Organization, replacing the failed League of Nations established after the First World War.

The UN would emerge then with the objective of maintaining international peace , provoke positive and friendly relations among the countries, sponsor international cooperation and promote the efforts of different nations to achieve these purposes.

In December 1948 they published the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , which stipulates thirty articles that establish the basic rights of every human being, which must be respected at an international level.

3. The search for responsibilities: the Nuremberg trials

During the war and after the surrender of the Axis countries, many officers and high command were captured by the Allies. Once the contest is over, would decide the level of responsibility on the part of the Nazi leadership in the so-called Nuremberg trials.

While there are doubts about whether or not the process was well presented and if the court was sufficiently valid because it was not impartial, the process was carried out and would end by acquitting some of the accused, sending some of them to prison with different penalties. and condemning many of the Nazi leaders to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Despite this, many Nazis fled to other countries , not knowing the whereabouts or the final destination of many of them (in fact, even today a case is discovered punctually). There were also groups that were dedicated to hunt them, in retaliation for the deaths of loved ones.

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4. Economic repercussions and reconstruction

The Second World War was a very virulent conflict and with great impact on the whole fabric of society, including the economic and even urban areas. And it is that during the war many cities were practically wiped off the map , losing for example Warsaw about 80% of its buildings and having to be rebuilt.

In addition to this, communications and European industry (with the exception of weapons, which had a great development) had fallen, something that would generate a high level of poverty. The goods and services practically disappeared.

Agriculture was also affected: many harvests were lost and in some territories the fields were even plagued with mines. This generated famine and caused an even higher number of deaths .

Fortunately, the United States would approve the so-called Marshall Plan, which helped alleviate the state of post-war Europe and regenerate its economy.

5. Creation of the two big blocks: US vs USSR

Despite the great number of lives that were lost, countries like the United States managed to get the end of the war favorable, getting to become the greatest power in the world . Likewise, the Soviet Union managed to annex a large number of territories, even though its economy would never be as good as the North American one.

With the European powers practically destroyed, they would end up constituting two large blocs of countries either annexed or allies that would generate two ideological blocs clearly differentiated and eventually confronted, repressed by the two superpowers that would remain: the capitalist block led by the US and the communist of the USSR . Mainly the first would be the majority of countries in Western Europe, while the second would occupy the majority of Eastern Europe.

6. The rise of the military industry and the atomic bomb

The war caused the need to devote most resources to the military industry, which became the main and most important type of industry at that time and in the immediate aftermath of the war. In fact, the arms race would continue between the two great superpowers , in what is known as the Cold War.

Another of the great milestones of the advances of this industry was that of the creation of the atomic bomb in the United States, which in the end would end up causing the surrender of Japan and that later would also be able to build the Soviet Union. This was one of the consequences of the Second World War with the most impact on geopolitics.

7. Invention of the first computer

Another indirect consequence of the Second World War is that during this the Turing machine would be invented in order to be able to decode the codes used by the Nazis in their telecommunications, being the beginning of computing and serving as a starting point for the creation of computers and information technology.

8. Border changes and creation of the State of Israel

The end of the war brought with it a restructuring of the borders of many countries, as well as the creation of new ones. For example Germany would be divided into four blocks corresponding to Russia, the United States, France and the United Kingdom . Russia annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, together with part of the aforementioned Germany and Poland.

Austria and Czechoslovakia were again independent, as was Albania. China would recover from Japan all its occupied territories during the war. Italy would lose all its colonies. The US would keep part of Germany, many islands in the Pacific. Korea would be divided into North and South, being the first Soviet and the second American .

In addition to these and other changes, probably the most relevant and known is the creation of the State of Israel, being granted to the Jewish people a part of the territory until then belonging to Palestine and including the city of Jerusalem, although since then there have been great conflicts between Israel and Palestine.

9. Cultural changes

Culture was also severely punished during the conflict: damaged infrastructures, stolen art, destroyed educational institutions ... During the first post-war years illiteracy grew greatly in Europe, although little by little in the following decades schooling would begin to be implemented massive and to facilitate access to the university.

The United States was one of the exceptions, developing among others the film industry and beginning to monopolize fashion and world culture . In painting, stages such as expressionism emerge, as well as works that spoke of the harshness of war, such as Picasso's Guernica.

10. The role of women and minorities

Little by little collectives hitherto invisible, such as that of women or ethnic minorities, would begin to acquire greater relevance.


In the case of women, the recruitment of men for war made it as in World War I it was the women who had to carry out tasks previously considered male, something that would gradually make them look more valid and that feminist movements were increasingly getting more power , to the point of achieving female suffrage in more and more territories. In the case of ethnic minorities, the process was slower.

Bibliographic references:

  • Classes of historia.com (s.f.). The Second World War. Digital Journal of History and Social Sciences. [On-line]. Available at: //www.claseshistoria.com/2guerramundial/consecuencias-demograficas.html.
  • Sommerville, Donald (2008). Lorenz Books, ed. The Complete Illustrated History of World War Two: An Authoritative Account of the Deadly Conflict in Human History with Analysis of Decisive Encounters and Landmark Engagements. p. 5.
  • Yépez, A. (2011). Universal history. Caracas: Larense.

The Impact of World War II (March 2024).


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