UNIT - 8

WORLD WAR II

UNIT STRUCTURE

8.1 Learning Objectives

8.2 Introduction

8.3 Origin of World War II

8.4 Nature of World War II

8.5 Results of World War II

8.6 Let Us Sum Up

8.7 Further Reading

8.8 Answers to Check Your Progress

8.9 Model Questions

8.1 Learning Objectives

After going through this Unit you will be able to –

 Know about the Origin of the Second World War

 Know about the nature of Second World War and how it was different from all the
previous wars.
 Understand the consequences of the Second World War
8.2 INTRODUCTION

The Second World War was the most devastating war that the world has ever witnessed. The
Second World War began in Europe in September 1939 between Germany on one side and
France and England on the other. Until the entry of United States into the war in December 1941,
the war essentially remained a European war. The war affected most of the nations of the world.
The war was certainly global in character as it for it saw prolonged fighting in the pacific as well
as in the Atlantic, in Asia and Africa as well as in Europe. The first phase of the war lasted from
September 1939 until April 1940. It was one of the unbroken German victories against Poland,
Scandinavia and the Low Countries. The events of the second phase of the war (1940-41) were
the defeat and fall of France, the Battle of Britain and the war in North Africa. The third phase of
the war started in June 1941 and lasted until November 1942. The chief events were the German
invasion of the Soviet Russia, the Japanese war against the United States and Allies and the
Allied landings in Morocco and Algiers. The fourth phase of the war (1942-44) was a phase of
preparation for the final repulse of Germany, Italy and Japan. The final phase of the war (1944-
45) witnessed the liberation of France, the surrender of Germany and Japan and the collapse of
Eastern and Central Europe under soviet influence.

8.3 ORIGIN OF WORLD WAR II

After the First World War, in 1919 a Peace Conference had been convened at Paris. Several
treaties had been concluded with the defeated countries. The Allied powers had also discussed
about the established of permanent peace in the world. The League of Nations had been
established to solve the mutual problems in a peaceful manner. The members of the League
promised to maintain peace, the territorial integrity and national unity of the nations and to solve
problems through mutual discussions under the guidelines of the League. But the League could
not work successfully due to many reasons. On the other hand, the peace of the continent was
threatened by the rising powers of dictatorship in Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. The dictators
of these countries challenged the system established by the Paris Peace Conference through their
aggressive activities and they also created danger for peace. Therefore the political situation
again returned as it existed before the outbreak of First World War. The peace system established
by the Allies could sustain only for twenty years and in 1939 the war began among the European
powers. The following were the main causes of the Second World War:

1. Humiliating Treaty of Versailles – After the defeat of Germany in the First World War
she was forced to sign the treaty of Versailles. According to the terms of this treaty
Germany had to pay a huge amount as war indemnity and it was beyond her capacity at
that time. The military power of Germany was reduced considerably and she was
deprived of all her colonies. In the treaty of Versailles the victors did not adopt the policy
of foresightedness while laying down the terms and conditions. They crushed the national
prestige of Germany and therefore the Germans became dissatisfied against the harsh
conditions of the treaty. The Germans decided to take revenge for their humiliation and
therefore the Second World War has been called as the war of Revenge.
2. Rise of Dictatorship – In many countries of Europe the feeling of dictatorship arose
especially in Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. In 1933 Hitler came into power and
became the dictator of Germany. He hated the treaty of Versailles and the League of
Nations and therefore he violated the terms of treaty of Versailles and withdrew himself
from the Disarmament Conference of Geneva. He declared that Germany was no longer a
member of League of Nations and captured Austria and Czechoslovakia. Lastly he
invaded Poland on 1st September, 1939 and thus the Second World War broke out. After
the First World War the spirit of dictatorship also arose In Italy. Mussolini was the leader
of the Fascist Party who captured the administration of Italy in 1922 and established his
dictatorship. In the same way, the feeling of dictatorship also arose in Spain and Japan. In
Spain, General Franco defeated the republicans in a civil war with the support of Hitler
and Mussolini and established his dictatorship. On the other hand Japan after the First
World War signed a treaty with Germany and Italy and Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis came
into existence. This Axis became a danger for the peace of the continent.
3. Conflict between Democracy and Autocracy – The international tensions culminated in
the Second World War were in part due to ideological conflicts and in part to conflicts of
national interests. The combined operations of these two factors produced a cleavage
between nations and led to their alignment in rival groups. In the formation of these
groups a common ideology was no doubt an important factor but the most powerful
incentive to join a particular alignment was supplied not so much by a common political
 faith as by considerations of furthering national interests. The rival systems often
overlapped. Hence to attribute the tensions and conflicts of inter-war period to only one
of these factors would be an over simplification of a fact which was essentially complex.
The Second World War saw the struggle between two contradictory principles i.e
democracy and autocracy. Germany, Italy and Japan supported the principle of autocracy
whereas England, France and America were the supporters of principle of democracy.
The rapid spread of all these new ideas and concepts constituted a serious challenge to
the democratic ways of Western Europe. Thus the war became inevitable between the
supporters of democracy and autocracy. Once Mussolini had remarked ‘the struggle
between the two worlds presents no compromise: either we or they’.
4. Diplomatic Alliances – As agreed in the Paris Peace Conference, no member of League
of Nations would make any alliance with other countries and if any such alliances were
formed, they would be treated as violation of the covenant of the League and such
countries would be punished. But several secret as well as open treaties were concluded
by the European nations. As a result of these alliances Europe was divided into two
groups. Germany, Japan and Italy were part of Fascist group and they opposed the Treaty
of Paris, violated its provisions and supported the principles of dictatorship. The other
group was formed of anti-fascist powers like France, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia
and Yugoslavia. When the World War started Russia joined the fascist group whereas
Great Britain and America joined the democratic group led by France. Thus the clear cut
division of the continent of Europe in two contradictory groups made the Second World
War inevitable.
5. Militarism – The treaty of Versailles sought to destroy German militarism by reducing
the military strength of Germany to the minimum. Germany was forced to reduce her
army to 1, 00,000 men, to stop their import and export and to restrict the production of
war materials. She also had to surrender her fleet to Britain. Germany felt cheated and
therefore tried to increase her military powers. In 1933 when Hitler came to power he
made military education compulsory for all its citizens. After Germany almost all
countries of Europe began to increase their military strength in 1938. Therefore the
Second World War was inevitable owing to the immense increase in armaments and the
development of militarism.
6. Imperialism – the rise and development of imperialism also contributed towards the
outbreak of Second World War. Even after witnessing the destructive role of imperialism
in the First World War the European countries did not give up this policy. Hitler and
Mussolini clearly declared that the aim of their foreign policy was to re-establish a vast
empire. Hitler occupied Rhineland, Memmel, Austria, and Czechoslovakia and
incorporated them into his empire. Japan also occupied Manchuria. Mussolini also
occupied several territories and created a vast empire. In 1935 in order to check the
aggressive policy of fascist powers France and Russia signed a pact. Furthermore in order
to ensure her position against Germany several treaties were concluded by France with
countries like Belgium, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania and Czechoslovakia. This way the
feeling of imperialism led to rivalry among the big powers of Europe.
7. Weakness of League of Nations – The League of Nations was established in order to
maintain permanent peace and order in the world after the First World War. But despite
of its efforts the organization failed to secure world peace. The member states violated its
provisions and many left the membership. The League of Nations had no effective
machinery to enforce its decisions and therefore it failed to maintain peace during Japan-
Manchurian War, China-Japan War and Italy-Abyssinian War. It could not restrain Hitler
and his aggressive policy. So the Second World War became evitable due to the
weakness and incompetence of League of Nations.
8. Mutual Differences of the Allies – The allied powers could not remain united against the
increasing influence of dictatorship in Europe. It led to the rise of the power of Italy and
Germany. Due to their mutual differences the allied powers could not take any collective
steps against Hitler and Mussolini. They adopted the policy of appeasement and did not
try to prevent the increasing powers of these dictators. England and America wanted to
adopt liberal policy towards Germany but France opposed it. France was disappointed
with the policy of England and America and therefore she concluded treaties with Poland,
Belgium and Czechoslovakia. Hitler took advantage of this situation and signed a treaty
with Russia and this treaty was called the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact in the
history of Europe. Thus the Allies became weak due to their mutual differences and
distrust.
 IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF WORLD WAR II

Hitler’s Invasion of Poland – Poland had been declared an independent kingdom in the
Paris Peace Conference and therefore a Polish Corridor was also created through Germany in
order to join Poland with the sea coast. It ran up to the port of Danzig. This decision was
against the prestige of Germany. Hitler wanted to restore the lost glory of Germany by
adopting aggressive policy and launching attacks on different countries of Europe. The
fundamental aim of Hitler’s foreign policy was the establishment of Greater Germany. He
captured the province of Rhine, Austria and Czechoslovakia and established the Rome-Berlin
Axis. Hitler made a plan to attack Poland after taking Memel. He demanded Danzig and also
demanded that Polish Corridor to be ceded to Germany. France and England adopted the
policy of appeasement towards Hitler and Mussolini which encouraged them. They made
several efforts to appease the dictators instead of preventing their increasing powers
collectively. Poland on the other hand refused to accept the demands of Germany and was
dependent upon the military support of England and France. At last the British Government
ended the policy of appeasement and announced that Great Britain would come to the rescue
of Poland against German invasion. But Hitler did not pay any attention towards it and
invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The British Government was bound to help Poland
and therefore declared a war against Germany on September 3, 1939. Thus the Second World
War broke out in 1939.
 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. In which year did Hitler invaded Poland?

2. What was the immediate cause of World War II?
3. Who was the leader of Fascist party?

8.4 Nature of World War II

The Second World War was different from all the previous wars in many aspects. It was a total
war – a war in which all the resources of the state and the whole activity of the nation were
mobilized for war purposes. The omnipotence of the state was exercised as never before. It took
control of the activities of every sphere of life and subordinated them to the exigencies of the
war. Everybody was made to contribute to war efforts, Food and many other items were rationed,
private houses were requisitioned and factories were controlled. The scope and strategy of the
war was world-wide. The battles of World War II were fought in all the quarters of the globe – in
the ice floes of Arctic region, in the deserts of North Africa, in the jungles of Burma and New
Guinea, in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Islands of the Pacific in the Far East.

The Second World War was different in method and strategy from the First World War.
The most important feature of the First World War was that it was static and was trench warfare.
The Second World War on the other hand was characterized by unexampled mobility. Hitler’s
Blitzkrieg or lighting war struck down six nations within a time period of three months and it
was only possible because of the successful cooperation between the German land and air forces
and also the perfect organization of the supply services. Another characteristic of the war was the
use of airplanes as a dominant weapon. Air power shattered old traditions of attack and defence
and wiped away the distinction between combatants and non-combatants. The World War II was
also a war of ideas as of nations. The Nazis looked upon themselves as superior race and wanted
the inferior races to work for them. The aggressive policy of Nazis towards the other states
clearly reflected this philosophy. Apart from this Nazism stood for a totalitarian state in which
there was no room for individual freedom of any kind. Hence it was a big challenge to the
democratic ways of life prevalent in Western Europe. The ideologies of Nazis threw all human
rights and moral considerations to the winds as they committed crimes like mass murders at
concentration camps without any compunction of conscience. Hence fight against Nazism at that
time was compared to fight for freedom and civilization. That’s why the Allies formulated their
war aims in the Atlantic Charter of 1941. President Roosevelt summed up the war aims of the
Allies as consisting of four freedoms- Freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of
worship and political freedom. The same principle was announced in a joint declaration issued
by Roosevelt and Churchill at the Cassablanca Conference in January 1943. In declaring the
objective of the war to be the ‘unconditional surrender’ of the Axis Powers they said
‘unconditional surrender’ means not the destruction of the German populace, nor of the
destruction of Italian or Japanese populace but it mean the destruction of a philosophy in
Germany, Italy and Japan which is based on the conquest and subjugation of other peoples. Thus
the ideology of Allies stood in marked contrast to that of the Axis Powers. It is thus clear that
more than just political liberty was at stake. It was civilization as it has grown up in Europe that
was threatened.

The World War II was a global war. It was destructive and posed a challenge to mankind
that if wars of this kind were not stopped; human civilized will be wiped out very soon from the
surface of the earth. World War II was far more devastating both in terms of loss of material and
manual resources compared to World War I. Each warring nation and civilian population all
over the world suffered many hardships. Property worth crores and crores of rupees were lost
and lakhs of human lives were also lost. In the real sense of term it was a global war. In both the
World Wars propaganda played a main role and both the sides always kept their propaganda
machinery geared up. In the Second World War both military and civilian population got directly
or indirectly involved in one way or the other. Speed was also an contributing factor in the war.
Every war was taken at a tremendous speed, without any loss of time. All decisions were taken
promptly and mostly on the spot. Both the sides used extensively available sophisticated war
material for winning purpose. Air force and industry played a decisive role in the war.
 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

4. The Second World War was called a Total War. True or False.
5. The Nazis believed in the Master Race Theory. True or false.
6. Which country adopted the Blitzkrieg warfare?
7. The Cassablanaca Conference was held in which year?

8.5 Effects of the Second World War

1. The Second World War was a momentous event which changed the whole world. The loss of
human life and material goods was beyond calculation. About 40-50 million people lost their
lives and half of them were civilians. The destruction was greatest in the German-Soviet War and
Russian losses were estimated at 20 million dead. France lost around 50, 00,000 lives. The forces
of British Commonwealth lost some 4, 45,000 lives. In addition 60,000 civilians were perished
by aerial attacks. The United States estimated their loss at around 3, 00,000 military casualties.
Germany lost over 4 million out of which 1 million people were civilians. China and Japan loses
estimated at 6 and 3 million respectively. Italy lost around 3, 10,000 and half of them were
civilians.

2. The Second World War also caused enormous uprooting and displacement of people. German
conscription of labour in the occupied countries displaced millions of Europeans from their
homes. Millions were taken as prisoners. In the first three and half years of the war 30 million
Europeans had left their original homes. In the Balkans and Hungary, several hundred thousand
people had found themselves uprooted. Hitler and Stalin forceful movements were also
responsible for displacement of people. Hitler brought home German minorities from the South
Tyrol, the Baltic States, the Bukovina and the Dobrudja. Hitler also drove out Poles, Slovenes
and Czechs from their homes and tried to replace them with Germans. Likewise Stalin moved
Poles, Lithuanians and Estonians into Russia. This led to the problem of resettlement and re-
housing. The settlement of frontiers at Yalta and Postdam effected various transplantations. A
large number of Germans sought asylum in the British and American Zones of Occupation.
Massive war weariness added to human suffering and distress.

3. The material and moral havoc brought by the war was on a gigantic scale. Hundreds of
harbours were destroyed, miles of railway line, railway bridges, tunnels, road bridges and roads
were damaged and destroyed. Apart from these material resources were exhausted and
agricultural crops were reduced. But the greatest moral damage done by the war was hatred and
thirst for revenge.

4. The economic consequences of the war were far reaching. Though the United States, Canada
and South America had been enriched, the rest of the world had been impoverished. Trade was at
a standstill, transportation and communication had been disrupted, currencies were depreciated
and credit facilities uncertain and food and fuel stocks were inadequate. The recovery from these
conditions was slower in Eastern Europe than in the west. The position of United States in the
war gave her a upper hand. Her economic output, gold reserve, balance of trade was such that it
turned out that no country in Europe could achieve reconstruction without American aid. This
economic dependence of Europe upon the United States gave her the political primacy.

5. The political consequences of the war were immense. The immediate consequence was the
disappearance of the German state. Germany was divided into four zones, to be occupied and
administered by Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States in accordance with the
decisions reached at Yalta. In each zone the authority was vested in the military commander of
the occupying power and the four commanders together would constitute a ‘Control Council’ for
Germany as a whole.

6. Russia emerged from the war with enlarged territory. Apart from retaining all the territory
Karelia and the Baltic Countries like (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) Polish White Russia,
Bessarbia and Northern Bukovina were acquired as a result of the German-Soviet Pact. She also
added East Prussia, Ruthenia, East Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, South
Sakhalin, Dairen and Port Arthur. Russia showed tremendous resilience after the war.

7. The Second World War diminished Britain’s strength and crippled her economic resources.
With huge overseas debts Britain had no financial means for reconstruction. The position of
France also weakened because of Nazi occupation. Their situation was made worse by the
existence of various political groups and also the activities of Communists. As a matter of fact
French politics after the Second World War continued to appear as ‘an interregnum of dissent
between spell of chaos’.

8. The Second World War shifted the balance of power. Two great world powers emerged out of
the war i.e the United States and Soviet Russia. Both had been strong states before the war but
after the following years they became the arbiters of International events. In the struggle between
the two ideologies- Democracy and Communism the latter emerged with remarkable strength.
During 1946-47 the governments of Poland, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania, Rumania, Hungary,
and Czechoslovakia were converted step by step into communist dictatorships. Democratic
monarchies were restored in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium.

9. The destructive output of the Second World War opened the eyes of many countries. They
understood the fact that peace and harmony could only be established with mutual trust,
cooperation and friendship. They also realized that war was not an ultimate means for the
solution of the problems. After the First World War same feelings had arisen and League of
Nations was established on the basis of mutual cooperation. Although this organization
attempted to bring idealism to bear upon practical politics but this idealism evaporated before
selfish motives of different nations. Hence in the field of politics international cooperation failed
and Second World War broke out. After the end of Second World War the countries again
realized the necessity of mutual cooperation and therefore they decided to solve their issues
through peaceful discussions. The United Nations Organization (U.N.O) which was established
in 1945 was solely based upon this idea. Its fundamental aim was to maintain international peace
and security in order to develop friendly relations and international cooperation.

10. The war brought drastic change in the male-female ratio of world population. Millions of
youth particularly male, who were in their productive age lost their lives on the battlefield and it
created an imbalance in the male-female ratio.

11. The Second World War resulted in the growth of socialist principle particularly in African
and Asian Countries. A sense of disapproval against imperialism colonialism and capitalism
developed in these countries. They realized that the exploitation of their resources by other
nations was hampering their development. Countries like South Africa, Tunicia, Libya, Sudan
and Algeria started national movements for independence from colonialism. Likewise a Asian
countries like India, Celyon and Burma demonstrated examples of becoming independent
through nationalist movements which inspired Malaya, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and other
countries. Thus the hold of imperial powers in Asia and Africa gradually reduced.

12. The destruction left by the war created an environment suitable for anti-social elements and
criminals. In many countries there arose law and order problems. Crimes like smuggling,
hoarding and black-marketing began to increase. As the people were economically affected
many of them resorted to such illegal activities. Moreover the acute shortage of essential
commodities added fuel to the fire. Prices of commodities skyrocketed and many of the
commodities were only available in black-markets which increased corruption. The countries
found it difficult to start developmental activities as most of the resources were spent to
reconstruct destroyed properties.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

8. In which year the U.N.O was established?

9. Which Conference decided to divide Germany into four zones after the war?
10. Which two countries emerged as World Powers after the Second World War?

8.6 Let Us Sum Up

After going through this unit, we have learnt that-
 The Second World War by far the most destructive war ever fought in the history
of human kind.
 The main cause of the Second World War was the imperialist attitude of
Germany, Italy and Japan and the policy of appeasement initially adopted by
 other European powers. Germany, under the leadership of Hitler re-strengthened
her after the humiliating defeat in the First World War. Germany had kept a
grudge against the allied forces as she was compelled to sign the humiliating
Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Hitler wanted to dominate the world by his
aggressive policy and he was supported by Benito Mussolini, the Dictator of Italy.
 The Second World War began after Hitler attacked Poland in 1939. Great Britain
and France declared war against Germany following that. Soon the countries of
the world were divided into two distinct groups- Allied Power led by Great
Britain, France, Soviet Russia and the USA and the Axis Power, led by Germany,
Italy and Japan.
 The Second World War was fought all over the world, resulting in destruction of
property and loss of human lives in an unprecedented manner.
 After many battles, the Second World War ended in 1945. The world realized the
destructive nature of wars and efforts were made to create a warless world. It
resulted in the formation of the United Nations Organization.

8.7 Further Readings

1. Lipson, E. (2011) Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Since 1815), Surjeet
Publications, New Delhi.
2. Mukherjee, L. (1976) A Study of Modern Europe and the World (1815-1950), M.L
Mukherjee, Calcutta.
3. Briggs Asa and Calvin Patricia (2009) Modern Europe, 1789-Present, Pearson
Education Limited, New Delhi.
4. Lowe Norman (2011) Mastering Modern World History, Macmillan Publishers India
Limited, Chennai.
5. Ketelbey, C.D.M (2009) A History of Modern Times from 1789, Oxford University
Press, New Delhi.

8.8 Answers to Check Your Progress

 Answer to Q. No. 1: September 1, 1939
Answer to Q. No. 2: Hitler’s Invasion of Poland
Answer to Q. No. 3: Mussolini
Answer to Q. No. 4: True
Answer to Q. No. 5: True
Answer to Q. No. 6 : Germany
Answer to Q. No. 7: 1943
Answer to Q. No. 8: 1945
Answer to Q. No. 9: Yalta Conference
Answer to Q. No. 10: United States and Soviet Russia

8.9 Model Questions

Very Short Questions (Answer each question within 50 words)-
1. What was the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis?
2. Why Hitler invaded Poland?
3. Which Countries fought in World War II?
4. Why did England and France adopt the policy of appeasement towards
Germany?

Short question (Answer each question within 150-300 words)

1. How did the rise of Nazism and Fascism become one of the causes of the Second
World War?
2. To what extent the treaty of Versailles was responsible for the outbreak of Second
World War?
3. What was the immediate cause of Second World War?

Long questions (Answer each question within 300-500 words.)

1. Discuss the factors responsible for the outbreak of Second World War.
2. Elaborate the major consequences of the Second World War.