Countless nations have engaged in a succession of conflicts for various reasons, most of which they have attempted to justify. World War II was a worldwide struggle that extended from 1939 to 1945 and included many nations globally, including all of the world’s superpowers. Some nations have accepted that they have the right to interfere in other countries after Global War II, but this does not ensure world peace and encourages many countries to use force wherever needed. Some negative repercussions have resulted from the glorification of World War II. Following this, several nations in the Western world have accepted the notion that they have the right to get involved in some events taking place elsewhere and exert influence over such occurrences (Kelly). The assumptions at the heart of this thinking are that they are virtuous enough to discern what is politically correct or incorrect. These nations also think that the end must justify the means, even using simple techniques, due to their belief in self-righteous actions.
The tragic event that humans endured as a result of World War II has reached its zenith in the sense that despite the application of force, that resulted in the death of many people. Some nations that won the war have still been unable to achieve security or peace in their respective countries. The majority of such superior nations are still in ruins, much more so than the countries they defeated in the wars of independence. However, even if one believes that the world has returned to normal after World War II, it will be difficult to deny that most nations and individual families who suffered due to the war are still grieving decades later.
After Hitler attacked Poland, the beginning of World War II was signaled. Edwards et al (2018) claims that on September 1, 1939, Hitler unleashed a series of attacks against Poland. Germany was declared a state of war by Britain and France only two days later. In 1939, the United States announced the start of World War II. The growth of fascism in Germany, Italy, and Japan also contributed to the outbreak of World War II in these countries. Hitler became increasingly aggressive in 1938 due to the failure of appeasement. In response to Hitler’s emboldening by the appeasement, Britain, and France let him continue to attack other regions, including Rhineland, Ethiopia, and China, in the hope that Hitler would stay away. During Hitler’s territorial vow in 1938, the Munich Conference came close with this announcement. Apart from that, Stalin and Hitler signed the Non-Aggression Pact, which astonished the world and was critical in bringing about World War II. His aim to conquer German-speaking Austria was made evident, according to Edwards et al (2018). He deployed soldiers to grab a portion of Czechoslovakia as well. The threat of war loomed large since Czechoslovakia was allied with France. With Hitler’s threats to invade Poland, the United Kingdom, and France warned him that if his aggressiveness continued, a war would occur.
The rise of Nazism and Hitler is primarily attributed to World War I reparations, according to Edwards et al (2018). Increasing unemployment, labor unrest, fear of communication, economic misery, and large World War I reparations payments all contributed to Hitler’s rise to power and the rise of the National Socialist Party (NSP). Hitler gained notoriety because the Reichstag granted him dictatorial powers to deal with Germany’s economic crisis, which he used to his advantage. This authority allowed him to abolish political parties, imprison his political rivals, and proclaim himself the country’s leader. He initiated persistent and ruthless oppression of Jews, which evolved into an extermination campaign in the early 1940s, according to Edwards et al (2018), after he gained power in the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the Rome-Berlin Axis reinforced his authority, which provided the tactical and strategic advantages that made France and Great Britain unwilling to challenge him militarily. The Rome-Berlin Axis, a military and political partnership between two fascist states, was pushed upon the world by Hitler and Mussolini, according to Edwards et al (2018). In 1936, Germany forged a treaty with Japan to form a military alliance against the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union fought the Battle of Kursk alone in 1943, and it was a decisive victory. Stalin was impatient and therefore wished to alleviate pressure on the army of the Soviet Union, which led to this conflict. According to Edwards et al (2018), Stalin sought the Americans and British to establish a second front with a significant Germany invasion via France to alleviate pressure on the army of the Soviet Union. Stalin appealed to the Allies, but they were not ready at the time, so Stalin went ahead and took action on his initiative. Stalin’s petitions remained ignored for 18 months, resulting in the Soviet Union being compelled to suffer the battle, as explained by Edwards et al (2018). It is estimated that the Soviet army suffered around 860,000 casualties during the 1943 Battle of Kursk. The Battle of Stalingrad occurred due to German soldiers pressing more profound into the territory of the Soviets and attempting to capture control of the Suez Canal during World War II. Because of the destruction of American oil and supply convoys by U-boats. In early 1944, according to Edwards et al (2018), Soviet forces had successfully stopped the German advance at Stalingrad, and Stalin’s soldiers had successfully pushed the German army out of the Soviet Union by that time. During the Battle of North Africa, the Allies mounted a counteroffensive; Eisenhower and General Patton successfully defeated the German Afrika Korps. The Battle of the Bulge began after Germany gained control of Italy due to Churchill’s error in assaulting the country’s weak core.
The Battle of the Bulge, which took place under the leadership of General Eisenhower, includes a reference to D-Day. It also provided the Allies with a second front against the Germans, bringing them one step closer to victory in Europe. Thanks to the efforts of the Allied forces, Paris was freed, and the Germans were forced out of the majority of France and Belgium. The Germans weren’t ready to give up in Belgium and launched their last onslaught. The Battle of the Bulge, which took place in December 1944, was the final attack the Allies launched in Belgium before being forced back over the Rhine River into Germany. Soldiers encircled the Germans from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Germany eventually surrendered on May 7, 1945, when Hitler took his own life in a bunker. The Battle of the Coral Sea was triggered by Japanese troops threatening India and Australia and forcing United States forces to surrender in the Philippines, causing the war of the Coral Sea.
Edwards et al (2018) claims that during the war of the Coral Sea, that happened in May 1942 off the coast of southern New Guinea, they were able to put a stop to the Japanese push on Australia. During the Battle of Midway Island, which took place in June that year, the American navy suffered significant losses against the Japanese navy. The victory in the two fights was achieved using planes fired from American aircraft. General Douglas launched an attack on the Pacific Theater. For example, according to Edwards et al (2018), in October 1944, Nimitz and MacArthur launched their campaign to reclaim the Philippines by winning the War of Leyte Gulf, a decisive naval battle in which the Japanese fleet was nearly completely destroyed. These conflicts gave the United States victory against Japan’s intelligence against fascism. According to Edwards et al (2018), they drew similarities between anti-Semitism in Germany and racial discrimination in the United States, and called for triumph against Nazism abroad and home.
The Double V campaign played a crucial role in African Americans’ triumph against fascism. As Edwards et al (2018) points out, black leaders conducted the Double V campaign, which called for triumph against Nazism abroad while combating racism at home. He draws similarities between racial discrimination in the United States and anti-Semitism in Germany. Du Bois, a black leader, participated in this and was essential in the emergence of black activism. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt refused to take any action to increase the number of black employees employed by the government, Philip Randolph stepped in. Randolph announced preparations for a march on Washington in the summertime of 1941, which took place in July. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wished to prevent public outcry and issued executive order 8802. According to Edwards et al (2018), the order barred discernment in the hiring of defense industry or government employees based on national origin, color, creed, race, and formed the Fair Employment Practices Committee. During World War II, code talkers played a significant role. According to Edwards et al (2018), Native American code talkers were among the essential warriors throughout World War II. For fleet commanders in the Pacific theater of operations, native Navajo speakers relayed commands to them. As a result, the Japanese could not understand their code, which was very useful during the Iwo Jima battle.
As Edwards et al (2018) points out, throughout the European theater of operations, army officials used Cherokee, Choctaw, and Comanche speakers to resist the Nazis and transmit crucial military commands on the battlefield. Any Axis power never broke these Native American codes. Citizens’ attitudes against Japanese Americans began to worsen as they were worried about spies, sabotage, and other attacks on their property. In response to anti-Japanese sentiment in the early months of 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which allowed the War Department to remove Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast and hold them in internment camps for the duration of the war. Gordon Hirabayashi could get this removed by vigorously protesting his detention and appealing his care decision.
When the war ended in 1942, a new image of working women emerged. In the opinion of Edwards (2018), government officials and business recruiters encouraged women to pursue positions in the military industry, thereby developing a new image of working women. Numerous women left low-wage employment to work in the factories, earning much more money. Female labor force participation reached 36% in 1945, according to Edwards et al (2018), up from 24% at the start of World War II. On the other hand, Rosie the River was often out of a job when soldiers came home from the war. According to Edwards et al (2018), government propaganda now pushed women to return to the home, where it was claimed that their real purpose lay in the role of mothering a household. The reality is that most married women either failed to bring on aprons or couldn’t afford to do so.
The Holocaust has become recognized as one of the most heinous acts of human cruelty ever committed against human beings. Approximately six million Jews were killed in extermination camps, with another 6 million Gypsies, homosexuals, Slavs, Poles, and others. According to Edwards et al (2018), the ultimate solution of Hitler for the Jewish population of Germany and the German-occupied countries was the extermination camps.” Many Jews left Europe hoping that the United States would come to their aid, but the United States refused to alter its stringent immigration regulations to accept them. FDR also declined to let the SS St. Louis dock, transporting more than a thousand Jewish passengers. Approximately 200,000 European Jews were relocated to other countries. Edwards et al (2018), claims that the War Refugee Board, which was established in 1944 at the request of Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau and was subsequently established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, played a role in the relocation.
The atomic bomb is considered one of the most devastating weapons ever developed. The Manhattan Project was the catalyst for the development of nuclear weapons. According to Edwards et al (2018), the Manhattan Effort was a top-secret mission approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 to create an atomic weapon before the Nazis. Fermi and Szilard, exiles from Italy and Germany, were responsible for developing the first highly processed uranium nuclear weapon. When Truman launched the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, he was able to convince Japan to surrender. In the aftermath of Globe War II, the world was altered. It led to many violence and fatalities, many of whom were civilians. It resulted in losses in various nations and will be recognized as one of the worst conflicts in the history of our globe for a long time to come.
As a consequence of the United States’ bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6, 1945, Japan conceded defeat. As a result, the second World War II ended. Total warfare was used to describe this particular kind of conflict since it was so extraordinary. The battle caused unprecedented levels of human devastation, which had never been seen before. Germany, which comprised Nazi-Axis states, Italy, historically known as Fascist, and Imperial Japan, to name a few participants, were among those there (Brown). Military forces and their commanders accompanied the individuals listed above. Adolf Hitler, for example, was the leader of Germany (Brown). He coached and instructed his warriors on what they should do till he was defeated and committed himself (Brown). He did not believe it was necessary to prolong the fight since his force had grown weak and had shrunk significantly.
Particularly in the United States, WWII was widely viewed as the last “Good War.” Nazism and fascism, which personified unimaginable evils, were often depicted as adversaries in the Second World War. A total of about 70 million people perished, including the nuclear bombs of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which kicked off the nuclear weapons race. Although these hostile forces of Nazism were defeated, a disturbing description of the killings perpetrated by the allied troops and the unintended effects of those massacres indicates that this was not the case. That notion of good war is rendered invalid. It was the last major global conflict to include the world’s most powerful countries, and it occurred during World War II (Kesternich, et al). These countries dominated and ruled the globe, and they were referred to as “Great Powers” at various points throughout history. On the other hand, the “good” powers, such as the United States of America, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union were Allies. On the other, excellent powers such as Germany, Italy, and Japan were known as the Axis. The war claimed the lives of fifty million to seventy million people, making it the deadliest conflict in history. Many more deaths were recorded in the Allied camp than in the Axis camp.
It was anti-Vietnam War opponents who made the first public appeals to the “good war” theory, arguing that their opposition to the planned attack on Asian internal relations was justified by comparing it to the goodness of World War II’s goal. World War II was a struggle that pitted fascism and Nazism against one another. It is most recognized for the genocide perpetrated and the concentration camps built throughout the fight. Nonetheless, the “good” conflict left a trail of less-than-positive information, culminating in the devastating aftermath.
References
Brown, James D. Japan, Russia and their Territorial Dispute: The Northern Delusion. Routledge, 2016.
Edwards, Rebecca, et al. America’s History, Volume 1. Macmillan Higher Education, 2020.
Kelly, Tim. “Was the “Good War” Really Good? – The Future of Freedom Foundation.” The Future of Freedom Foundation, 5 Dec. 2012, www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/was-the-good-war-really-good/.
Kesternich, Iris, et al “The Effects of World War II on Economic and Health Outcomes across Europe.” The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 96, no. 1, 2014, pp. 103-118.
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