Answer
--What
is the Second
World War {1939—1945}
--Causes
of the war
--Effects
of the War
INTRODUCTION
World War II (WWII or WW2),
also known as the Second World War, was a global war
that lasted from 1939 to 1945, though related conflicts began
earlier. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations—including
all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military
alliances: the Allies and the Axis.
It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million
people, from more than 30 different countries. In a state of "total war",
the major participants threw their entire economic,
industrial,
and scientific
capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian
and military
resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust
(during which approximately 11 million people were killed) and the strategic bombing of industrial and
population centres (during which approximately one million people
were killed, including the use of two nuclear weapons in combat),
it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These
made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history.
World
War II, also called Second World War,
conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years
1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France,
Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a
lesser extent, China. The war was in many respects a continuation,
after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I. The 40,000,000–50,000,000
deaths incurred in World War II make it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the
largest war, in history.
Along
with World War I, World War II was one of the
great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical history. It resulted in the
extension of the Soviet Union’s power to nations of eastern Europe, enabled a
communist movement to eventually achieve power in China, and marked the
decisive shift of power in the world away from the states of western Europe and
toward the United States and the Soviet Union.
Axis initiative and Allied reaction
The outbreak of war
By
the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf Hitler had become determined to
invade and occupy Poland. Poland, for its part, had
guarantees of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to invade Poland
anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union
would resist the invasion of its western neighbour. Secret negotiations led on
August 23–24 to the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in Moscow. In a secret protocol of this pact,
the Germans and the Soviets agreed that Poland should be divided between them,
with the western third of the country going to Germany and the eastern
two-thirds being taken over by the U.S.S.R.
Having
achieved this cynical agreement, the other provisions of which stupefied Europe
even without divulgence of the secret protocol, Hitler thought that Germany
could attack Poland with no danger of Soviet or British intervention and gave
orders for the invasion to start on August 26. News of the signing, on August
25, of a formal treaty of mutual assistance between Great Britain and Poland
(to supersede a previous though temporary agreement) caused him to postpone the
start of hostilities for a few days. He was still determined, however, to
ignore the diplomatic efforts of the western powers to restrain him. Finally,
at 12:40 pm on August 31, 1939, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to
start at 4:45 the next morning. The invasion began as ordered. In response,
Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September
3, at 11:00 am and at 5:00 pm, respectively. World War II had started.
Causes of the Second World War
The Second World
War was caused by:
a. Hitler’s Aims
1.
To
unite German speaking people (using NSD which had been denied at the Treaty of
Versailles.
2.
He
wanted lebensraum (living space) in order to gain self-sufficiency (autarky)
3.
He
wanted to dominate Europe and the World
To achieve any of
these aims would involve breaking the Treaty of Versailles (28/6/1919), and
this could lead to war.
b. The aggression of Hitler’s Allies
1.
Italy – Mussolini wanted a Fascist-Roman
empire in the Mediterranean and Africa (e.g. Abyssinian invasion in 1935.)
2.
Japan – Japan wanted a Nipponese empire in
the Pacific, extending into China and Australia (e.g. Manchurian invasion in
1931)
Germany, Italy and
Japan were hostile to Communism (USSR), and this way a cause of war and vice
versa.
c. Democratic powers were passive
1.
USA – Isolated
2.
France – France was unlikely, and reluctant,
to intervene against Germany, because she could not rely on Britain’s and
America’s support.
3.
Britain – Between 1934 and 1937, Britain was
sympathetic to German recovery. Between May 1937 and March 1939, Britain
appeased Germany.
These powers could
have stopped Fascist aggression earlier than 1939.
d. The League of Nations failed to keep peace
War was caused by
a combination of ‘a’ to ‘d’, but Hitler’s aims and actions were the main cause
of war.
The effects of WW2 in Africa
Africans resisted
colonial rule from the outset, trying to hold on to their land, but were
not strong enough to defend themselves against European conquest. As a result,
most of Africa was colonized by 1900. Only Ethiopia and Liberia remained free.
After the First and Second World Wars colonial control of the continent began
to come apart. This was the result of a new political climate, the rise of
nationalism and the waging of independence campaigns in various colonies as
well as the new domestic priorities in the post-war period for colonial rulers.
The climate before WW2
By the early 1900s
European countries had succeeded in establishing their control in Africa. In
some cases like the Igbo people of Nigeria, colonial rule was achieved in 1910
shortly before the First World War in 1914.
Colonial rule in
Africa is studied in two periods, divided by the First and Second World Wars.
Africa's involvement in these two wars helped fuel the struggle for
independence from colonial rule. This was partly because participation of
Africans in these wars exposed them to ideas of self-determination and
independent rule.
The First World
War changed things in Europe and Africa. It destroyed the economy of European
countries. To rebuild their economies they turned to Africa's mineral and
agricultural wealth. Europe's growing interest in Africa's minerals led to her
expansion into the interior. The great depression that followed worsened the
already failing economies of Europe. The mining of mineral wealth from Africa
required the reorganization of colonial rule, which meant that the autonomy
chiefs and kings in Africa had maintained over the years would be increasingly
dissolved to make room for a more 'progressive' form of government. The result
of these changes was that land was taken away from Africans and given to white
settlers and colonial companies like the British South African Company for
farming and mining. This was also largely because shortly before the war, in
many colonies, the presence of Europeans was increasing, because by this time
colonial officers were chosen according to the requirements of colonial civil
administration. Experts were called in to help in the improvements in
areas-like agriculture and the collection of taxes from African people.
After the war
colonial governments began to introduce agricultural reforms aimed at improving
the revenues collected from African farmers. African societies were deeply
affected by these changes because most of them were still dependent on
agriculture for survival. Africans were now forced to sell their crops to
colonial markets at lower prices that would in turn sell these crops to an
international market at a much higher price. Colonies made a lot of profit in
this way. Many African farmers and rulers blamed the colonial government for
decreasing profits and as a result, people began to demand an end to colonial rule.
After WW2
Colonial
Developments in the Gold Coast
Following the
Second World War, colonial governments became increasingly aware that colonial
rule could not be maintained forever. They were under pressure to justify why
they were keeping African societies under their rule despite the United Nations
declaration that all people have the right to self-determination. People in
Africa had the right to be free and independent from colonial rule and colonial
governments had an obligation to co-operate in this.
Colonial
governments responded by saying Africans were being prepared for future
self-government. But many of them were not ready to hand over rule to African
people. Most European governments thought that colonial rule would end much
later. In colonies like Angola, Mozambique, Algeria, and Kenya African people
were forced to fight wars to win their independence.
As part of the
steps toward African self-governance, colonial governments began to invest in
education and schools in the colonies. This resulted in a growing number of
young educated black people whose social and political mobility was restricted
by colonial rule. These growing numbers of educated elites were frustrated with
the limited prospects they held under the colonial state. They were increasingly
driven to fight for an end to colonial rule. Self-rule became the slogan.
Nkwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, the former Gold Coast, changed
that slogan to 'independence now'. He captured the aspiration for self rule
with his popular slogan: "seek ye first the political kingdom, and the
rest shall follow". What he meant was that independence from colonial rule
was the only way to guarantee a better life for all Ghanaians.
In response to
these growing demands for self-rule, the British colonial government introduced
the Burns constitution in 1946. The Burns constitution, based on the
Westminster model, incorporated the elites, chiefs and kings of Ghana into the
colonial government. The majority of the people, many of them blue-collar workers
were excluded from government. Though rejected by Kwame Nkrumah's party, the
Burns constitution proved an important step towards independent Ghana's
constitution.
Other
Colonies
Most colonies in
Africa followed a route similar to that pursued by Britain towards her
colonies. There were differences. France believed that the colonies should
become French instead of independent and wherever possible sought to encourage
African colonies to accept this. Portugal on the other hand followed a
different route. After the Second World War, Portugal fell into the hands of
Salazar's regime. Salazar was a Nazi nationalist who believed that Portuguese
colonies were extensions of Portugal. Under his regime, Portuguese citizens
were encouraged to settle in the colonies. There was very little education and
effort on the part of the authorities to 'prepare' black people in the colonies
for eventual take over.
Instead of the
gradual and more peaceful approach characterized by the decolonisation of
British and French colonies, Portuguese colonies gained independence after a
long armed struggle. The war for independence ended when the Portuguese regime
of Salazar was overthrown by the military. The military had suffered huge
losses in the war. As a result, when they took control of their government they
were not interested in continuing a war they blamed for the economic problems
of their country. In 1975, the new Portuguese military government began to
negotiate with liberation movements in their colonies for independence.
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