WBBSE Chapter 6 The Second World War And Its Aftermath Salient Points Introduction
The germs of the Second World War lay in the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which was imposed on defeated Germany after the First World War. It was a humiliating and shameful treaty for Germany, imposing drastic losses and unbearable burdens on her. The treaty made the Germans desire to have it nullified as soon as possible.
Important Treaties After World War II
The problems and needs of the victorious powers in the First World War were also not settled by the Treaty of Versailles. The new states. which had arisen in central Europe felt insecure about their fate. There were also rivalries over the political ideologies of democracy and dictatorship. There was also the challenge of communism.
Read and Learn More WBBSE Class 9 History Notes
The Western democratic countries were not happy with the growing power of the USSR and the spread of communism in Eastern Europe, so they preferred to appease Germany and Italy.
Aftermath of World War II Summary
This emboldened Hitler. In 1938 he occupied Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Danzig on the Baltic Sea. On 1 September 1939, the German army marched into Poland. So Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3 and the Second World War started.
The war, in the beginning, proved to be highly favorable to Germany. From the end of 1944, the war situation began to change in favor of the Allies. In early 1945 the Allies launched massive attacks on Germany and the German armies surrendered. Japan’s surrender came a few months later when the USA dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
WBBSE Class 9 Second World War Notes
WBBSE Class 9 History Chapter 6 The Second World War and Its Aftermath Notes
The Second World War destroyed far more lives and properties than the First World War. In Germany, Russia, and Japan several millions of people lost their lives.
The signing of treaties after the Second World War did not mean the coming of peace. Armed conflict ended but a cold war between two superpowers-the USA and USSR started.
International agencies like the UNO were set up to settle international issues and for the establishment of peace, but these have not been able so far to prevent the armament race, in particular, nuclear armament which is a great menace to world peace even today.
One positive result of the war was that the war weakened the old colonial empires and forced them to grant independence to their colonies which they had held for generations