Submitted by: Najeeb Malik

Submitted to: Mr. Humayun Gondal

Roll No. 1217

Semester: second

Subject: Fundamentals of IR

GC University Lahore

THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR TWO ON EUROPEAN

ECONOMY

OUTLINES

 Introduction

 Great Depression 1929

 world war and the civilians

 German economy; before and after world war

two

 British economic position

 French loses

 Italy and WW Two

 Other European countries

 League of nation and world war two

 Comparison between Axis' and Allied forces

 Europe after world War two

 Emergence of Communism and Europe

 Critical Analysis

 Conclusion

Bibliography
Introduction

Human history is full of bloody wars which ultimately destroyed the

economy of empires. Moreover, the nature and consequences of wars differ
from one another but one thing is obvious that the bulk of civilians'
causalities occurred in such wars. When we deal with the wars in twentieth
century then both world wars were fought in this unlucky century.
Additionally, the causes of world war first have been discussed after the end
of war but there was no legitimate authority to stop the outbreak of Second
World War which is an enigma on human history. During the First World
War the expenditures and deaths is as follow;

It is argued that war is necessary for peace but when more than
9,450,000 men lost their costly lives with more than 208.5 billion dollars but
peace did not take place. It means that for world powers it was high time to
prefer peace instead of war. The world war in European territory had
started on September, 1939 when German troops invaded Poland and ended
on September 2, 1945 when the last Axis ally Japan surrendered after
nuclear weapons against her by United States. It is the bloodiest as well as
largest armed and direct conflict in the history which spread and involved
the bulk of world countries and the involvements of countries in such scale
is not found in any other war. But it will be injustice when we include
Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland because they remained very much
neutral; but it is said that they had helped Allied powers supplied numerous
important information.

Country Expenditures ($ bn)

Dead
 Britain 43.8 723,000

British Empire 5.8 198,000

France 28.2
1,398,000

Russia 16.3
1811,000

Italy 14.7
578,000

USA 36.2 114,000

Others 2.0 599,000

Total allied 147. 5,421,000

Germany 47.0 2,037,000

Austria-Hungary 13.4
1,100,000

Bulgaria Turkey 1.1 892,000

Total Axis 61.5 40,029,00

Total 208.5 9,450,000
1

Great Depression 1929

European have an habit that they always try to urge the under-developing
1
M Imtiaz Shahid, International Relations: An Introductory Guide (Lahore: Advanced Publishers, 2010), 39.
and developing countries to get lesson from the history but they forget that by early
1930s, the Great Depression [economic crisis] destroyed the world industrial economics
especially of the European but they did not get lesson and more than 6 million Germans
were not having jobs. Additionally, Wall Street Crash was a great symbol for the western
world but they ignored it and prepared their selves for another world war. After a decade
from the great depression, they initiated another devastating and useless war to satisfy
their heart and to expand their power and enforce their ideologies.

World War Two and Civilians

If we compare world war one with the world war two then we
come to know that during WW1 , Only 5 percent civilians died and 95
percent military men lost their lives while in World War Two it was reverse,
67 percent civilians and 33 percent military men were killed and the
economic loss of the people was extremely severe. Furthermore, when
United States attacked Japan, her target was Japanese not specifically
Japanese military as a revenge of Japanese aggression on Pearl Harbor in
1941, where more than five thousand American were killed and a large
number of war fare vessels were destroyed by the Japanese Air Force.
Holocaust was a vivid civilian genocide because Jews did not have a
separate state or a military and their population was scattered in Europe.
However, world war second is a period of civilian massacre.

Germany before and after World War Two

When Adolf Hitler emerged as the head of Germany, he adopted some

effective policies to overcome the economic crisis that that had occurred after First
World War. Moreover, Hitler’s first initiative was to strengthen German economy so that
he could take the revenge of First World War defeat. Furthermore, he used the
propaganda of German nationalism to get the maximum support from common German
to support his agenda. The people of Germany were having great resentment against the Allied
States after the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 which directly affected German economy
and it was not easy to rebuild the economy in such circumstances. . They considered it
as a total injustice to the German nation and to suppress through reparations and other
tactics. German regime increased taxes but there is no absolute data about the
percentage of taxes over the people before and after Hitler’s government. However,
Germany was having huge revenue that ultimately enabled her to wage war against her
enemies. Nazism also played a decisive part for public support of war. Hitler’s cardinal
vision was to make a strong military to capture world especially allied powers by hook or
crook. “In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, leading Britain and France to join the war
against Germany. Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with his archenemy Joseph Stalin
of the Soviet Union and threw his full army against France, occupying most of it quickly.
Hitler then double-crossed Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. This offensive
ultimately bogged down and was turned back after several years.”2

One can better understand that during 1945, Germany had lost 341 billion dollars which
was a huge amount and if this amount were used for the welfare of a nation then nation
could be the most prosper and advanced nation on world map. But alas human by
nature is greedy to usurp others property instead of availing its own property. Same is
the case with states; though Germans had an incredible intellectual class and scientists
were in a large number but Hitler’s dictations compelled them to pay attention on
military technologies and to render services for the military superiority of Germany. So,
Germany lost more than 7,357,000 lives and approximately 341 billion dollars which is a
great lost by any mean.” AS the war in Europe came to an end, a key issue was gaining
control of Germany’s technological expertise in rocket-propelled weapons and
especially the knowledge of Werner van Braw who was the central figure in German
rocket development program.”3

United Kingdom and WW2

Industrial Revolution in United Kingdom enabled the people of Britain to

2
Joshu Goldstein, International Relations, eighth edition, 28.
3
M Imtiaz Shahid, International Relations: An Introductory Guide (Lahore: Advanced Publishers, 2010), 39.
dominate the world economy .Moreover, British colonies were providing undeniable
boost to British economy but a large amount was being spent for silencing the freedom
movements in the colonies against British supremacy. British entry in world war two
because of German aggression on Poland; UK had signed a pact with Poland and
promised her to defend Poland’s sovereignty whenever a foreign aggression against
Poland initiated. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Britain gave an ultimatum of
24 hours which was rejected by Germany. So, Britain had to enter in this bloody war.
Woman participation against Germany is unique in British history and this participation
aggrandized the morale of English public and military against Nazis ideology which was
the cardinal agenda of Hitler to implement over the Europe after their defeat. However,
the dream of Hitler could not come real because Britain had established a WAR
DEPARTMENT to check the German expansion and made effective strategies to
counter German. On the other hand, United States provided modern weapons to Britain
and this equipment equipped the defense of United Kingdom. But British economy was
very much affected and more than 35 percent exports were down due to this war. And
the common people were affected and faced hurdles to run their kitchen properly.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of United States had contributed a
lot to defend Europeans from German expansion; his policies also helped UK to adopt
new tactics against the opponents. In 1939, British population was 47,760,000 and
during war there were total 450,900 deaths including 383,800 military and 67,100
civilians. More than 120 billion dollars were spent in this war which ultimately had a
negative impact on British economy; common exporters faced financial crisis when they
were unable to export their goods due to war. However, World War two no doubt, was
won by the Allied powers but the British supremacy on world politics was diminished
and the fragile economy compelled her to give full freedom to the colonies.

France in World War 2

France, once under the leadership of Napoleon was a great and powerful
empire and Napoleon had conquered a large territory and his campaign is regarded as
the Hitler of his era. During World War 1, France faced lots of human causalities. More
than 1,398,000 were dead and more than 28 billion dollars was lost and French
infrastructure was severely demolished and these loses compelled France to demand
reparations from Germany to rebuild France. During World War Two, France again
became an ally of Allied powers. Germany got victory over France within 42 days war.
Even, Paris and the Northern France soon became under the puppet fascist regime.
After, the defeat of Germany, all parties in France established a strong ministry of a
National Economy to rebuild the French economy because two world wars affected the
economy and it was a do or die situation for the people and leadership of France. After,
the world war two France became the largest recipients of US aid through Marshal Plan
which was initiated to help European countries to rebuild their economy. The pro-Nazis
were put behind bars and set up a constituent assembly which framed a constitution for
France. So, France had to get foreign aid to rebuild her economy. But whenever we see
the current policies of France then it is embarrassing that France favors the US Alliance
in waging wars, so one can claim that France is doing so because USA rebuilt her
economy through aid but it is not a valid logic because now France has a powerful and
stable economy, she should play a neutral role for world peace.

Italy and World War Two

Italy, an important player in international politics under the leadership

Mussolini had peculiar policies in Second World War. Moreover, Italian participation in
World War Two due to Fascist ideology and mentality of Mussolini. Italy had a great
influence in Africa and wanted to maintain her influence but Britain and France were
creating hurdles for Italy which irritated Italy. Additionally, Mussolini had a clear cut
policy to and he was planning to build an empire from strait of Gibraltar to the Strait of
Hormuz. Italy gave financial assistance to Spanish Nationalist Force in Spanish Civil
War. Coal Supply Conflict, was a burning issue and British refusal to provide coal and
German supply of one million tons for Italy in 1940 changed the entire political scenario
in Europe. In 1940, Italy declared war against Britain and France as an ally of Germany.
More than half million Italians including civilians lost their lives and the economy of Italy
became fragile and had to face numerous punishments after the defeat of Axis powers.

Other European countries

 World war two affected the each corner of Europe directly and indirectly.
Moreover, Hungary, Austria, Finland, Romania, etc. were also key players in Second
World War and their economy had to face various challenges and it took decades to
rebuild their affected economy. Poland, the first victim of German aggression lost its
beauty and the entire Poland portrayed the image of burnt forest. There was no single
area in Europe where troops were not deployed because world war did not have a
specific battle-ground; indeed, it was an open war without any ambit.

League of Nations and WW2

After the end of world war two, Germany was forced to give up her
territory and pay reparations during the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. Germany became
furious of such terms and such resentment compelled Germans to support Hitler when
he emerged as the leader of Germany. “The president of United States’ president
Woodrow Wilson worked for the establishment of an international organization to settle
international conflicts. He got success to establish League of Nations but could not
approve it from the U.S Senate which ultimately made this organization ineffective. [U.S
isolation from League of Nations and declining British power and a Russian crippled by
its own revolution left a power vacuum in world politics”4

If Treaty of Versailles gave relaxation to Germany and American Senate approved the
participation in League of Nations then the second world war second could not occur
because after the second world war two when the world states successfully established
United Nations which might have shortcomings but one thing is obvious that it at least
stopped a Third World War which should be appreciated.

Comparison between Axis’ and Allied forces loses

There is no exact number of human and property loses during world war
two. But after the end of war various figures and statistics were depicted by different

4
Joshu Goldstein, International Relations, eighth edition, 28.
states and associations. According to one of the sources, Allied Forces lost 18,587,000
people while Axis Powers lost 5,930,000. Total military causalities were 25,517,000 and
total civilian causalities were 55,014,000. It means that it was the murder of supremacy
in the universe because if in such a large number of humans die and we still claim to be
supreme creature then it is our misunderstanding because beasts cannot do such acts
as we humans have done and maligned the honor of humanity.

Europe after World War Two

For decades fighting like dogs in the streets of Europe, they learnt lot of
lessons and were determined to stop more wars. However, United States with strong
Military and economy emerged as a great international power and on the other hand
Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution in1917 became a communist empire. United
States was the staunch support of Capitalist ideology and wanted it to be implemented
in world economies while Russian had adopted communist ideology which did not
support private property. World was divided into two cardinal blocks, communist block
and capitalist bloc. United States initiated various plans and programs to get the support
of world by establishing marshal plan and Truman Doctrine. A Cold war was started in
the world between two politico-economic systems. Many states availed the aid in a
proper way and built their economy while many double crossed their masters. It was
actually the war to dominate world economy and every tactic was used to get
supremacy. At the end United States became a sole super power after the disintegration
of former Union of soviet socialist Russia into pieces.

Emergence of Communism and Europe

In post-world war two eras, USSR and United states became two rivals in
world politics and had two distinct ideologies. Communist ideology spread in many
states including European states. America became tense of communist speedy
expansion in Europe and wanted to stop its expansion by hook or crook. .As an
addition, Cuba became a communist political system and Russia used it to counter
American propaganda. Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 brought both super powers near to
nuclear war but the hotline contact diminished the war-like situation but the tension
continued. Afghan war changed the entire scenario, Russian invasion to Afghanistan
was a blunder; United States with the help of Pakistan stopped Russian expansion and
Russia became economically and politically weak and was compelled to opt for the
division of the USSR into many states. Europeans celebrated the triumph and Germany
became a united states and the wall of berlin was put down. After the disintegration of
Russia, Europe got numerous opportunities to boost up its economy and they
dominated the world and found many places to invest their wealth. They introduced a
single currency Euro and collective security was guaranteed under the banner of NATO.

Critical Analysis

After the First World War, the world powers failed to make a clear and
workable mechanism to bring peace. And there was no any platform to settle the
conflicts of states. Though League of Nations was a great idea but American isolation
made it obsolete and ineffective. Moreover, the hard terms imposed on Germany in
Treaty of Versailles in 1919, created resentment among the Germans and they felt the
sense of deprivations and German nationalism got fuel which after the rise of Adolf
Hitler burst like a volcano in the shape of Second World War. Second World War was
the bloodiest war in human history. Allied forces and Axis forces fought fiercely without
any specific purpose. Civilians were massacred in such a way that nobody can imagine.
Human blood became cheaper than water, even water was not available but
everywhere blood was present. More than 60 million human were died and the world
economy came down. Millions of people died due to famine and diseases but alas,
there was not a single association to diminish their miseries. World powers accuse each
other for waging such war but none of them was ready to come on the table before the
surrender of Germany and Japan. Nuclear weapons were used to deter the opponents
but nobody cared about the reactions of such weapons. The GDP OF Europe came
down and the infrastructure of beautiful cities depicted the picture of burnt forest. United
States and Russia were fighting against the similar enemy but after the war they
initiated another war in the name of cold war to get supremacy over the world economy
and politics. This war is an enigma in human history and cannot be forgotten and after
the war United Nations became the guardian of peace; though it got success to stop
third world war but failed to stop other issues including a cold war between the world
leading super powers. I we see today’s Europe then it is very much different. They have
strong economy and political systems and leading the world in every field of life but
whenever it is seen that in the name European Union or peace they favor American
invasion on the developing states then it appeals us that they still have not become
mature enough to opt for negotiations instead of war. Peace should be the first priority
of the Europe because they better understand the results of war and peace should be
given chances and they should not interfere in the internal issues of Asian and African
states and should work for a united world as they do for a united Europe. Economy of
Europe though became unable to diminish the miseries of the people after the war but
with the passage, they successfully got victorious to overcome the shortcomings and
world war two was also a positive event for many European colonies as their masters
became weak and their economy became unable to bear the expenses of military
deployed in the colonies. When they raised their voices for freedom then their voices
were not silenced as they had done in 1857 in war of independence for India rather the
European umpires adopted a reconciliatory and soft policies to deal with the colonies.
As an addition, saying that German nationalism was buried after the defeat of German
alliance is a wrong conception because until now German have their superiority
mentality and they still have a wish to rule but globalization has been a challenge for
such mentality because the modern age is the age of trade and flexibility. Without trade
no state can aggrandize the life standard of its people which had promised in its
constitution. The number of world nuclear powers has increased but it is a positive
symbol that they showed maturity by not using them against each other.

Conclusion

After discussing the background, events, the role of European countries,

the human and economical loses, the role of league of nations, the comparison between
Axis and allied forces, the condition of Europe after the end of world war, the
emergence of communism and giving my own analysis over these points I have come to
know that the world war two changed the entire world politics and the priorities of the
European powers who became very weak and were unable to maintain their domination
in colonies and for the colonies it was a golden opportunity to get full independence
from the slavery of the European umpires within a short span of time. United States and
Union of Soviet Socialist Republic emerged as the two powerful military and economic
powers and to spread their influence, they adopted various tactics and a cold war
started and it took nearly four decades to end this cold war when the Soviet Union
collapsed.

Summing up, world war two destroyed the world economy and Europe
became the victim of this bloody war and the economy was affected and took time to
overcome the crisis. It is the time that Europe should render the services for world
peace and should not ignite fire in developing countries for their economic interests

Bibliography

>Joshu S.Goldtein, International Relations, eighth edition

>Prakash Chander, International Relations, Cosmos Bookive (p) LTD, New

Delhi, sixteenth edition

>M Imtiaz Shahid, International Relations: An Introductory Guide, Advanced Publishers

Lahore, 2010

>Rodee/Anderson/Christol, Introduction to Political Science, International Student

edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company, INC.

THE END
.