Consequences of the Second World War

End of the war

On 25 April 1945, members of the Soviet Army surrounded the German capital of Berlin. On the same day, Soviet troops and their American allies launched a joint attack on central Germany. On 30 April 1945, Hitler committed suicide in his command bunker near the Chancellery. After heavy fighting, General Alfred Jodl represented the German High Command and signed an unconditional surrender of all German military forces on 7 May 1945. This marked the end of WWII in Europe.

(from left to right) Wilhelm Oxenius, Gen. Alfred Jodl and Hans-Georg von Friedeburg during the signing of surrender in Reims, France

At the time of surrender, Nazi Germany still occupied western Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and western and central Czechoslovakia. It was Gen. Dwight Eisenhower who insisted on Germany's unconditional surrender.

The following day, 8 May, a second four-powers surrender ceremony was held in a former German Army engineering school in the Berlin district of Karlshorst. This day is now celebrated as Victory-in-Europe Day (V-E Day). The surrender document had three language versions - Russian, English and German. The surrender document was drafted by the European Advisory Commission composed of American, British and Soviet representatives in 1944. The unconditional surrender document was planned to be signed by representatives of the German High Command, to avoid the events following the Treaty of Versailles (WWI peace armistice which was signed by civilians).

Meanwhile, the imperial announcement of Japanese surrender was heard on 15 August 1945, but was formally signed on 2 September 1945. This ended the war mainly between the US and Japan in the Pacific theatre. Japan's surrender was called Victory in Japan (V-J Day). The signing of the surrender agreement took place aboard USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.

Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri, 2 September 1945

Consequences of the war

YALTA. Between 4 and 11 February 1945, a meeting occurred between the heads of the government of the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union. Commonly referred to as the 'Big Three', Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Premier Joseph Stalin congregated near Yalta in Crimea.

Key points of the Yalta Conference:

• Roosevelt wanted to assure their victory against Japan. He sought military assistance from Stalin in exchange for Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, as well as railroad rights in Manchuria and two water ports.
• The creation of the United Nations with the cooperation of the Big Three.
• The unconditional surrender of Germany with $20 billion in reparations.
• Germany would be divided into four occupation zones.
• A free election in eastern Europe such as in the case of Poland.

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POTSDAM. Between 17 July and 2 August 1945, the heads of the government of the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union convened in Potsdam, Germany. In May 1945, Germany had completely surrendered. Prior to this, Roosevelt died on 12 April and was replaced by Harry Truman. Moreover, Churchill had lost the 1945 election and was replaced by Clement Attlee. Hence, the two represented the United Kingdom at the conference.

(from left to right) Attlee, Truman and Stalin at the Potsdam Conference, 1945

Key points of the Potsdam Conference:

• Allied recognition of Soviet control in Poland
• Prosecution of war criminals and return to pre-war borders
• Decentralisation, demilitarisation and denazification of Germany
• Transformation of Germany's heavy industry economy into a combination of agriculture and light domestic industry
• It also outlined the terms of surrender for the Japanese.

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Considered as one of the bloodiest wars in history, WWII left some 70 to 80 million casualties. This included over 20 million military personnel and over 40 million civilians, or around 3% of the world's population (1939 census).

Aside from deliberate killings, millions of civilians died from starvation, bombings and disease. Based on statistics, about 85% of WWII casualties were on the Allied side, mostly Soviets and Chinese, while the remaining 15% were on the Axis side. The majority of Allied civilian casualties was caused by German and Japanese war crimes.

Mass bombing

Another deadly military measure during the war which caused millions of casualties was mass bombing. In addition to industrial regions and military headquarters, civilian areas including Warsaw, Rotterdam, London, Tokyo, Dresden, Hamburg and Cologne became victims of mass bombing. Considered a war crime, these bombings resulted in the destruction of thousands of cities and death of millions of civilians.

Bubble chart showing civilian deaths in WWII strategic bombing

War crime trial

After the war, most Nazi and Japanese leaders were brought to trial accused of committing crimes against humanity. Such crimes included slave labour, the Holocaust and inhumane treatment of prisoners of war. Between 1945 and 1949, a series of trials, known as the Nuremberg Trials, was conducted in Germany. In December 1942, the Big Three issued a joint declaration on the mass murder of European Jewry. Stalin himself proposed the execution of about 50,000 to 100,000 German staff officers, while Churchill thought of the possibility of summary executing high-ranking Nazi officers. However, American leaders proposed that a criminal trial would be more effective.

Former Nazi leader Hermann Göring standing in the prisoner's box during the Nuremberg Trials

On 8 August 1945, the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal established the laws for the Nuremberg Trials. It defined the following crimes:

• crimes against peace
• war crimes
• crimes against humanity. From 20 November 1945 until 1 October 1946, the Trial of Major War Criminals was held. The Nazi Gestapo was deemed criminal. Like Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels committed suicide before they could be brought to trial.

On 16 October 1946, ten were executed by hanging. Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, committed suicide using cyanide the night before his execution. In the following years, the Doctors and Judges Trials were held.

Denazification was a systematic process employed by the Allies of removing Nazi ideology and influence throughout Germany. The following were employed:

The Nazi Party was prohibited from promoting National Socialist ideas, and defiance was punishable by death.

The Nazi symbol, the Swastika, along with other emblems were banned in public.

Former Nazi members were taken to concentration camps for tours and were made to watch videos of how the Jewish prisoners were treated.

The methods were used to force Germans to see the crimes committed by the Nazi regime and to re-educate them. By 1946, involvement in Nazism was classified into major offenders, offenders, lesser offenders, followers and persons exonerated.

Formation of the United Nations

In 1944, as vulnerable countries continued to struggle with the horrifying effects of WWII, leaders of the Allied powers such as the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of China met in Washington, DC at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference to establish an international organisation dedicated to ensuring peace and cooperation between world nations. Signed and ratified by 51 founding countries, the United Nations (UN) emerged as a postwar peacekeeping organisation and forum to develop friendly relations between world nations and prevent war from happening again.

From 25 April to 26 June 1945, world nations that had signed the UN Declaration and declared war against the Axis powers, plus another four sponsors and invited countries, took part in the San Francisco Conference to draft the UN Charter that would be agreeable to all countries.

Image showing the delegates of the 'United Nations' when it was first coined in 1942