Anything in Civ 1

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Title: History Event
Introduction
Over the past centuries in the World, quite a lot has happened. Whatever has happened in the past is often referred to as history. For our study purposes, we are going to consider a historical event which happened in the past. Definitely these historical events affect the way people in the World behave and interact with each other. By this, I mean that the event has a psychological impact on the lives of the people who were affected by the said event. For some people fear is created, trauma, while to others the events create room for more coexistence between the involved parties.
In some cases, these historical events have an underlying effect on the relations between various countries and their neighbors. About this, some historical events lead to greater interactions and relations between the involved countries, while to others increased enemity is created. This can’t be blamed on the government of the day but on a historical event which led to strained relationships between the two. However, there is still room for countries which became enemies and foes due to a historical event to reconcile.
On the other hand, we have to consider the impact of the historical event to the World. Would the World still be same as it is currently without the historical event? To better understand this, we are going to have a look at the impact of the historical event regarding economic impact, social relations, international relations, foreign relations, etc. Some historical events have greater impact compared to others.
Based o the above introduction, I guess the reader is motivated to read the historical event I’m about to introduce. In the mind of the reader, vivid pictures concerning the historical event have already begun being visualized. Just a preview of my historical event, it will cover a war which happened in the World in the 20th century. This event will be discussed and researched by scholars for years to come in the World. From my research, no historical event will even surpass this war. Other than the myths on creation and evolution which might compete for top position in this war, the rest are just lesser historical events. What I’m talking about is the Second World War (Stuart 2012).
Overview of the Second World War
The Second World War is a war which happened in the World in the 20th century. It took place between the years 1939 to 1945. This marked six years characterized by bloodshed and property destruction. The war involved most countries of the World which were superpowers at that particular time. The war mainly involved over three countries which were assumed to be the most economically developed countries in the World. When it came to war technology, the countries were considered among the best. This is the reason why they were being referred to as the World Superpowers at that particular time.
However, this doesn’t mean that the rest of the countries in the World were not affected. In fact, almost all the countries in the World Produced some soldiers who were directly involved in the Second World War. For instance, during the war, most countries which had not been colonized were protectorates of the superpowers mainly involved in the war. Hence the colonizers took the soldiers of their subject countries and put them on the battlefield to fight on their behalf. This explains one of the reasons why the war is considered to be the greatest war ever experienced in the World.
Secondly, the war is the greatest based on the number of the casualties and the property destruction. It is estimated that to the minimum 50 million people lost their lives and on the higher side 85 million people are assumed to have died. Most of those who died were civilians who were caught in the crossfire while the soldiers engaged each other. Other than the deaths most people have scars and health conditions which have been transferred over to the next generations genetically. Examples include those who were affected by the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Further, when it came to the destruction of property, some countries were wiped to dust. Considering that most of these countries were recovering from the effects of the First World War, now they were hit by another catastrophe in the name of the Second World War. It would take years for most of these countries to recover from the effects of the war. Most of the developed countries we are currently seeing were some of the most affected by the Second World War.
Major Players in the War
Though the Second World War began in 1939, it is often believed that instances leading to the war had begun as early as the year 1937. This marked two years where most countries were almost certain that a big military conflict was about to happen in the World but no country was willing to start the conflict. The war began in the current region of Asia and the Pacific region. During the 1930’s Japan was the most economically developed and industrialized country in the region. China followed it. However, Japan wanted to be the undoubted supreme ruler of the Asian and Pacific regions. To achieve this, it had to eliminate competition from China. This could only be done through war, where Japan began attacking China in wars such as the Balkan War (Anthony 1994).
However, the actual war began on the 1st day of September in 1939. It began with Germany attacking the country of Poland. Germany was under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. As a result of Germany attacking Poland, allies of Poland declared immediate war on Germany. These allies were first led by France which declared war on Germany immediately. France was backed by the United Kingdom and China. The countries behind Poland and France were referred to as the allied nations during the war. However, Japan attacked the US in the year 1941 marking the late entry of US into the war under the allied forces. With no time the US had taken control of leadership among the allied forces.
On the other hand, Germany fought under the Axis forces umbrella. Germany got support from, Japan and Italy. Initially, the axis forces had gained more control in the European region. It was now becoming a reality that the Axis forces would emerge the eventual winners of the Second World War and assume superiority in the World. However, in 1942 the odds began to change when Japan was defeated in the Mid Way battle. On the other hand, Germany and Italy were defeated by the Allied forces in Africa. However, the war had to wait till 1945 for it to end. First, it began with the capture of Italy by the allied forces later followed the suicide of Adolf Hitler forcing Germany to surrender. However, it was not until September 2nd when Japan surrendered to the allied forces marking the end of the war. Also, this marked the win of the allied forces. In 1945, the US used atomic bombs on Japanese soil dropping them at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In history, this is the only time atomic bombs have ever been used in the World (Charles 2012).
Now from the chronological effects of the participants and their involvement in the Second World War, this is what has shaped the current political and economic position of the World. This has been achieved through some ways as we are going to see later in the following chapters of the paper.
The War Led to the Formation of Various Bodies
After the war ended, we had the formation of various bodies, both NGO’s and economic-based bodies. Allegiance formed These bodies. Others were formed by agreements. Also, most of the trade forums in Europe are attributed to the Second World War. Let’s have a look at some of the bodies formed
United Nations (UN)
United Nations is arguably the largest Non Governmental organization in the World. UN has very many subsidiary bodies which include UNICEF, UNCTAD, etc. The major participants of the Second World War have the greatest membership when it comes to allocation of executive positions at the UN. They include US, United Kingdom, China, Japan, Russia, Germany, Italy, and France.
The UN was initially formed to prevent another war as great as the Second World War from happening in the World. This explains why the UN is at the forefront when it comes to acting as a mediator in countries on the verge of experiencing war. On the other hand, the UN acts as a negotiator between fighting parties in the war to come up with a binding agreement and solution to the war. The UN also has a special branch composed of military personnel from almost all member countries. This military personnel is deployed to areas experiencing war to protect the citizens and bring a sense of calmness (Karen 2007).
Further, the UN offers humanitarian aid to both soldiers and civilians affected by war. The resources used to cater for humanitarian aid are obtained from the member countries and other good wishers in the World. The special military branch of the UN also offers protection to those providing humanitarian aid to the victims. If not for the Second World War UN couldn’t have been formed.
Formation of the World Bank
After the Second World War most countries were left struggling economically. These countries had limited workforce since most of their civilians had been killed or injured during the war. Further, the industries in most of these countries had been destroyed. In short, economically these countries were at their knees. An urgent solution was needed to bring the economy of these countries back to their feet.
To achieve this, these countries required funds and capital to do so. Countries which had capital surplus came up together and pooled their resources in one common pool. From this common pool, countries largely affected by the war had to borrow from this pool to rebuild their economies. The common pool of resources is what was referred to as the World Bank. To date, the World Bank offers loans to countries which are in need of financial aid. Most of the aid is channeled towards development. The World Bank has also helped countries like Greece to recover from the recession.
Formation of the Common Wealth
After the Second World War, the United Kingdom saw the need of having a strong force to back it up in times of need. To achieve this, the country decided to bring all its protectorates together. Hence the Commonwealth is composed of countries which were colonized by the UK including the US. These countries are brought together with common agendas amongst themselves.
The main agenda of the Commonwealth is to empower all its member states economically. Secondly, the Commonwealth comes handy to assist member countries which are experiencing an economic or political crisis. This explains why commonwealth is at the forefront in ensuring peaceful power transition in its member states.
Creation of Trade Agreements and Economic Relations
When it comes to trade agreements and relations, this topic should be approached with a lot of caution. This is the main reason which has created friendship and enemity between major players of the Second World War. Let’s start with the trade relations between China and Japan. Since the Second World War, the relations between Japan and China have never been fully mended. To date, these two countries are experiencing some enemity between themselves. This has also affected the relationships between citizens of both countries.
On the other side due to the Second World War relations between some countries were strengthened. A good example includes the relation between Japan and the US. Though these countries were fighting against each other during the war, after the war they became a great friend regarding foreign affairs and trade too. After the war, US took over control of Japan to disarm the country. However, this did not affect the relations between Japan and the US are currently in a strategic meeting on how to prevent the increasing threat posed by North Korea to the World security and Peace. Also economically US and Japan are major trade partners (Peter 1996).
NB- After the Second World War, most of the countries in the World reached an agreement that at no time in the World will atomic weapons be used again in war. This was based on the destruction witnessed at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. To date, no atomic weapons have been used again in war though Iran and North Korea are posing a threat to this.
Conclusion- From the above, one gets to see that the current position of the World has been largely influenced by events after the Second World War. If not for the limited number of pages I would have given more examples.
References
Stuart, D. The Soviet Japanese War of 1939. The Diplomat (2012).
Charles, F. The Defeating of Japan. Palgrave Macmillan Press (2012).
Antony, P. The Second World War in the Making. New York: Routledge Press (1994).
Peter, L. Does Conquest Pay? Effects After the Second World War. Princeton: Princeton Press. (1996).
Karen, A. United Nations Activities in the 21St Century. Westview Press (2007). ISBN 978-0-8133-4346-4.