World War II

Even though the devastating conflict officially ended 74 years ago, World War 2 still comes up often when discussing anything ranging from the more obvious historical and political significance, to the lesser known cultural aspects of the events today. I've written about a handful of military conflicts and historical events on here, but I've yet to cover the one that's arguably been the most pivotal in modern history, which is of course the second world war, so I'm going to attempt this now. Wars have never been thought of as pleasant, we all know that, but the true brutality of them largely wasn't depicted until the first world war, and the second was nothing short of ghastly. It's fundamental to mention that it's significance isn't just limited to that of a military conflict, because the fact of the matter is that it was something of a battle to determine the moral direction that humanity would take moving forward. If you are even remotely familiar with WW2, you know that the primary nations involved were Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States, which made up the Allies, and Germany, Italy, and Japan, which comprised the Axis powers. There were of course many other participants, but those six were known as the main players. There is a degree of debate as to when the conflict actually started and when it actually ended. Many say it started when Germany invaded Poland, and that's the generally accepted answer, but as to when other nations became involved is when the debate begins. For the sake of succinctness, we'll just go with the generally accepted answer of the invasion of Poland. Then there is the debate as to when it ended. There's VE (Victory in Europe) day, as well as VJ (Victory over Japan) day, which both refer to when the particular remaining Axis powers formally surrendered, however, it's now known that there were some Japanese soldiers throughout the pacific islands who, due to their isolated positions, weren't aware that the war had ended until much later. Again, for the sake of keeping things simple I'll go with the official end date of September 2nd 1945. Given those dates, WW2 was a six year conflict that tore not only Europe, but the world apart. From what I understand of it, the second world war was essentially a test of human nature. Some of the worst aspects of mankind grew to prominence and the rest of the world was given the choice between standing by and allowing chaos to go unchecked, or to take action and reclaim the decency that seemed to be rapidly seeping from the face of the earth. Looking back, it's very obvious to see that in the years leading up to WW2 there were some seriously dark elements floating around. Germany was in ruins and many of the people were quite open to listening to anyone who might be able to offer them a solution no matter how grim the collateral damage might be. Germany was a shell of its former self after WW1, and many were looking for some way to have pride in themselves again, but they were also eager for a scapegoat. Enter Adolf Hitler. I wrote about him a bit ago, so I don't feel the need to go into especially deep detail, but I will say that he was just the right person to show up at the worst time. Hitler was a spellbinding speaker, and he was able to seduce just enough people to be able to seize power in Germany (often employing violent means to do so as well). In Italy, Mussolini also found a similar sort of support in his rise to power, while Imperial Japan saw it's own strain of hyper nationalism as well and all of this led those three to the alliance that they had. As the larger war loomed nearer and nearer, those that it would fall upon to fight what was growing struggled to figure out how to handle things. Having just gone through the horror of the first World War, it's understandable that many wished to avoid another such conflict, but in hindsight it's very obvious that the efforts of appeasement only allowed for more destruction before the Allies finally realized they had no choice but to confront the toxicity that was burning down the world. Again, I'm not saying that I don't understand why they tried to avoid the conflict, I'm just saying that it's clear looking back what should have been done. None the less, to say the conflict simply occurred would be an irredeemable understatement. It didn't just occur, it erupted. It seared through the world and left scars that are still very much present to this day. It's a very sobering thing to think about, all of those that lost their lives throughout those years. It's even more somber to know how young many of them were. To know that so many individuals much younger than myself gave their lives to end the scorching paths of tyrants is humbling to say the least. It very much makes me think about how the world would be if things had played out differently. In my mind, things could have obviously turned out much worse than they did, but there is also the possibility that things could have been better, and many don't think about that too much. There have been so many historical fiction works based on the idea "what if the Axis won?" and while those are morbidly fascinating, I think it would also be interesting to see more pieces on the possibility of the whole thing being avoided all together. Perhaps if Hitler was killed in the first World War, or if the Nazis weren't able to strong arm their way into power in Germany, or if any other events did or didn't happen that would have led to a happier outcome would be welcome premises for literary works in my mind. However happy stories often don't become as popular as tragic ones, so there's my answer right there. If I focus on all of the specific events and people, this would be a novel so for the sake of brevity I'll turn to the implications on the modern day. WW2 was so significant that it's being talked about nearly 80 years later and I don't see it becoming any less relevant anytime soon. In my opinion, there are many reasons why it is so significant even to this day, but one of the largest reasons is that the figures involved represented both the best and the worst of what humanity is capable of. In WW2 we saw bloodshed, tyranny, bigotry, and genocide, all of the most despicable things that man is capable of. On the other hand, we also saw heroism, bravery, sacrifice, and resilience, undoubtedly some of the best traits people are capable of displaying. Given all of that, it's no wonder that so many people keep harkening back to the notorious historical event during all sorts of different discussions, political, historical, cultural, and beyond. World War 2 was, is, and always will be regarded as the most fundamental example of man kind being confronted with the very worst that he is capable of and being given the choice of what to do about it. If it ever comes down to it, I pray that we will make that same call again.