The outbreak of World War II in 1939 threatened not only the existence of democracy as such, but also civilization as a whole. Today, the results of World War II are overestimated in many respects, new facts are declassified and published, allowing us to reassess past events. However, one thing remains unchanged - the world has changed after the war, and these changes have become irreversible.
The results of World War II must be considered in different planes, since all aspects of the life of society and states were affected. Huge human sacrifices, unprecedented previously destruction, the horror of the experience - a legacy left after the Nazi criminal actions.
The most important were the military results of World War II. First of all, the complete defeat and unconditional surrender of the aggressive military bloc of Germany, Japan, Italy, whose governments did not hide their desire to divide the world, unify it and use resources for their own purposes. Fascism, which was propagated by the occupied peoples, as an alternative to the accepted democratic and communist systems, was completely destroyed. The colonial system cracked at the seams , which became a stumbling block in the foreign policy of the leading states before the war. During the military operations, the professionalism of the Red Army was evaluated, successful strategic operations were developed and carried out, a galaxy of talented military leaders stood out, whose spirit was brought up in the marching conditions of hard time. As the results of the Second World War, later studied, showed that 72 countries took part in the bloody massacre. The territories of 40 states of three continents were destroyed: Europe, Africa, Asia.
Nevertheless, the results of World War II were not only military in nature, as it turned out, the war stimulated the restructuring of world economic systems, promoted the reanimation of industrial sectors that were experiencing a deep pre-war crisis, set priorities in the power and aspirations of individual states, and became the cause of the subsequent Cold War ". Let us examine in detail the economic results of World War II.
During the period of hostilities in Europe, US industry gained momentum. Deliveries under Lend-Lease and other similar countries provided the opportunity for the United States not only to fully settle its external debt, but also to become a major global lender. At the end of the war, draft programs stimulating the economies of the participating countries were submitted for consideration; one of such programs was the Marshall Plan. On the one hand, it made it possible to lead the economy of the destroyed countries out of a deep crisis as soon as possible, and on the other, strengthened the American dollar as a world currency.
World financial structures were created, one of which is the IMF, the European Payments Union, the export of European countries was rebuilt, the main stake was placed on industry and its manufactured goods. European countries adopted the Bretton Woods Agreements, signed at the end of 1944. The agreements envisaged the implementation of a program to create a global monetary system that allows for currency conversion and equating the monetary currency of leading countries with the gold equivalent. This principle laid the foundations of the monetary system, which is used to this day throughout the world.
Refusing to offer assistance under the Marshall Plan, the Soviet Union condemned him, regarding it as a gross interference in the internal life of the country. Similar actions were carried out by the countries of the European East. The USSR reanimated the economy on its own, without outside assistance, relying on its own resources. In addition, the USSR provided financial support to the countries of the European East, in which the communist regime was established.