Sample Essay On World War II

One of the main socio-cultural outcomes of the World War II was the formation of the new understanding of nationalism within the series of states in Europe and Asia. However, the merely negative image of this movement associated with Nazism was wrong as the majority of newly elected post-war governments succeeded in building strong and prosper independent states. The main effect of the war that can be seen in both ethnic and civic nationalism was the ruining of the image of undefeatable European colonial empires in the eyes of Asian and African colonies. These territories that were occupied by Japanese and German armies did not want to return back under the colonizers rule and used the moment to proclaim their independence and authenticity of their unique nations.
The different effect of nationalism development indifferent parts of the world can be explained with the different nature of the movement emergence and different targets that were followed by the headers of nationalist organizations. During the World War II, more than 6 millions of European Jews were affected by the disastrous harm of Holocaust. These people were sent to extermination camps, they took part in the “death marches” and many other terrifying trials. After the end of the war, only 250 000 were rescued from their prisons. This example gave Jewish people the understanding of their uniqueness and the high necessity to rebuild their national strength together. This seriously supported the development of constructive Jewish nationalism that helped these people to build their independent and prosperous nation state.
This experience wars really different from the one of African peoples. The serious number of African soldiers served in the Allies armies during the war. These people expected to receive proper rewards and to be recognized as an important part of the victorious world. However, these people returned to the same oppressed territories and had to live in conditions that became even worse because of the weak economic situation after the end of the war. This provoked anger and desire for fair compensation that developed in understanding of necessity to become independent from foreign colonizers. Here, the good idea of people had to real basis and no concise plan. The idea of Pan-Africanism was effectively sued by local governors that desired to get the uncontrolled access to the land and natural resources (Duiler, Spielvogel 915). This resulted in destructive effect produced by nationalism development and seriously harmed ecological situation in the region as well as economic and political sphere.

Works Cited

Duiker , William J. & Spielvogel. Jackson J. “Uhuru: The African Struggle for Independence”. . World History, 2(2001): 911-925.