what was an important legacy of world war II. describe politics and social impact of that legacy in a specific time and place

World War II Legacy

World War II transformed and changed the World compared to great extremes than any other human-made historical event in history. It restructured economies’ engineered political regimes and configured the social climate that people thrive in today. The horrors and impacts are immeasurable and in the political, economic, and social revolution/upheavals that characterized the aftermath of World War II.

Approximately 70 to 85 million military and civil servants lost their lives before World War II. According to the United States statistics bureau, this number accounts for 3% of the World’s population. Furthermore, many people were maimed, injured, disabled, and a significant percent of others suffering in agony due to the loss of their family members.  As a result, the social burden dramatically affected the Government’s social spending to cater to the needs of the veterans’ families (Herbert). That has become an enormous burden post-world II era. The heightened ravaging wars caused mass destruction of property, businesses that were the primary sources of livelihoods for many people in the western countries. Post-war studies convincingly argue that the social impacts of World War II unfolded in two dimensions.

Firstly, the war altered the social spending trajectory that caused an economic tailspin in the historical period of the Golden age 1945-1980. During this period, European governments allocated a lot of funds to meet the needs of the cruelties of war that had culminated in disabilities, injuries, an extensive pool of surviving dependents of the veterans participating in the war. The massive influx of social needs superseded the Governments’s stimulus packages prompting the Government to reallocate resources to cater to the needs of the casualties and families. Also, most of the countries were receiving high refugee waves from the bordering nations due to the political instability and search for green pastures as most countries were damaged. As a result, there was a substantial societal imbalance as the host nation could not sustain its social needs.

The aftermath of World War II was characterized by the political insurgency that gave rise to bureaucracy, capitalistic governments, policy amendments, centralized Governments, the revival of the industrialized sector, and engineering foundations for democratic states that propelled electoral reforms. It was a historical period that marked the foundations and formation of the World as we know it today. The war had stripped of nations’ power to rule its people, and the leaders were determined to regain their sovereign control. World War II reinvented the political climate and institutional settings that propelled to reinstate power to the people and the Government to prevent wars of this magnitude (American History). The new Institutions also expanded the political arena, administration base, and facilitated the expansion of welfare states in the post-war era. Similarily after the ravaging war, measures were enacted to revive the grappling economy in the European frontier. These eponymous political and economic reconstructions caused a rapid decrease in Government social spending to alleviate the social needs of the population.

The impact of political insurgence and government upheaval mainly affected the large countries in Europe. Developing countries experienced minimal effects. More influential countries were primarily the war grounds of the ravaging wars. Therefore most of the prominent countries suffered from the war cruelties.  For instance,  countries in  Europe experienced high rates of unemployment due to the rapid demobilization of soldiers and service members due to underlying conditions such as disabilities, injuries. As a result, European countries injected large sums of money to support the social needs of service members and their families. For the most part, the country’s sending soldiers oversees experienced minimal impacts as the war cruelties were only restricted to the war. There was no physical damage to the property and businesses in the homeland countries. In conjunction, these states, such as the US, expanded their military welfare institutions rather than mass welfares.  Therefore World War II did not have a significant impact in stronger economies compared to developing nations at the heart of the war.

In the 1960s, when the economic recession swept across major European countries, countries such as the US were reviving from the financial crunch and the mass welfares. With time the US had reinstated its glory and became great again. The country had abolished the new demographic welfares that had cropped after World War II. The beneficiary plan for injured service members had run out as most dependents were grown and could feed for themselves. In the wake of 1980 the World has slowly accentuated the rapid social and political transformations that have since been embedded in the global strategy for peace and reconciliation among all member states. The cumulative effect of World War II is incalculable. For the more significant part, the aftermath of the war shaped the social, political, and economic arena of the modern World. It also played an integral role in transforming the population’s mindset in several aspects, such as policy jurisdiction, mass welfare legislation, budgetary allocations, channels of welfare provision, inclusivity, and the salient public-private relationship dynamics.

Works Cited

American History. American History. n.d. 2020. <http://sageamericanhistory.net/worldwar2/topics/victoryandlegacy.html>.

Herbert, Obinger. The Legacy of World War II on Social Spending in the Western World. n.d. 2020. <https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2018/05/17/the-legacy-of-world-war-ii-on-social-spending-in-the-western-world/>.