The Legacies of World War II

Essay by soccergod13High School, 11th gradeA+, November 2007

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World War II LegaciesIn World War II, there were more deaths and destruction than any other war before or after it. At the height of the war, civilians of the surrounding nations of Germany and the Soviet Union feared the Nazi armed troops and Red Army troops. It was because these troops brought destruction, looting, rape, and death. It seemed that no good would come out of the war, but after Germany's and Japan's defeat at the hands of the United States that idea shifted. Steven Ambrose, a historian, wrote that there were 3 main legacies that World War II left behind. These legacies were the spread of democracy, the destruction of imperialism, and the atomic bomb.

The spread of democracy, which is the most important although Steve Ambrose does not say it is, was the complete counterpart to Hitler's dictatorship during World War II. At the turn of the 19th century, totalitarianism was on the rise.

Japan and Germany were threatening to control the world. During the invasions Hitler's troops pillaged and enslaved. In contrast American troops handed out candy, food rations, and medicine while they liberated the fallen nations. However, it was when the American's were in Berlin that the idea of democracy spread among the Germans. It was because the troops didn't treat the German people like enemies. Instead they were treated like liberated people, with the candy, cigarettes, and food passed to them like the liberated nations before them. This kindness was completely unexpected and it made the people of Germany and surrounding nations want to set a up a democratic government. Eisenhower, the commander of the American zone in Germany, assisted the democracy in every way he could saying, "the success or failure of this occupation can only be judged fifty years from...